Newtown KinderCare

Ms. Donna is a caring and dedicated teacher for the preschool children at Kindercare. My son Jason is welcomed each morning upon his arrival with a caring hello, asking him questions about his day so far and talking about something on his shirt or so on. She is attentive and understanding of morning separation from a parent, especially in the case of my son. Jason restarted school earlier last month (September) after having the summer off and was very emotional. Her extra attention while holding him and trying to keep him upbeat while he was shedding tears takes strength and commitment and she does it so well and now he’s back on track and enjoying his days at school learning and playing with friends.
As a side, when my daughter was in her class several years ago and going through a very intense love of princesses, she was sure to call her whichever princess she was that day and ask each day “ How is “Ariel, Belle”, etc. doing today.” Morgan always loved that and also enjoyed her time in that class.

It is with great pleasure that I take the time to write you and let you know what a wonderful an experience we discovered when we enrolled our son in KinderCare at Newtown. On his first days and weeks of school, he was frightened and nervous about this new environment. I was particularly impressed with his teachers, who took the time to talk with him, hold him, and even to practice deep breathing when he started to cry! I really felt like the teachers sincerely cared about my son, which is such a reassuring feeling for a parent. Administratively, Mina and her staff are wonderful! They create a real feeling of love. The center is bright and cheery, staff says "Hello!" when you arrive, and it's an environment that is welcoming and warm. When I requested a change in the days that he went to KinderCare, even if it was a last minute request, it was always answered with "No problem!" They were flexible and kind in meeting our needs. We are at a time when our son is moving on from KinderCare, but I want everyone to know how overwhelmingly happy we were with his experience there. The things he learned will stay with him for a lifetime. I continue to recommend KinderCare at Newtown to friends and family.

Thanks so much. It was a pleasuring having our son attend your school - you and your staff made the transition for us very easy. And he truly loved your teachers and had so much fun there.

I wanted to take some time to leave some feedback for the teachers in the infant room. Since we have been with KinderCare for about two months now and I visit Julie at lunch time, I can provide this feedback. Overall, we have been very happy. We (and Julie) love Ms. Nilda, Ms. Abby, and Ms. Carol. All three of them provide something completely different that help Julie develop while giving us parents peace of mind while we’re at work. Ms. Nilda obviously is the big hen in the barn. She keeps everyone on their poo, nap, play and eating schedules. She knows without checking who is due for what and which child had what to eat. It is truly amazing to see her work when there are eight or more children in the room. Ms. Nilda also offers friendly advice, such as which diaper cream works best, when to move up to the next diaper size, what to teach your young child, etc. She never seems like she’s “preaching” when giving advice. She also listens very well at drop off or during lunch visits. If we tell Ms. Nilda that Julie woke up at 3:00am the previous night, Ms. Nilda attempts to have her take an extra or longer nap. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate Ms. Nilda. Ms. Abby is also great. From my observations, she is very hands on with the babies. This includes being on her tummy during tummy time, sitting on the floor with them, playing with age appropriate toys, etc. It must be her youthfulness :) She also can multitask very well. She can be feeding one child while stimulating another child so no one is crying. Abby also has great problem solving skills. I was providing them with an extra 4oz bottle and indicated that sometimes Julie fights naps. If she fights naps, one or two oz of milk usually puts her right to sleep. In my mind I was trying to help them with this info. What I didn’t know was that all the milk from one bottle had to be used within one hour. So Ms. Abby suggested that I bring in a 2oz bottle in addition to the 4oz and that way no breast milk would be wasted and there would still be an extra 4oz bottle just in case. I’m glad she suggested that and since then the little 2oz bottle has been used about 5 times. She is also very friendly- she acts like your best friend or an aunt to Julie. What I most appreciate about Ms. Abby is her problem solving skills. Ms. Carol appears to be the most caring. She knows so much about each child. She knows their personalities, likes/dislikes, small cues and how to help a child before a “meltdown” occurs. She even noticed a small rash that Julie was starting to get and told us that it appeared to be a reaction to like a soap or something instead of a reaction to food. We changed Julie’s shampoo and the rash went away quickly. Ms. Carol also provides the best daily updates. She usually takes the time and fills it in on the daily forms, but if not, she gives me a full account of Julie’s day, and I’m sure she does for each parent. An example of this is that Ms. Carol will let me know if Julie “wasn’t herself” that day and exactly how she wasn’t. And just last week Ms. Carol let me know that Julie rolled over, and this was a first for Julie, and for us as first time parents. Ms. Carol wrote it on the daily log, but also told me in detail about exactly how she rolled over. I promptly called both sets of grandparents and was able to give them Ms. Carol's recount of the event. What I appreciate most about Ms. Carol is the daily updates. She has a way of telling me the updates as if she was the proud grandma. I wish all three teachers could move up to the next room when Julie is old enough and has to move on. (I know it doesn’t work that way though, ha!) I think you should do everything you can to keep these three teachers. They each shine in a different way.

These days we are all counting our blessings. Among our families, we count Ms. Andisha and Ms. Amber at Kindercare. During the pandemic, potty training seemed like an insurmountable challenge. With their support, encouragement, and strengths-based approach, our son was potty trained with all smiles. Without the routine they provide and their authentic connection to our son, I don't know where we'd be! We're so thankful they are a part of our village.