La Petite Academy

Don’t let the other reviews stop you from visiting this daycare, I almost did! I think La Petite has changed tremendously since 2014, as we have not experienced any of the issues below. We were deterred from wanting to tour this facility, because of the older reviews, but decided to check it out, only because of its proximity to our house, and our need for an immediate opening in daycare. I’m really glad we did! My son started there at 13 months and is now 23 months old and LOVES it there. The teachers are attentive, caring, and really take pride in the work that they do. We get updates daily on the activities my son is participating in, as well as what new letters/​numbers/​shapes he’s learned for the week. The teachers also believe in engaging parents, and often encourage us to practice the lessons at home as well. La Petite also has a Precious Status app which gives us daily updates to our phones and allows us to be in communication with our child’s teachers on a daily basis. One of the most important things that I looked for when looking for a daycare for my son, was the staff, and how he reacted to them, at La Petite, my son LOVES one of his teachers (and doesn’t mind the others either!;)), and feels very comfortable in her lap, when I leave him for the day. It’s important to me that he feel comfortable, and happy, and loved. I would definitely recommend La Petite to any friend or family member looking for daycare. I didn’t use La Petite for infant care, so I would recommend touring and asking a lot of questions, but I can say that I’ve never had any issue with the cleanliness of the facility and toured 6 other daycares before choosing this one. Another PRO of La Petite– they have a parking lot, playground, and NATURAL sunlight throughout all of the classrooms. Unfortunately, this is something I did not see in many of the other daycares that I toured in DC.

My son has been at La Petite since he was 6 months old. He’s now 20 months. I LOVED the care he received in the infant room. Carrie was so attentive and loving. In addition to the daily reports, Carrie made it her business to make sure she understood our routine at home, his activities, etc., which aided her in assessing his needs and capabilities. She pushed him to try new things and I loved her initiative. When he moved to the toddler room, I was a little disappointed. The care was average. I didn’t feel that the teachers in that room were as attentive. My son had a few minor incidents. While toddlers are rambunctious and accidents happen, I didn’t feel confident that they were as vigilant as they should have been. Also, the ladies were too chatty in my view. I did contemplate removing him, but shortly before I did, he was moved to another toddler room. (He was in the other room for about 2.5 months). I LOVE his teachers. They are engaging and my son is flourishing under their care.
Jessica, the Director, and Simone, her assistant, are accessible and eager to address any concerns. That’s important to me. I ultimately am glad that he is still at La Petite. He’s such a happy little boy.
I’m giving La Petite 4 stars because I loved his care in the infant room and his current toddler room. They warrant 5 stars in care. For the first toddler room, I would have given it 2 stars. The primary teacher for that room is no longer there, so that is a plus.
Hope this helps!!!

RUN! In the opposite direction! I put my baby in La Petite Academy in DC at 10 months old. He came home with unexplained bruises and when my husband and I questioned the staff about it, no one seemed to know what happened. I get that babies fall, but the straw that broke the camel’s back was one of my child’s teachers started to just ignore me in the mornings (maybe she hated her job, i don’t know, but if she is ignoring parents, what is she doing to the kids???). She would not look up or greet me upon arriving and would not even say hello after I greeted her. When I would ask her where she wanted me to place my baby after walking in, she would say, «Put him on the floor,» without even looking me in the eyes. After about 3 weeks of this ignoring, I reported her to the director, Jessica (who never called me back!) and I took off of work on emergency leave because I was worried about my child’s safety. I also noticed that the staff never wrote updates on the daily activity report sheets, except for the day my child came home with a bruise under his eye (when the note section suspiciously read, «The baby had a great day!») and the day I had reported the rude and untrustworthy daycare worker… those were the only two reports they wrote in the two months my baby was there!
I had to scramble to find another daycare and get my baby enrolled ASAP. After time spent searching for a better daycare and taking off of work on short notice, I called the regional director and requested a full-​weeks refund for the time I spent out of work and when he wasn’t there. She haggled with me and I ended up agreeing to a partial week refund only because I knew money wasn’t as important as my child’s safety. But this was just another red mark in my book in regard to La Petite Academy.
In addition to this nightmare experience, I noticed that the director was never in the classrooms. The infant rooms are generally dirty (dead bugs on the floor (one time I got on my hands and knees and wiped a bug up off the floor), dust build up under the cribs, crumbs lining the baseboards, etc.). I also noticed a high staff turnover and children spending a healthy amount of time in swings and bouncers.
My new daycare is excellent. All of the teachers greet me upon arrival and give me verbal and written reports on my child’s daily activities when I pick him up at night. My new daycare also has a no swing or bouncer policy, so all of the babies and toddlers are held and receive more one on one attention
I am no longer praying at my desk for my child’s safety and well being while he is at daycare.
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE: take this review seriously. I am writing this not out of spite, but to hopefully save another parent and child from what I experienced. If you see the name Jessica on the front door or meet a daycare worker named April, run in the opposite direction!
P. S. — I still don’t know how my baby got that bruise and it keeps me up at night.

I went on a tour of the facility in DC and I must say I was disgusted with the infant room. There were 3 babies in their cribs crying their heads off and the 2 daycare providers in the room looked like they did not want to be there. One barely got up to tend to one of the infants, the other was just sitting there. For the price they are charging, this is deplorable. I will not be taking my child here. Also, for parents who do have children there, I would advice popping in a few times a day to check on your child. I would give it no stars if possible.