Family Access Of Newton

WARNING to prospective families: as long as Katrina Hester is ELC director, do not enroll your child at Family Access. We were at Family Access for three years. Katrina joined the school shortly before we started our third year. Here are just some of the swift changes she made: **Cancelled art **Cancelled music **Banned birthdays, holidays, and cultural celebrations **Mandated parent-teacher communication be sent through an app. Private messages about your child? Visible to 30+ staff and teachers. No opportunity for direct contact. **Dismantled the Parent Advocacy Committee. Discouraged parents from providing input on any school events **Fired a number of teachers, leading to ongoing shortages and teacher burnout **Stopped all school-wide messages about illnesses, staffing changes, cancelled specials, etc. (Oh, but we did get a message about her daughter being hired as an intern) These and other changes have led to a noticeably negative change in the culture and climate of the school, along with many angry parents and teachers. It gets worse. Under Katrina's leadership this year, there has been: **A rampant mouse infestation (e.g., mice running around children as they napped on the floor) **Three Early Education and Care (EEC) investigations **An ongoing police investigation We had a good year DESPITE this chaos. I am immensely grateful to his teachers for doing their best for the children. Still, no parent wants their child at a school where families and teachers are working daily AGAINST the administration. Katrina does not support the children’s well-being, nor can she be trusted to provide a safe environment for children. There are plenty of good preschools in Newton. Find yourself another one.

I'll add a bunch of thoughts below, but if you don't want to read it then the takeaway is: Family Access of Newton provides excellent childcare and we are so happy we found such a great place to send our children. Now for the bunch of thoughts... Pro's: - The facility is enormous relative to other daycares. It is a converted elementary school which means there is way more space than other facilities that are built specifically for being a daycare. A big playground plus a big gym means our toddler always has a chance to get physical activity no matter the weather. - The teachers are fantastic and you can tell they truly love the kids. They often staff beyond the required teacher to student ratio. - They are always setting up new and engaging activities for the children. These range from tending to small plants, to presenting on their favorite animal, to bringing in people in the community to talk to the kids (librarian, police office, firefighter, etc.). - The hours (8am to 6pm) allow for great flexibility for parents with commutes - Our toddler is excited to go and doesn't want to leave! That's really the ultimate seal of approval. Neutral: - They have an app that's very solid and they use to communicate and upload photos/videos. I have no issues with it but put it in "neutral" because most daycares have one nowadays - The cost is about what you'd expect for quality childcare in the area Con's: The nice part about typing up this review is it made me realize my only "con's" are not actually related to the day to day childcare. - They close for 3 to 4 weeks out of the year. Usually 2 weeks around Christmas/New Year, 1 week around 4th of July, and most of a week at the end of summer, with the additional odd day here or there. So you'll be taking your PTO on their schedule. - They require you to sign a 1 year contract upon joining. The contract has a clause that, at their discretion, they can allow you to break the contract if your circumstances change (ex: you move out of the area), but at the end of the day you are signing up to pay for 12 months of childcare which is not something I'd ever seen before in a childcare contract and gave me pause. If you made it this far first of all congrats, and second I hope to see you at Family Access soon.

Love it my son been coming here since January and his personality bloomed tremendously he was a velcro baby when he goes to school/daycare he ready to get out my arms before he was woth a home baby sitter would cry everyday to ready to join and play . my child not one to jump to other adults when i seen the comfort he has with different teachers i knew this right place for him to grow . My child never had sleep structure or was around other kids before literally after transition he started mingling in . I need to ask how they can get my child to sleep by hisself on his mat for 3 hours cause at home it back to velcro at daycare my child growing into their own person.

Great place with excellent services, as long as you don’t have to deal with rude entitled Darryl. Maybe just always having a bad day.

My daughter has had a terrific experience there.