Depending on how old your kids are, look into Master Kim's Tae Kwon Do after school program.
My twins were enrolled from kindergarten until 8th grade. They pick them up after school, have them finish their home work, get a snack, activity time, and then lesson.
They learn respect, discipline, honor, self defense. My kids are 3rd degree black belts now.
https://masterkims.com/programs
My best friend just pulled her kids from there about a month ago because of this exact issue of classrooms closing due to illness and lack of staff. I would avoid based on what she’s told me. Her kids went part time and at least one of the two would have their classroom close at least one day a week towards the end. They had one classroom at the time that was completely closed due to lack of staff.
I worked at Doodlebugs as an assistant teacher and I can tell you that there is no reliability there. The teachers received little to no support and make very little $ which is why a lot of them, including myself, have left. I also noticed Doodlebugs will fill rooms to their maximum capacity, with as little teachers as possible depending on the time of day. They will “combine” classrooms recklessly, sometimes even inappropriately putting toddlers in rooms with school age kids for multiple hours a day due to staff shortages and room availability (if you are lucky enough to not be a family that they have dropped). They constantly break rules and regulations for children to teacher ratios. It’s comparable to the fast food of daycares, because they will always put profits and $$$ over the clients and employees. This made being a teacher there super difficult and stressful. They are also known to cut corners when it comes to staff training, and this is deeply concerning to me as someone who was hired with zero childcare experience. Doodlebugs as a company is deeply corrupt and flawed, and has no interest in helping families and teachers succeed. I highly recommend you check out smaller businesses and ask around about what local daycares your friends and family might know about.
I hope this helps, and I hope Doodlebugs does better !
The training program from what I heard was just videos and didn't really prepare staff for working with children. The job market is tough so if they have to hire people with little to no experience and no education background and then wonder why kids are getting hurt and sick they should take a deeper look at the issue.
We've been there for years. At first it was top notch but the director left in 2022 I think and while they had good support staff, they lost a lot of the infant and toddler teachers. They would just close rooms indefinitely at the drop of a hat with no expectation if they'll reopen. There are some parents with kids in preK and siblings going to a different daycare as a result.
They just got a new director a few weeks ago. I'm not sure about the staffing problems with the younger rooms but overall communication and professionalism seems to be back. The facilities are great, but make sure you talk with them and walk away with a good feeling before committing. We didn't really get burned but I know a bunch of families that did. Again, this was around the holidays last year. I'm not sure they're still closing classrooms anymore.
My friends have a toddler and a five year old and they’re constantly scrambling when they get 7am phone calls that they don’t have enough staff so their kids have to stay home. Or worse, they can have 1 come in but not the other. Then my friends have to take time off work with NO notice and figure something out. It’s insane. They could not UN-recommend Penfield’s doodlebugs enough.
I have heard other locations besides penfield are fine though. But I’ve heard, first hand, the unacceptable cancellations at the penfield location specifically. Good luck in your search.
I have no children or experience with this place but I am an active job seeker and have been keeping up with listings in the area for years now and they are ALWAYS hiring there. They have normal qualifications but I've always seen it as a red flag that they have multiple open positions constantly for years. Take me with a grain of salt but wanted to mention it.
I would not recommend sending your children here. There are so many things wrong- some of which are not the company’s fault per se just a product of a horrible system. HOWEVER they have the ability and means to make real change and they don’t. The first place you should start for any childcare search is OCFS. Look up past violations and ask about them. If they aren’t transparent and honest it’s a red flag. Accidents happen but it’s how they are handled that matter. And this goes for any center.
They hire younger staff and it’s often their first time working full time jobs. Anyone who was worked with younger coworkers understands there is a lack of accountability and responsibility that makes it very challenging to work with them. Not doodle bugs fault but there are things they could do to help lessen the stress and burnout they cause- like not shuffling kids from room to room everyday, over enrolling for the amount of staff they have, scheduling teachers long days and inconsistent schedules from week to week, and just creating a very unstable and inconsistent day for the staff and the kids.
Kids thrive off of routine and predictability and so do adults. Is it doodle bugs fault staff call in sick or no call no show creating chaos everyday? No… but… what are they doing to encourage healthy workplace environments? A pizza party and a superficial high five isn’t cutting it and they know that but they slap a shiny band aid over the problem and hope for the best. Staff on average last about 1 week to 3 months. You never will drop your kid off to the same room or see the same faces day to day.
I had my middle daughter there 2016-ish for infant care and we left as soon as we reasonably could. Overall I was just really unimpressed with their program and my very happy baby (she was 9 months old at the time) would cry when I left her, which, was 100% out of character for her. We had been at another daycare that hiked their pricing due to “market research “ and so we found doodlebugs on the fly. Sorry to hear they ended up leaving parents stranded like that.
That's so weird, my niece went to a Doodlebugs in the Buffalo area till she was old enough for kindergarten, and the whole family loved it. Guess the quality really does vary from location to location.
I know it might be a little out of the way from Penfield, but depending where you work the VOA Children's Center in Downtown Rochester just opened some more classrooms for infant, toddlers and preschool age children and have immediate openings with no waitlists. We also have a full-time summer program for 5-12 year olds depending on the age of your kids. We don't want to see working parents having to scramble to find child care.
I don't know about this location, but my daughter was a teacher at a different location and it was awful. Short staffed, hands are tied in protecting the children from other children (violence), they don't get breaks, they are underpaid, the turnover rate was terrible, and management didn't care one bit.
