Canterbury Preparatory

The only reason I can give Canterbury a single star is due to the wonderful women in the infant rooms. I have to say, the women who took care of my child the first year of her life were loving and gracious. However, the administration is a nightmare. I was not a parent who complained — as long as my child came home happy and uninjured I was content. My first real concern that I felt strongly about was my child’s safety. My child had repeated head injuries and I voiced concern looking to come up with a solution. The director, without validating any of my concerns, looked right at me and said «I often tell families if they are globally dissatisfied they can look elsewhere for child care.» I was so beside myself that this was her initial response… zero validation and understanding. I had no intention of removing my child, but I got the message loud and clear. They know they can just fill the next open slot with some other desperate family looking for child care while they are at work, they just do not care. Their front door is always wide open and so is the directors office door (which leads directly back to the children). She tried to tell me she always keeps her door closed, which is not true. I have walked into that lobby a number of times to no one at the front desk and both doors in her office wide open, leading right back to where the children are. Safety is not a concern for this school. Many other parents have voiced their safety concerns as well and Canterbury continues to do nothing about it.
Please, send your child elsewhere. There are so many wonderful schools out there that value your child and have a director who has a background in early childhood education — this director does not. I asked to speak with the owner as there was no one else above the director to go to. I was promised the owner would call me… NEVER received a call. I have paid this school over $ 16,000 and their owner could not even return a phone call to me. Oh yeah, the director is related to the owner, so don’t expect to get very far if you do have any actual concerns. What a nightmare.

Before I had my baby, I wanted to be a stay-​at-​home mom. My opinion of daycare wasn’t terribly positive, but as we all know, every family has to do what works for them, and so I decided to give it a try. Now that my son is almost 2, I have come full circle on day school, and couldn’t imagine our lives without the lovely people at Canterbury. The director has been so helpful to me and is an absolute expert on early education. She schedules regular meetings with me to discuss his progress and milestones. He is physically and developmentally leaps and bounds ahead of many kids his age, and I think Canterbury has played an instrumental part in his advancement.
Infant Room: I toured several other daycares, and this was the only one where the ladies were heavily engaged (i.e. talking, singing, patting, holding, rocking) with all of their babies; not just one at a time. My two favorite caregivers have been there for years, and are so wonderful and genuinely loving. My little boy used to refuse to nap for me, but one of them showed me her secret patting trick and it works like a charm to this day! The infant room was the hardest for me at first, but I really can’t speak highly enough of the women in there. They’ve become like family to me, and still come to my son’s room to say hi to all of «their babies.» All the toddlers stop and look up at them like little flowers to the sun, just beaming. It’s so cute!
Toddler Room: Turnover is fairly common in the daycare industry. It’s full of college kids and girls who are get engaged and move away. We had a bit of a rough patch last summer when my son first moved to the toddler room because he had a couple of different teachers in a row, but the director quickly sorted it out and hired two fantastic girls in his room. They are smart as whips, sweet, and endlessly patient. I remember thinking that daycare wasn’t «school» and scoffing at the idea. 4 weeks into the Toddler Room, I changed my tune. My 1-​year-​old began signing about 20 words, identifying animals and making their sounds, and naming face and body parts. The Montessori program in the Toddler Room is no-​pressure and largely play, but he is absolutely getting something from the little lessons. At 22 months, he speaks in sentences, can say his ABCs, count to 10, and sort and name shapes. He also made a best friend, which is super hilarious to me. :)
Twos Room: We haven’t moved to this room yet, but it is a «pre-​pre-​school» room with one of my favorite teachers at Canterbury. The curriculum really picks up, and they begin working on potty training. One of my son’s friends has moved over to that room, and in the last month, her language has exploded. She is speaking so clearly and singing songs. It’s awesome!
In short, daycare is a very hard thing for us moms, but if you have to do it. this is a great one and I’m very happy with Canterbury.

This school is horrible!!! The directors are too busy on their phones to help parents and teachers. Some of the teachers you can hear yelling at the kids from down the hall. My son former preschool teacher would tell all day! The directors do nothing… The owner is clueless about how her staff runs their classrooms and I saw what they eat for lunch… Eeeew it’s not healthy it’s all canned… For the money you pay for this school you are far better off somewhere else. Most of the teachers don’t even send their own kids there…