Harrah Christian Early Learning Collaboration

My kids have been coming to this daycare for nearly a decade. I have had multiple teachers and seen 3 directors. And we have truly loved them all. HELC has very easily been a part of our family. They have always loved and cared for my babies on all their days, good or bad. I can't recommend them enough.

My husband and I sent our twins here from the time they were three months to five months in late 2021. We only took them out because having a stay-at-home parent was the best model for our family. In the two months our girls attended Harrah Early Learning Center, they seemed happy, healthy, and well attended. I know they didn't have the same caregiver all day every day. I didn't love that, but they all seemed to genuinely enjoy looking after children. I understand that staffing a daycare is difficult in normal times, let alone now. Obviously, my girls only spent time in the baby room, but I often saw the way the students and adults interacted when I came to pick them up. The kids seemed genuinely happy and close with their teachers, who I only ever saw interact with them appropriately. The cost of infant care was comparable with several places I contacted and substantially cheaper than the big chains, who have pretty bad reviews. The wait was fairly reasonable for twins, too. I changed my mind about another daycare at five months pregnant and still got my girls in before my maternity leave ended. We weren't here long and don't intend to put our children in daycare again, but if things change, Harrah Early Learning Center will be my first call.

Unfortunately, this facility turned into a nightmare for us. While the facility is good, the staff is inadequate, lacks consistency, unfortunately lies, and is not transparent. I will list reasons why below. Please understand, I know my child is not perfect. I absolutely believe there were times that he needed correction, but you will understand what the issues are as I list them below. 1. Transparency: After multiple incidents that were brought to our attention, we asked to see videos or proof of incidents. We were denied. The last incident, I asked to speak to the Teacher in the classroom to explain what happened, I was denied. I was told that I had to speak to the director who was not there. Of all the incidents, there was never a “Here’s what caused the issue”. It was always “He did this”. Well what caused him to scream and hit another kid? Did the other kid do something first? The only response is “We can’t discuss the other kids”. I’m sorry, but that’s not good enough. 2. The lies: We have been told that our child was an issue with a particular morning teacher (which we will discuss in a moment) only to find out from that teacher there weren’t any issues. The afternoon teachers are trying to justify multiple reasons to kick my child out of school for the day. He has been kicked out multiple times for various reasons. Hiding from teachers, scratching, hitting, pushed food on the floor, and being disruptive during naps. These are all the an accusations that we have been told. He never has an issue with the morning teacher, only the afternoon from Lunch on. 3. Inconsistent behaviors- number one, within the last week they started making us sign incident forms. We asked, why we hadn’t been signing forms for previous incidents. We were told they had been posted on Procare App. Mind you, they have been making us pick him up at least 3-4 times per month. No incident’s were reported for 6 months. Not on the app, nor did we sign anything. They went into documentation mode because they wanted to kick my son out of the school. 4. Inconsistent behaviors with the children cause behavior issues. Multiple times, I have picked up my son running around the school. There are teachers around but he basically has free rein to go where he wants. Then one day I get a phone call to come pick him up because he ran out of the gym and wouldn’t go back in. Well, I’m sorry but you can’t enforce a behavior one day and let him do what he wants another. Poor supervision. 5. Last, the teachers. There has been turnover after turnover of teachers at this facility. I honestly keep calling them teachers but they are low cost babysitters. This isn’t a budget Day Care. Again, my son’s morning teacher handles them well. She has been consistent. She’s a mom, knows how to speak and communicate with kids. Understands behavior. The afternoon is a kid that probably barely graduated from High School. I can’t tell you how many different people we have seen over the last 2-3 years. I can’t even keep up with names. This is our fourth child. We never had any issues with behavior for any of them. My son who attended this daycare is completely fine at home but somehow turns into the devil at this place. I can also tell you that we know another parent that removed her son from this facility this week. I will not mention her issues in this but are consistent with mine plus more.

I mostly love the daycare. The teachers are great and my kids love it there. The turnover concerns me but I do not know the circumstances. I feel like there is a new teacher in the baby class every other week. For the most part everyone is really friendly.

Harrah Early Learning Center is a great place to take your kids! You can always trust they are being well taken care of when they are there.