experience with Berkeley ECEP's Haste St location
I am seeking feedback regarding the Haste St CDC. I will be moving to the area to begin a postdoc at Berkeley this summer, with a 20-month-old. This will be his first experience with daycare, and we have a tight deadline of one week to make a decision. We won't have the opportunity to visit the center in person, so we would greatly appreciate any input from fellow parents who may have experience with the facility. Thank you!
May 5, 2023
Parent Replies
Welcome! Our daughter has been in an infant classroom at Haste for about 9 months now, and we have had a great experience. The teachers she has had are wonderful -- so kind and invested in our child's development. One benefit of being a university center is there are UC student assistants in the classrooms as well. Our daughter is thriving there, especially in terms of socialization and independence.
The communication with parents from the administration sometimes leaves a bit to be desired, and we don't get consistent updates through the app the teachers use (Learning Genie), but we feel like we know what's going on in the classroom/center enough from seeing teachers at drop-off and pick-up.
Happy to chat more if you'd like! (One of us is also a postdoc, the other UC staff.)
We have been with ECEP since 2019 and at the Haste location with two children since 2021. The teachers are phenomenal - they have taught my preschooler how to be a kind, empathetic human who also knows how to advocate for herself. The site director, Moises Roman, knows each of the children by name and frequents all of the classrooms. He always knows everything that is going on. ECEP as an organization isn't perfect, but the teachers and day-to-day for my children have been a great fit.
We currently have a four month old and a three year old at the Haste St. CDC (in the infant and preschool classrooms respectively), and have really enjoyed our time there. The director, teachers, student assistants and staff are all really wonderful, and we feel very lucky to be a part of the community. The teachers have helped us through many big transitions including starting at a new school, potty training, the arrival of a sibling, etc. And the added bonus of not having to worry about packing lunch is huge! Our preschooler loves mealtimes at school and is exposed to a wide variety of nutritious food. The facilities are nice and each classroom has its own outdoor space. Although the outdoor spaces aren't huge, the kids spend a lot of time outside and can go in and out freely. Overall, we are very happy!
You may have already made your decision, but I wanted to chime in and say that we have loved our time at ECEP's Haste St. We started at their Dwight Way location and moved to Haste, where our son has been attending for the past two years. The program is great--the teachers really care and the administrators are supportive. It's very expensive, but if that isn't a concern I would say go for it.
My daughter attended ECEP from 3 months through preschool -- multiple locations, though not Haste (Dwight, Clark Kerr, and Harold Jones). There were occasional ups and downs but overall it's a terrific program and my daughter flourished. The staffing ratios are higher than standard, and the student assistants enable teachers to focus more time on kids rather than chores. The nutrition program is fantastic and I miss it now that my daughter is in elementary school. Make sure to take advantage of the childcare benefits won by the postdoc union!