Urban Mamas

These comments are about the Tabor Location:

I moved to Portland for grad school. I did a lot of research to find an affordable preschool setting for my mature 4 y.o. son with flexible hours and even chose to live close by the Tabor location after touring it twice and watching my son interact with the kids and staff after a drop in day. The classroom teachers were experienced, caring, and upbeat. The director was "hands-on" and seemed to have a congenial relationship with everyone.

Unfortunately, I felt the need to withdraw him after the first week.

To make a long story short, I found the classroom teachers very caring and attentive to the needs of the children but the current administration to be so unresponsive and unconcerned about my son's well being that the trust necessary to a successful child care/educational relationship was destroyed.

I discovered they moved the former director to another location when I dropped off the paperwork and enrollment fee a month before we were to begin. Since she was the only one in the office, I introduced my son and I and warmly welcomed the new director, complemented the program and facility, explained our application, cover letter, and planned start date asking again to be sure there would be space for him for the days/times we needed receiving an affirmative answer.

During that month of prep, as I registered for courses, thinking I had my son in good hands, the paperwork was lost, found, and lost again.

I discovered the paperwork had been lost the first time the friday before the week he was to begin when I realized I'd heard nothing about the paperwork we'd left a month ago, so I called to be sure everything was OK. (That lost paperwork included the cover letter, the emergency contact/pickup info, schedule and my sons health info with a history of allergies to certain foods, plus the check for the $50 enrollment fee, which had been cashed).

I was in a bit of a panic when I was told no one was aware he was coming because I'd planned classes around my son's care, was supposed to be dropping him off the morning of the next business day... the new director was on vacation, and my backup sitter was also away. So, I asked for the person next in command and was referred to the classroom teacher who remembered us, called the main office to be sure we were approved, and told me we were, there was plenty of space, to bring him in, and she'd track down the paperwork.

When we arrived the following monday she'd not been able to locate the papers, so I went through my usual "shpeil" about the food allergy issues signed him in, and left my number.

My son is a gregarious happy little guy and was excited to play and be back in a preschool setting after our move, so it seemed like a very smooth transition. The end of the day reports were good for that first week and my son seemed happy although by the end of the day many of the other kids were pretty wiped out.

The hands-on teachers followed the verbal dietary instructions(and I sent food from home)and even called when there were questions, but by the second week, the paperwork hadn't shown up...while the tuition bills arrived right on time and were for the incorrect number of days.

I called accounting and was passed back to the new director, who had returned from vacation but was unavailable.

I left 4 messages or her over the next week to speak about both matters with no response, so I decided to use my backup sitter until we could get the billing straightened out and the health paperwork/contact info and other emergency forms could be located.

It's been 8 weeks and she's not called, so the original issues still haven't been addressed and no one has inquired about why my son has been absent...yet those bills for the incorrect amount are still coming!

We love the Y! My son has been going to the YMCA downtown (in the ODS building) since he was 12-months old. My post is a little off-topic as he is there for full-time daycare rather than the after school enrichment. But I just had to speak up for this amazing place. Like most mothers, I had a really, really hard time leaving him and going back to work. I cried a lot those first months - probably much more than my son. I literally almost quit my job I couldn't stand being away from him. But the program director at the Y not only made me feel comfortable calling to check on my son, but she encouraged it. So I'd call and they'd let me know what he was up to, and that helped a lot. All the worries I had about daycare - high staff turnover, not giving my son enough attention, that he'd develop, I don't know, badly or something - were totally not true. The staff all greet him by name when we walk in the door, the staff has been consistent, totally caring, they give me reports on how he's doing, they want to know how I'm doing, they actually WRITE DOWN every diaper change and what he ate and when he napped. Every day. It is amazing. He comes home with art projects, they go out for daily walks, sing songs, read books, and more. He has really thrived there. And the kids in his group have stayed the same because they more or less move up together as they age. So he knows people, has friends. He's always laughing and playing when I come to pick him up. He still cries sometimes when I drop him off in the morning, but by the time I've walked out of the building and peek back through the window, he's already playing. I also like that it is a diverse staff with different races and ages. And just in case you were wondering since it's the Y, they don't push any religious agenda. Any negatives? It is a bit hectic there sometimes. Though there's a "big room" area, there's no outdoor space. (They get outside for walks though.) Though they feed the kids a balanced diet, it is not organic and includes a lot of processed stuff. Otherwise we're totally happy with it. We pay about $930/month for 4 days a week (reasonable in the outrageous bubble that is the cost of childcare). They are open 7am-6pm. Two thumbs up.

Agreed. My daughter attended Y-Arts pre-school back in the day (she's a rising 6th grader, now!). Great, caring staff and facility. I've never met anyone who wasn't pleased.

We have our 5 and 6 year old at the Y-Arts and it's an amazing program. Our 5-year old was in the pre-school pregram last year and our 6-year-old was in the after school program. It's not a polished looking program, the kids work on messy art projects and they get to dig in the dirt out back and plow through puddles in the winter... but isn't that what kids SHOULD be doing???

I was impressed by the efforts that they went to with our older child. He had a rough start to the school year, and doesn't deal with change very well. They remained commited and have been flexible in keeping him in the classroom that works the best for him regardless of what "age group" that he moved into when he turned six. If you're looking for a program that works well with special needs children AND typical children... this is clearly your place. My daughter had a great time taking part in three sessions of drama classes on the weekends with her teacher whom she adores and was thrilled to get to see six days a week.

I can't speak for the other sites, but you can feel at ease leaving your kids at this place!