Building Blocks Day Care - South Portland

All 3 of my great grandchildren have attended Building Blocks Learning Center over the past 5-6 years, and their parents have been very pleased with the care the children received, as well as with their own interactions with teachers and staff. When I have visited or volunteered at Building Blocks, i have had the opportunity to talk with the staff, students, and some other family members, and have found those interactions to be overwhelmingly positive. I have also observed interactions between staff and the children, and have found staff to be patient and caring, but also firm when necessary, especially in regards to health and safety concerns. I would encourage anyone looking for daycare in the area to check out BBLC.

DO NOT SEND YOUR KIDS HERE!! Especially if your child is on the spectrum. They will tell you they are not equipped to handle them after enrolling. Yet my son doesn't need any special school/care. Aside from that.. *There will be little to no communication between staff and between parents. *They will say they have bright wheel seems awesome. Yet they barely use it and when they are they are logging miss information. (Snack Cheerios and bananas my son wouldn't touch a banana if u payed him) (logs "Had lunch" ..comes home almost full lunch box and hungry at pick up).. *They will use your extra clothes for swimming everyday because they refuse to check to even see if a swimsuit is there which ever day there was. Yet they are coming home changed everyday. *Not returning cups and Tupperwares again no guidance or organization system. Both of my boys have been in preschool and daycare before this facility and I'm so so disappointed in these adults. Both of my children 4+5 just recently were enrolled, everything seemed okay. Yes it's a church basement, yes it's a little run down, BUT it seemed like they had lots of activities and had a great play area. With a new playground being built. Very exciting for my kiddos who would be spending summer vacation. They spent 6 whole days at daycare.and yesterday's pick up was told by the director they my oldest had a hard day. My oldest is on the spectrum and struggles with over stimulation. He's a normal kid just get overwhelmed at times. He's in normal classes at school with a IEP that consist of movement breaks in times he needs it. He has done well at school with other kids and adults. So shocked I'm getting this type of feed back. Asking what happened I was told it was due to refusing to walk into the class to have snack after arriving back from a field trip. Was told by the director that they did not have 10 mins to wait for him. BUT the issue really was ASHLEY LAJOIE asked my son to go to the classroom he ran ..she made him come back and do it again "right way" he ran again!! She again called him back and he refused to do it a third time!!! GOOD FOR MY SON. HE'S NOT A DOG IN TRAINING. And then you got upset that he refused you having a control issue? You could have easily the 1st or 2nd time just reminding him why we need to walk OR if he was difficult because he's 5 and just came back from a field trip excited and cant turn off the excitement yet ...you could say okay were going to let everyone go ahead and then you can go so no one gets hurt .. INSTEAD you called me telling me all this negativity told me you can't "have this here". They have been there 6 days 3 days week 1. 1 day week 2 (because they got sick) and 2 days week 3. yesterday Mr Jamie told me he was having a hard time all day and proceeded to tell me the facility is not "equip to handle kids like him" I said so just normal kids he said "no just not as severe" mind you my son is not by any means severe. I stopped and said WHAT? turned to Ashley and said are you hearing this he just said your not equipped for kids like him. Mr Jamie said he never said that and walked away as two other staff look on and watch this all okay out. Ashley tells me nothing is going to come from this conversation. I grab all of my kids belongings and as I walk out I speak to the nice older ladies in the office who are waving bye to my boys. I tell them what Mr Jamie and Ashley had just said. Sharon I believe her name was told me not to listen and they have all types of kids. And that wasn't true. She said she was very sorry and had delt with things like this in the family and look appalled as she locked eyes with Ashley Lajoie as she sits watching from behind her desk/WINDOW. STAY AWAY FROM THIS PLACE UNLESS YOU WANT TO DEAL WITH THE HASSLE.

My children have been going here for just about a year after switching from their previous daycare, where we had nothing but scary experiences. Building Blocks has made me feel comfortable sending my children somewhere again and I know they’re safe and well taken care of. There’s such great communication between the teachers, director and parents and I even get picture updates on them throughout the day. I highly recommend sending your kiddos here!

Incredibly nurturing staff. So grateful for this daycare and all of its staff and director. In this current world of overworked, underpaid, and understaffed businesses they have always been so patient and eager to learn what exactly is needed to ensure that each individual child has what they need to both emotionally and physically thrive. Fostering independence yet supplying the tenderness and love that children need when they’re away from their parents. I would highly recommend the this center.

Building Blocks is a uniquely wonderful center supported by dedicated, wise, and caring staff. My children ages 18 months and 3 years old attend the center M - F, leaving home with eagerness to spend the day with their "teachers" and friends. Not only is the administration personal with every parent that walks in, they are also prepared and actively engaged in modernizing the facility. I've noticed many efforts towards making the facility a fun, safe, and clean center - projects like a new outdoor play scape, fresh paint indoors, child safe bathrooms with toddler accessible seats and sinks, etc. My most recent favorite update is the facility's incorporation of the Brightwheel app where I receive timely updates throughout my children's day on their activities, nap schedules, meal times, and occasional photos of my children having fun. The app also lets us manage our billing and make payments - making budgeting for day care easier on us. I would HIGHLY recommend this center to any parent that loves their child(ren) and is looking for staff that have many years of experience. That's something you don't see often either that you see here - not a single staff member is new - they are all well versed with child safety training and have worked at the facility for several years. Although my family lives in Windham, we make the commute to Building Blocks 5 days a week just to know that our children are in the safest care possible. Thank you Building Blocks for all that you do to care for our kids!!!!