Reviews:

Author: Karen Sweatman Rating: 5/5 Date: 10/24/2024, 6:56:56 PM Review: We came here from another daycare and the difference was night and day. This place is immaculate, really clean and so friendly. My daughter went to the infant room and Mrs.Chris is amazing. I wouldn’t trust anyone else to take care of my baby while I work all day. She loves on her, reads to her, sings to her and takes the time to understand her needs. I recommend this place. 5 stars ----- Author: Katelyn Ficalora Rating: 1/5 Date: 3/31/2024, 3:32:52 AM Review: If I could post a lower rating, I would. This place is a disaster. I worked there for 8 months and I was the longest teacher in this one classroom. The management is absolutely incompetent. They don't care about staff or the children enrolled. My child was enrolled there as well. His infant teachers were absolutely stellar. They took wonderful care of him. It was after he turned one that our real problems started. I can handle mistreatment, but when my son moved up, he started going 5, 6 hours without diaper changes and when I brought it up all I got was excuses and lies. "Oh, she just forgot to log it" or "oh, her app wasn't working" well, we had multiple ipads per classroom (I had 3 in mine) and they all didn't work? Nope. Try again. My husband brought it to management as well and the director straight up told him that she can't go make sure his teacher does her job and then when he spoke to the district manager or whatever her title was, he was told that management witnessed her changing his diaper. Nothing but lies. If that were me, I'd have been fired but his teacher was a personal friend of the director. The closing assistant director would pull people aside to try to get the scoop on gossip going around about her or other teachers. One of the assistant directors was making comments to people about how miserable they are there and the other one caught wind and literally went classroom to classroom trying to verify information. I have worked for several childcare institutions and this one was by far the worst. I have never in my life put in my 2 weeks without seeing it through and I stopped going back after 5 days. That was when my son's treatment went from bad to worse and mine did as well. Doodlebugs Oviedo is the worst place I've ever worked and I will shout it from the roof tops to anyone who will listen. Do not work here. Do not send your children here. Just keep driving. If you need somewhere close for your childcare needs, there's 3 other places very close by that are better. ----- Author: Sarah Ragsdale Rating: 5/5 Date: 4/20/2022, 10:58:58 PM Review: Doodlebugs is a great daycare. The staff in the infant room is amazing. Ms Chris always greets us at the door with a smile and listening ear. She provides feedback and answers any questions I have. My daughter is always excited at drop off often times going right to Ms Chris without looking back. It makes drop off a breeze knowing she is going to have a great day with a great teachers. ----- Author: Erin Cooper Rating: 1/5 Date: 3/9/2022, 6:49:02 PM Review: I really wanted to love this daycare but unfortunately it was just impossible. The facility is beautiful, looks clean, everyone was welcoming and friendly. I enrolled my baby after my tour. She was only attending daycare here for about 2.5 weeks and I unenrolled her. Over the 2.5 weeks I witnessed several unacceptable behaviors. I should have known better starting on her very first day when she wasn’t even entered into their system for the daily reports. Once she was in the system, I believe on her second day, they were sending me photos of another baby instead of mine. Their documentation of feeding is beyond unacceptable. They never had the correct amounts offered vs. fed, they would tell us at pick up one thing about how much she ate during the day and the daily report would say something completely different. One teacher would say she ate her bottles no problem, and finished it all, while another would say she struggled to finish or she took over an hour to drink only a portion of the bottle. There was question as to if my breast milk was being dumped, as we kept getting told she only drank a portion of her ounces provided, but that they “ didn’t dump “ the remainder. Not sure how that’s possible if the bottles came home empty. I had very transparent conversations upon enrollment of my baby’a strict feeding schedule due to slow weight gain, and her weight gain pretty much halted during her time at this center. Upon several conversations with the centers director, I was advised my baby “ took to long to finish her bottles and they had 9 other babies to feed”. There also was also a situation where one of the teachers left a bottle out after warming much longer than the safe timeframe to do so, and fed it to my baby anyways, and my baby had gastrointestinal issues ALL night long due to their negligence. The response from the director was “ she doesn’t normally work in that room”. As if that’s an excuse for understanding FOOD SAFETY for infants. Despite all of the feeding concerns and issues ,as if that wasn’t enough, the hygiene issues I witnessed were honestly shocking. Even with webcams in the classrooms that parents could view at any point in time. I witnessed one teacher rubbing her bare feet with her hands and then touching both the nipple and bottle she was feeding my baby. Another was sitting on the floor picking her nose and flicking it on the carpet RIGHT next to other babies. She also proceeded to care for and feed the babies without washing her hands. The last time I picked her up, my baby was handed to me completely soaking wet from head to toe. I immediately asked why she was soaking wet and I was told “ I don’t know, I didn’t notice, do you know why she’s wet or what she’s wet with?”. WHAT?! There was also HAIR wrapped around my baby’s bottle nipples when they were sent home that evening. I discussed with the director as to why I was unenrolling and WHY this was the last straw, she advised “ let’s talk about this elsewhere because there are other parents around and I’d rather them not hear this. They are happy currently and I’d like to keep it that way.” I wasn’t going to write this review, but that comment made me realize that other families needed to have an idea of what goes on at this place which appears picture perfect on the outside. It’s really upsetting that my family had to encounter the magnitude of issues we did in a short 2.5 weeks at this center. Especially when this center costs significantly more than others in the area. Upon unenrolling, the director tried telling me I needed to pay 4 more weeks of tuition if I pulled my baby out without proper notice. Luckily the corporate office was more than helpful and immediately rectified the situation as soon as I hung up with them. I hope this review helps other families make the right decision for them before deciding to enroll, as well as prompt current families to really take a close look at what is occurring in their child’s classrooms. Especially the infant classroom as those babies are even more vulnerable to these huge safety concerns.

