Applejacks Childcare

Our daughter was with Applejacks from age 7 months to 26 months and we only left because we moved out of town. Kathy and her team are SUPREMELY caring and also attentive to the children's personalities and developmental stages. Kathy has been running the daycare for about 30 years and it shows! Tsering is also a long-term caregiver there and she is just amazing with the kids and they love her. Kathy needed to find a few more carers during our time there (some had left for family reasons or personal health reasons) and she found replacements who were equally loving, caring, and formed deep attachments with our daughter. 

The daycare is relatively basic and I mean that in a good way. There are toys and places to play and a really nice backyard that's designed for free play, and the kids just love it. They dig and play with mud and take turns on the swings and chase each other around the yard. It's really a great place for kids to learn to play and socialize with each other. They bring in live music once a week too, and do art projects. Really it's designed for kids to be kids -- playing, learning the social environment, nothing fancy. The set-up is no-frills in terms of communication -- phone calls and texting with the director, no apps, no worksheets, just live conversation. If your family thrives in the analog world this is a good set-up for you.

Also I want to stress that they were very good about adapting to our daughter's particular needs, which included finding ways to encourage her to eat more and adjusting her schedule to accommodate her unique needs.

When we left there were tears on both sides. We really miss the love and the community setting at Applejacks and recommend it highly!

Our daughter started with Kathy at Applejacks when she was around 4 months old. Let me tell you, I fell in love with this woman. She was so kind and caring and has the biggest heart of any person I've met. She was attentive, sent us texts and check-ins, and loves those kids as her own. Our daughter has what she dubbed "a strong personality." She's vocal and strong and she bonded with Kathy straightaway. Kathy is emotional when the kids leave to new daycares which is a testament to how invested she is when she watches these children. I would recommend her a million times over to anyone wanting a great daycare. We sadly had to move away a month ago but if we're ever back in town, I will most certainly be hitting her up for a visit.

Also she offers homemade vegetarian dahl for the kids for lunch. Bonus! 

We searched and searched (exhaustively) for a daycare provider we felt like we could trust.  We even had to expand our search outside of our city.  That is how we came across Applejacks. We were first time (working) parents.  We had tons of anxiety about leaving our child in the care of another, and *very* high expectations of the type of care we wanted for her.  When we met Kathy, we felt a sense of trust & comfort for the first time. And over the years, Kathy only exceeded those high expectations of what we wanted.  Our daughter began Applejacks at 9 months old. Kathy was so proactive with keeping us informed of everything that happened during her day. Good communication is vital between parents and care providers. Kathy really listened and followed through on all our requests, or concerns, or needs.  She is so careful and protective of the children in her care. You can really tell that she feels like they are her own children. There were times that my daughter was home sick, and Kathy actually bought over rice & dal to our home for her because it was her comfort food (& we live in another city). She cares about her kids so sooo much!  Kathy is very careful with her selection of assistants.  And we have always felt very comfortable with all of the assistants at Applejacks (especially Tashi, when she was there).  We loved the play-based environment at Applejacks.  We are old-school and believe that kids should be allowed to go outside and get dirty and be a kid.  Applejacks embraces that philosophy.  There were no screens used at Applejacks when we were there, which we also loved. The children were kept fully engaged with play and music and reading.  Kathy even brought in a music teacher and a dance teacher several times a month to broaden the development of the kids. Our daughter loved going to "Nina's house" as she called it.  And for my family, we just felt extremely fortunate to have found Kathy and her daycare for our daughter. The first few years of a child's development are so important. They need to feel loved and safe and protected.  With Kathy, our daughter had the best possible start in life.  We are so lucky to have found her.  She is like family to us now.  My husband jokes that if he had it his way, our daughter would have stayed at Applejacks until she was filling out her college entrance applications.     

My family and I feel so very grateful for our children's time at Applejack's daycare.  We moved from out of state, and upon meeting the owner, Kathy, we immediately knew this was the daycare for us and the area we wanted to live.  Both my children have attended this daycare.  A few of the things we love about Applejack's include:1 - the school has a light, warm indoor space, and a great outdoor yard with play structures, sand boxes and gardens2 - the caretakers are very energetic, hands-on and play directly with the kids.  Kathy has great insights to children's needs as she has worked as a caretaker since she was young, and is a very nurturing, caring person3 - they provide lentil dahl and rice for lunch daily, healthy snacks and milk 4 - the school has activities during the week (dance, music)  Kathy does a wonderful job of providing a safe, caring and loving location.  I was extremely comfortable going back to work knowing my children were in good hands.