Golden Poppy Pre-School & Infant Center

My wife and I pulled our child out of Golden Poppy as soon as we could (a few months after he started). I would suggest steering WAY clear of this place for reasons I’d be happy to share if you email me.
In the meantime, if what is interesting you about Golden Poppy are the long hours they are open please be aware that Educare — which is located at the same Granada School facility — is open just as many hours. We have both our children at Educare and they LOVE it.

I have 2 boys at Golden Poppy, both started when they were about 2 years old. Prior to GP, both had attended a small home day care in the city. All of their teachers have been warm, compassionate, and at the same time able to provide structure and discipline. They both LOVE going to school and especially love the field trips, extra curricular activities like soccer, dancing, and music class. In our 3 years there, there has been zero teacher turnover which really says something about how the school treats it employees and how satisfied the teachers are to be there. The manager, Jeanine, is an OR nurse by trade and is incredibly responsive to even the slightest schoolyard head bump.
I can’t say enough wonderful things about GP and it’s staff. My son heads off to kindergarten next year and he is MORE than prepared. I feel like the staff is part of my extended family and would wholeheartedly recommend GP to any parent.

My daughter attended GPP for 2 years and in those 2 years she loved it and so did we. We recently moved and had to transfer our daughter from GPP and she was extremely upset. She loved her teachers and made great friends. I watched my little girl thrive in a very nurturing environment. Administration has been nothing but wonderful and honest and easy to get a hold of. I am shocked at the negative reviews. I have had nothing but a super awesome experience at GPP.

I am really surprised to read any bad reviews of GP. My son – who is almost three– and my daughter – who is 5 months old – both go to Golden Poppy. My son has been there since he was three months old, and has always had wonderful, caring teachers. He still sees all his previous teachers (he’s just started in the fourth room — the Leopard room), and gives them big hugs in the morning as we pass by all his old classrooms. Almost all of his classmates have older or younger siblings that have attended or are attending Golden Poppy, which leads me to believe that, like us, their families have had great experiences there. My youngest is now in the Kitten Room, and loves it. She is always smiling when I say goodbye to her, no matter who greets us in the Kitten Room in the morning. Her primary is Debbie (same as my son’s when he was in the Kitten Room), but she is just as happy to see Anne, Anna, or Margaret.

I have a 19 month old who has been at Golden Poppy since she was 2 months old. She started out in the kitten room and believe me it is tough to leave a child that young in day care. But all the women in the kitten room were wonderful! Anne was her primary care taker and continues to take an active role in her care. They were loving, attentive, and hard working. I work close by and was able to stop by in the middle of the day and I was always impressed with how the babies were cared for. Now my first has moved on to the cub room and I am expecting my second.
My first baby is doing great in the Cub Room, learning new things every day. I’m so grateful for the compassion of the teachers there. Their expertise has been invaluable to us as new parents and it makes all the difference to head to work knowing that my little one is in such capable hands.
My second will be arriving this summer and I look forward to enrolling her as well in the kitten room this fall. I have great peace of mind knowing that she will be in such a warm and caring environment. And I look forward to getting reacquainted with all the teachers in the kitten room again.

I have 2 young children at Golden Poppy and am very pleased with the care and attention they receive from their caregivers and teachers. My son (4 months old) recently joined the Kitten Room and although I had a great experience in the Kitten Room with my daughter (19 months old and now in the Cub Room), you hope you have that same experience again. I’m happy to report that all the staff in the Kitten Room continue to provide great level of care and involvement to my son and to all the other infants in the room. I have good communication with my son’s primary caregiver and know that information is shared with the other staff to ensure the well-​being of my son at all times. It’s not always easy to leave your infant in the care of others, but you know your child is in good hands with the competent, knowledgeable and friendly Kitten Room staff at Golden Poppy.

Golden Poppy is an excellent daycare facility. My son is in the Kitten Room and I feel great about leaving him there every day. The teachers in the Kitten Room are amazing. My son has a dedicated teacher but everyone in the room knows his schedule, developmental milestones, birthday, eating habits, favorite toys or activities and his personality. He smiles every day when he shows up to play with his friends. The daily report cards help me know what happened at school and at every drop off and pick up the teachers chat with you and let you know what happened while you were gone. It is hard leaving your little one with other people while you are working, but I feel assured that he is in great care and really loved by the staff. I highly recommend Golden Poppy (and the Kitten Room — Infants).

My child recently graduated from Golden Poppy Preschool and it was the most wonderful experience for us both. She was there since she was three months old, and I feel as though we couldn’t have had a more perfect preschool for the five years she was there. Teachers are kind, loving and talented. I felt as though they really knew my child. I agree with Jena’s post that parents should check out the school on their own, because these negative reviews are probably the result of rare bad experiences. My daughter has been well prepared for kindergarten, and her friendships she has enjoyed at Golden Poppy will follow her for years to come.

Golden Poppy clearly provides a good environment for SOME children. Where it fails — and fails WOEFULLY — is that it doesn’t consider that every child is different and not every three-​year old responds the same way. Our daughter began throwing massive tantrums there, and when we’d ask if she was happy, we were told, «We’ve done more than we have been asked to, she’s too loud for our class.» When we pressed the question of whether she was happy, we were told that the teachers have a lot of credentials and we should bring up their performance with their boss if we had issues. All we wanted to know was if she was happy — it became clear that she was not, and it became even clearer WHY — her teachers didn’t really care much about her. As an indication of the school’s approach, they first tried to deal with her tantrums by taking AWAY her «lovey» — the one thing that constantly comforts her! That’s punishment, and not a nurturing environment.
When we were worried that another child had bit her, her teacher said our daughter «probably bit herself, she does get really mad» and walked away. They refused to do things at school that work for us at home, and showed absolutely zero compassion towards our child. When we pulled her out, they didn’t even call to see why she hadn’t been there for several days. She’s been in a new preschool for three weeks and loves it — and they obviously love her, too.
Golden Poppy is a great school for certain children, but it’s a BUSINESS first, and an inflexible one. We were consistently told that our child’s issues were not only our problem, but our fault. I would NEVER recommend this school for anyone, even if many have had positive experiences. Just too many other options, and all of them will probably care about your child a great deal more than Golden Poppy.

To follow up to a recent «stellar» review, I have heard from many parents that their experience is not good, particularly with administration. I didn’t mention in my initial post that my son was pinched at nap time, because he was not napping. I believe him. On his last day I said, it is a good thing we are moving on, I don’t think some of your teachers were very nice. His answer was, Miss xxxxxx was nice and stopped pinching me. An honest answer from a 5 year old.

Wow. I was so surprised to read the negative review that I had to write about our experience!
Our son started at the Golden Poppy when he was 4.5 months old, and we couldn’t have had a better experience. We had waited until 3 weeks before my maternity leave ran out before confirming enrollment and were thrilled that there was space.
Debbie was our primary caregiver — she knew our son almost as well as we do! The entire staff in the Kitten Room was familiar with our son and his routine, and he happily went to any of them when we dropped him off in the mornings. I went in daily to nurse and all the children appeared to be well cared for and engaged. I felt that they all genuinely cared about the children and took an active interest in their lives outside of the daycare as well as within.
We were so sad that we moved away — I’ll be hard-​pressed to find a place where our son will be as happy as he was at the Golden Poppy!

The children at Golden Poppy tend to be so well adjusted, interested and interesting. Major kudos to all the teachers at Golden Poppy, and to the parents for being so ‘hands on’ with their children and raising them so well! :-)