Reviews:

Author: Yang Liu Rating: 5/5 Date: 8/9/2024, 11:08:17 PM Review: My two children attended this school from March 2022 to August 2024, and yesterday marked my younger child’s last day. Now that our time here has ended, I can confidently share our experience. The facility is just as shown on their website: spacious classrooms, wide hallways, and plenty of natural light. The school is always clean, and they enforce diligent handwashing. The outdoor playgrounds are large, with separate areas for infants and toddlers/preschoolers, plus a grassy area, courtyards, sandboxes, and swimming pools! On days with poor weather or air quality, the indoor playroom (Doodleville) with its two-story slide is a fantastic alternative. When I first chose this school, the ample space for the children to move around during their 8+ hour days was a key factor. We also appreciate their healthy food choices—no canned food, always fresh fruit, and nutritious snacks and meals. Since some kids have two of their three daily meals at daycare, the food was an important consideration for us. Over the two years, we experienced some challenges, particularly with staffing changes in the admin team, leading to some teacher instability. However, this issue is common in many daycares, and overall, we are very happy with the current admin team and teachers. Assistant Director Ms. Lizzie was my younger child’s first teacher and is now an irreplaceable member of the admin team, with the longest tenure at the school. She knows all the ins and outs and is well-acquainted with the children. Director Ms. Anella is kind, passionate, and empathetic. She’s always available for any concerns, and she handles them with grace. Over time, she has become like a trusted friend. No daycare is perfect, but how a school addresses issues is what truly matters. When touring other daycares, I noticed they focused heavily on curriculum and academic advancement, with some even assigning homework. However, I don’t prioritize academic learning at such a young age. To me, children are like sponges, naturally absorbing knowledge. What’s most important is that they learn to understand and manage their emotions, interact positively with others, and develop a healthy mindset. As I reviewed my child’s 2023-2024 school year folder, I was reassured by the reports on emotional, physical, and academic development. The free journaling and drawing, accompanied by detailed notes from our amazing VPK teacher, Ms. Christina, showed how much my child’s imagination was encouraged. Ms. Christina is the ideal VPK teacher—“kind but firm.” She’s soft-spoken and empathetic, yet firm when needed, and she earns the children’s respect without ever raising her voice. I’m incredibly thankful that my child not only learned so much at this school but also had the freedom to express himself fully. It’s rare to find a place where children can truly be themselves while growing in so many ways. All the teachers know my child by name, and the small teacher-student ratio ensures better care. A special thanks to our favorite teachers: Ms. Sierra, Ms. Destiny, Ms. Kim, Ms. Ava, Ms. Morgan, Ms. Layla, Ms. Chloe, and Ms. Liza—they’re all wonderful, and we are very grateful for them! ----- Author: Divina Dang Rating: 1/5 Date: 1/31/2023, 3:48:35 PM Review: If Ms.Chris is still there for the infant classroom then i would pay whatever the price is. We love her so much and she took such great care of my son Elijah! We left because they taught bravo curriculum and wanted more stem. However, upon leaving, the daycare was going through changes. A lot of new faces and tuition had changed. What was already a lot went up by even more. I - at the time - paid $331 a week. I also adored the staff we had at the time but they fired basically all the old staff, which is very unfortunate because the reviews are trash now. Ive actually seen a lot of parents move their children out and have even gone to the daycare im currently at. Its sad because doodlebug used to be good, even the workers - whom are my clients - don’t like working at doodlebug because of the mess of the staff. Anywho, i called to ask if ms.chris was still there because my son loved her, but they couldnt say. We wanted to drop off a red envelope for her for chinese new years but they wouldnt allow that.

