Current reviews of Clark Kerr Children's Center
We are considering Clark Kerr Center and are looking for current reviews since the last posted reviews are several years old. There is a new director in place for the last couple of years and teachers come and go so reviews from current families would be most appreciated! We are mostly concerned about some "lack of love" from the staff for the space - a pile of broken toy trucks just outside the gate, a large bag of trash tied right next to the easel for painting outside which has on it tiny already-rained-on-now-crumpled paper, lack of clean drawing paper in another location etc. Another worry we have is how the staff (including the SAs which come and go) treat the children. Are the treated like people or like babies? We have observed 20mo "infants" being handled rather than invited to change a diaper, distracting children for the purpose of wiping their noses rather than including them in the activity and teaching them how to start caring for themselves, corralling children from one space to another to "keep the ratios" of caregivers while disregarding whether children were in the midst of an activity. We think we would like the chance to go to Harold E Jones after Clark Kerr, but is the experience at this center worth the "prize" of Harold E Jones? Any current comments or reviews would be more than welcome!
Parent Replies
Hi,
My son went to Clark Kerr (toddler) from age 1 to 3, and switched to Harold Jones in fall 2017. We had a wonderful experience with all the teachers there. They were caring and encouraging and my kid learned a lot.The location is great too, the little vegetable garden, the walks on campus, etc. I was not excited about the new director, but the teachers were absolutely fantastic. Understaffing and changing SAs is a general problem with all ECEP care facilities, but our son nevertheless had a wonderful experience. Most of all the teachers did a wonderful job creating a community of children who treated each other well and lovingly. We didn't have the problems you mentioned above.
Our 21 mos old daughter is currently in the Clark Kerr program, in the youngest/infant room. Our 5 yrs old son just graduated from the Clark Kerr preschool last year, having started when he was 3 mos old. We have been extremely happy with our experience. There certainly have been lots of upper management changes, but the teachers in the classrooms have been consistent. At least at the Clark Kerr campus, not sure about the other sites. Our son had the same 3 teachers for the first 3 yrs (not typical), and then another set of 3 teachers for his last two years at the Clark Kerr PreSchool location. Our daughter currently has 2 of the 3 teachers our son had. Many from our son's cohort chose to go to Harold Jones after the toddler room, but we were extremely happy with our experience and the staff at the Clark Kerr preschool site. The 3 teachers there have been working together for over a decade. We trust the teachers, and feel good about leaving our kids in their care. Our kids have thrived and are happy. I think it's important to have consistency in the teaching staff at the location. Not something that you have control over, but something that we noticed makes a difference in the quality of care that is provided. Teamwork and chemistry among the teaching staff goes a long way when dealing with kids this young.