Which Daycare/Center for an Infant?
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- Seeking a Center with preschool and infant care at same location (near 580/880)
- Best Daycare Centers for Infants Berk/Oak?
Seeking a Center with preschool and infant care at same location (near 580/880)?
Aug 2013
After finding out this week that i'll have a job to go back to in january 2014, i'm now scrambling to find a preschool that also has an infant center on-site so that i can do just one drop-off of my 4 yr old and newly-turned 1 yr old (their ages in january). I live in west oakland, will be working in san leandro, so looking for places in oakland (near 880 or 580 would be awesome), alameda, or san leandro. Back to school
Monte Tavor Spanish Immersion has openings for infants and preschoolers. Monte Tavor is in the upper Dimond close to the exits of Coolidge/ Fruitvale on 580. This is a Spanish Immersion program for all ages based on children's interest and teacher instruction. You can receive an e-packet by requesting at hmontetavor [at] aol.com or by calling (510) 967-2876. Yeira Howell
Chatham Preschool - 35th Ave campus. It is a large daycare/ preschool which serves 0-5. http://www.chathampreschool.com/ Chatham parent
You may want to check out Small Size Big Minds next to the Alameda/Bay Farm Island Bridge. Good luck w/ your search!
BlueSkies for Children is located half a mile off 580, between Fruitvale and Coolidge, so it is on your commute path. We currently have an opening for a 4 year old (born before 8/31/09)and will be able to enroll an infant later in the fall. BlueSkies is geared to meet the needs of young children and their working parents, accredited by NAEYC, open 7:30-6 year round. Please look at our website at blueskies4children.org and come by for a tour! Liisa Hale
I don't know if it fits your location requirement, but the Model School in Berkeley has both infant care and preschool/Pre-K in the same building. We didn't take advantage of the infant room, but I've observed that they take loving care of the little ones. There are nice places inside and outside for the babies to play. And our family has been very happy with the pre-K program. The teachers are great! There seem to be a lot of families from Oakland too. Good luck with back to school and back to work! Joanna
I just went to check out a few preschools recently and Little Stars at 169 14th St, Oakland, CA does have a preschool with an infant care as well. It's run by Chinese owners and a lot of the teachers are Chinese, but there are non-Chinese ones as well. Kids are a mix. Preschool is very affordable, however, infant care (up to age 2) will be twice as much. I did like it and felt a relaxed vibe. They have a huge playground for all the kids. Alice
Best Daycare Centers for Infants Berk/Oak?
Aug 2003
I am looking for recommendations on the best daycare centers (and the ones to avoid), that accept infants. My baby will be 4 months old when I go back to work, part-time. I have read numerous posts about various centers but they are a bit outdated. Positive and negative feedback would be greatly appreciated! I stayed home with my first child and am nervous about placing baby in a formal daycare, but finances may require it. Thanks in advance for your help. working mom
Recommendations received:
- BlueSkies for Children (2)
- Cedar Street Childcare
- Cornerstone Children's Center
- Emeryville Child Development Center
- St. John's
Other advice:
I think searching for a day care is such a personal thing. I recommend visiting a couple first, and not wait for the recommendations. I went to one day care that takes infants that got plenty of great reviews on the UC Berkeley Parents website, but after visiting the place there was no way I would place my child there. Things that may be important to you might not be important to others, and things that bother others might not bother you. Trust your instincts, ask a lot of questions, and as awkward as it might feel, just hang out for a good long while in the infant room and observe. Bananas has some publications that you can use as guidelines for what to look for and ask. They can also give you a list of day care centers that take infants. There are plenty of home care providers that take infants, but as far as day care centers, there are only SEVEN in Berekeley and none in Albany. I don't know how many there are in Oakland, as we decided that was too far for us. So even if you get great recommendations now, you will probably by suprised by the waiting lists at most centers, and part-time is even harder to get. (This isn't the case I found with home care providers.) So if it's a day care center you want (and not a home care provider), then I suggest getting on the phone now and start doing site visits. Even if there is a waiting list there is still the chance you can get in to a center. Keep in mind that you will have to pay an application fee to even get on the waiting list. One place I called at the Aquatic Center said that they wouldn't even give me a tour until I had filled out an application and paid the fee, as their waiting list was so long for infants (1 1/2yrs long!). Other places I had to get on the waiting list just for a tour. But don't get discouraged - just start making the phone calls and something will fall into place. anon
We really loved our time at L’Academy. Just amazing early childhood educators there. We switched to Good Earth for the outdoor time and also truly adore it, but it’s more of a commute into the hills!
Highly recommend Rising Sun Montessori in Albany. It’s a Spanish immersion school but there are families who don’t speak Spanish there too. The community is great and they truly care about the children, teachers are very experienced.