Reviews:

Author: Yesenia Crespo Rating: 5/5 Date: 3/18/2024, 8:07:09 PM Review: Love the staff. My daughter has been in this learning academy for about 2 years and she has learn so much. The teachers are very caring. The place is very clean and having access to the cameras has been a win win. ----- Author: Louise Warren-Leggett Rating: 1/5 Date: 12/6/2022, 1:19:26 PM Review: 1. High turnover in staff which is never a good sign. 2. My toddler was beaten up every day by another toddler twice her size. Nothing was done to correct the behavior. I brought up the issue multiple times to the director and was told that “it was typical 2 year old behavior and no matter which daycare she went to there would be this type of behavior”…. SERIOUSLY?!!!! I withdrew my daughter from this facility as I could not bear to watch my little girl be hit and kicked any longer. I still had to pay a month out for childcare! 3. Never really knew who the teacher would be… always someone new… never ensured my daughter had her water bottle close by. One of the teachers would leave her water bottle on top of the cubby where she could not reach and would end up drinking from another child’s water bottle. We had to call at least every other day to notify the teacher on duty that she didn’t have her water bottle…. On the plus side they at least had cameras in the classroom so I could monitor. ----- Author: Megan Trykowski Rating: 5/5 Date: 9/6/2022, 10:45:19 PM Review: My 4 year old has been here for about 1 year. His teachers and the teacher assistants have all been amazing. The facility is always clean, any issues they update me in real time. Now he is in the preschool class and his teacher is the best. He loves her even on his bad days! There are cameras if you like to peek in through out the day and an app where you get updates and pictures at the end of the day. I used to peek in and watch the cameras at our previous day cares, but after the first 3 days I haven't even logged in. Every morning you are welcomed with pleasant staff, even if your child is screaming and you have to drop and run to get out of the building! Now that we have gotten to know other families at the center, pick up and drop offs include hugs from multiple children! Its becoming more of a family then a daycare! During the summer my elementary age son goes there for camp. He loves the pool and the "dude that works there" Justin! I wouldn't have my boys anywhere else! ** UPDATE as of 11/2021 Your child learns NOTHING in VPK except how to play. They are not ready for a school setting at all!!! DO NOT PUT YOUR CHILDREN HERE. Kids with behaviors (physically hitting) are not removed from classes, the teachers do not have help in the rooms for those behaviors. This is way overpriced and your children are set up to FAIL when they get into actual school. There are very good day cars in Oviedo that actually go on field trips during summer camp and Prek programs are a true setting that provides education that the kids need to succeed in Kindergarten. ----- Author: Jilyssa Cross Rating: 5/5 Date: 11/17/2021, 1:05:31 AM Review: My daughter started in August and I could not be happier! She is loved and nurtured like she should be and she is excited about going to school every day! It is overall a happy and healthy environment not just for my child, but for everyone. You look at the cameras and all the kids look content and involved in what is going on. Special thanks to Miss Porscha and Miss Tierra for going the extra mile with my little sour patch kid. ----- Author: Ryan Love Rating: 1/5 Date: 8/5/2021, 9:29:52 AM Review: This place has really given me a wake up call. THE STAFF DOESNT PAY ATTENTION. I watched the cameras and kids were shoving each other and no teacher was in sight. There was a day where the teacher was CLEARLY kicking my sons water bottle on the floor for 30 MINUTES, meanwhile my son is the ONLY kid without a drink at the table. They never make sure he has his water bottle outside. They don’t help him go to the bathroom, just call me everyday that he had an accident. My son tells me no one helps him. He also gets bruises from the kids throwing hard wood toys at each other with little to no intercession. The director “stands behind her staff” and no changes were made. It’s “probably just not the place for us”. Also I gave them 2 week notice and they’re not letting my son stay for the 2 weeks and they’re not giving me back security deposit. I will personally make sure no one I know uses this facility. Thanks for nothing.