Angels At Play

Angels at play has been my children’s home away from home for the last 4 years & we are so sad our time for big girl school closes this chapter for us. I couldn’t have hand picked a better place to drop my girls off each and every day. From the cleanliness as you walk through the building to the love and comfort provided by the teachers in every classroom it has been the BEST! They host the cutest events and follow a great curriculum. AAP will always hold a special place in our hearts!

Where do I start, my children have gone here for almost 3 years and the mess I have put up with and accepted due to the lack of childcare in the county is insane. I beat myself up as a mother for allowing it to continue so long to be able to keep all my kids together in a county facility for after school care. Between falsifying documents, changing the video footage rules after viewing footage when my sons injury didn’t match the incident report (watched my son hyperventilate cry while the teacher looked at him then continued sweeping), 3 incidents back to back (unknown bruises to his head, a kid grabbing him by the throat, and a head injury witnessed and not reported which resulted in a concussion) which were all told to my by my 3 year old and proven to be true. The inappropriate things my kindergarten and first grade kids were coming home saying due to being around older kids in the facility after school and the amount of bulling is insane. The day state went in to do the investigations on my son’s concussion, Dianne (the owner) stated that she didn’t feel that they were able to allow my identical twin sons to start due to their “disability” which was benign and they would outgrow by 2, due to them needing a higher level of care… (they had never met them and we had been on the wait list waiting for them to start for 2 years! (3 months pregnant until 16 months when they could start). After they said they would “allow” them to start, they made it a whole month before I picked one of my twins up with significant bruising to the top of his head, the incident report stated he was hit with a toy by another kid which left a red mark by his eye, pictures show from the top of the forehead to the back of his head which appears he was hit with something large, hard and potentially multiple times. when sending pictures to the owner of the mass bruising to my sons head the owner replied “trust is a big thing in this daycare and I trust my employees, but I think we do need to sit down and have a meeting before you bring your children back to the facility”. When asking her straight up what the reason for the meeting was for (since this is her go to method of explaining all her hardships and making you feel bad for coming to them with concerns) and if my kids are losing their place (all 5 of them). She dropped them all instantly….. over sending pictures of my sons head with bruising. It resulted in a CT scan, police report and my not being able to take a light duty job required to keep my job during my injury. This owner has an excuse for everything and always has, always trying to use something they “did” for the kids as a way to excuse the bad going on in the facility. She knew my situation, how I’m an injured first responder in therapy to get back to work, that my daughter is homeschooled and my twins were just diagnosed with autism and in excessive therapy. instead of addressing and fixing the problem, they dropped all 5 kids. They never followed up on my sons injury, never asked how he was doing knowing he is a neuro baby, never offered insurance to cover the medical bills and at the end of the day left a single mom with no childcare and no job. They Didn’t look into the incident on video and get back to me, didn’t apologize as an owner and a mother herself, didn’t offer daycare insurance to cover my 3 year olds appointment or the CT scan my one year old had to get due to the “unknown injury” but at the end of the day they did me one solid by forcing me out of a situation that I felt stuck in. The owner will have an excuse for everything and even her response to the facility violations show that she can never accept responsibility. She always says “if you would like to have a conversation in person” to keep the information from being traceable. Don’t make the same mistake I did and allow your kids to be miserable because the lack of resources in dinwiddie. Stay true to your kids, trust what they say and demand answers when they try to brush your concerns off because they will lie through their teeth.

Angels has been apart of our lives for almost 7 years. They have been amazing in all aspects for learning and development I could have ever asked for with both my children prior to starting school and even now as both kids are in school. All the learning lesson they provide weekly, weekly fun activities for the class, field trips (when possible) etc. that are offered is great. I couldn't think of any other daycare to send my children to. We love Angel's and will continue to send our kids there until they are too old.

As a former school psychologist, my wife and I place a lot of value in the education and care of our children. All three of our children are at Angels at Play with our oldest being there the last six years. As a parent who has interacted with all of our children’s teachers, I have never experienced anything but the utmost in professional behavior. In fact, the norm for Angels at Play staff is to go above and beyond and there is a theme of them being loving for our children while keeping them safe. Our children love going there and all of them have been very attached to their teachers. Finally, I felt that the education our daughter received put her leaps and bounds ahead of other children when she entered Kindergarten. Angels at Play continually exceeds our expectations and our family feels blessed to have them and Diane Harrison overseeing the daycare for our children.

I find it hard to put into words how grateful I am for the Angels at Play Child Care Center. I visited roughly 10 area daycare facilities before coming across Angels at Play, and I wouldn't have left my child at any of them. From the moment I walked in to Angels at Play I just had a feeling that I was in the right place, almost an "at home" feeling. The staff is truly amazing and provides a fun and safe place for children to learn and grow. They provide healthy structure but are also accommodating with any special requests or needs you may have for your child. My daughter talks about her teachers as if they are family and says often that she wants to go see them on weekends! She also runs to give her teacher a hug when I pick her up in the afternoon. I have every faith that she is getting the best of the best care at Angels at Play. There is always something fun and exciting going on at the center, over and above the normal range of daycare activities. I am constantly seeing where they hosted special visitors or enjoyed special entertainment (like magicians, jugglers, the Swader Gator, library representatives, just to name a few). You can tell the owner and her staff has a true passion for what they do. To sum things, I am only giving Angels at Play a 5 star review, because 10 isn't an option!