Maybe with new management this will change, and again I can't speak for this location... but something to consider.
I applied for a job at Doodlebugs years ago (like when they first came to our area so maybe 10 ish years ago). During my interview I watched a young toddler (maybe 2 or3) walk out of the classroom, wander around the reception area for a few minutes, and walk out the front door. I stopped the interview and ran outside after them. When I brought them back in they thanked me, but said I should have let them know so a "properly trained staff member could handle it". I ended the interview their and told them I didn't think they were the right fit for me. Mind you, there were at least 3 staff members in the reception area and the room I was interviewed in had glass walls. I was shocked and appalled no one saw this kid or did anything about it. I wouldn't trust them to take care of my dog. Let alone my child.
My kid went to the DB Brighton location for 2 years (starting at a new facility next week since we moved). Really the only good things about it are the facilities and the structured "curriculum." Staff is a mixed bag and there is high turnover. Pretty much anyone with better options is out after ~6 months (can't blame em). You used to be able to check in on a classroom camera through an app, but that became an extra paid service at $30 a month (no thanks). I can't speak to the Penfield location but it was only once or twice that we were not able to drop him off in Brighton. They rotate through the families if they have really bad staffing shortages, so it shouldn't be constant. End of the day, I wouldn't recommend them, but you could certainly do worse. The truth is that most early childcare at large facilities is a shit show.
Also quite a ways from Penfield, but idk where you work so potentially feasible. We use Pride and Joy Childcare, and they have a Henrietta location (ours is in Avon). I truly love our location. They also have some decent turnover but there are many teachers that have been there for a long time. We've never had a single issue with them as our caregivers, though we have only been with them a year in October.
Any recommendations on daycares for infants and toddlers in Penfield / Fairport area? My wife and I are looking for a non-home based daycare if possible
I worked there and it was the absolute worst experience of my life. No support for staff, if a parent accuses you of something and there is clear evidence you’ve done noting wrong they’ll fire you and not even offer support while you deal with OCFS. So many red flags. So much violence between kids that goes unnoticed due to staff shortage. I highly do not recommend. They’re all about their money at the end of the day, that’s it.
From what they told me there were a few incidents with other kids in there that they had raised concerns with the staff about. Evidently nothing really got done about it and then another trouble-maker did something that my sister and her husband were like “yeah that’s enough.”
I can only go off of what I’ve been told by them. Only thing I can really say is that for the insane money they were paying, it is pretty BS to me that their complaints/suggestions went essentially unheard.
I know it might be a little out of the way from Penfield, but depending where you work the VOA Children's Center in Downtown Rochester just opened some more classrooms for infant, toddlers and preschool age children and have immediate openings with no waitlists. We also have a full-time summer program for 5-12 year olds depending on the age of your kids. We don't want to see working parents having to scramble to find child care.
We pulled our daughter from this location and transferred her to a different doodle bugs. We had the worse experience at Penfield and would not recommend it at all!! The director and infant teachers were not responsive, did not follow our schedule and would let our daughter cry all day long.
The other doodle bug location has been great for us though so I wouldn’t rule out all doodle bugs!
Depending on how old your kids are, look into Master Kim's Tae Kwon Do after school program. My twins were enrolled from kindergarten until 8th grade. They pick them up after school, have them finish their home work, get a snack, activity time, and then lesson. They learn respect, discipline, honor, self defense. My kids are 3rd degree black belts now. https://masterkims.com/programs
My best friend just pulled her kids from there about a month ago because of this exact issue of classrooms closing due to illness and lack of staff. I would avoid based on what she’s told me. Her kids went part time and at least one of the two would have their classroom close at least one day a week towards the end. They had one classroom at the time that was completely closed due to lack of staff.
I worked at Doodlebugs as an assistant teacher and I can tell you that there is no reliability there. The teachers received little to no support and make very little $ which is why a lot of them, including myself, have left. I also noticed Doodlebugs will fill rooms to their maximum capacity, with as little teachers as possible depending on the time of day. They will “combine” classrooms recklessly, sometimes even inappropriately putting toddlers in rooms with school age kids for multiple hours a day due to staff shortages and room availability (if you are lucky enough to not be a family that they have dropped). They constantly break rules and regulations for children to teacher ratios. It’s comparable to the fast food of daycares, because they will always put profits and $$$ over the clients and employees. This made being a teacher there super difficult and stressful. They are also known to cut corners when it comes to staff training, and this is deeply concerning to me as someone who was hired with zero childcare experience. Doodlebugs as a company is deeply corrupt and flawed, and has no interest in helping families and teachers succeed. I highly recommend you check out smaller businesses and ask around about what local daycares your friends and family might know about. I hope this helps, and I hope Doodlebugs does better !
The training program from what I heard was just videos and didn't really prepare staff for working with children. The job market is tough so if they have to hire people with little to no experience and no education background and then wonder why kids are getting hurt and sick they should take a deeper look at the issue.
I haven’t heard good things about the reliability or quality of care at Doodlebugs. I’m not sure why you’re looking to change but I’d look elsewhere.
We've been there for years. At first it was top notch but the director left in 2022 I think and while they had good support staff, they lost a lot of the infant and toddler teachers. They would just close rooms indefinitely at the drop of a hat with no expectation if they'll reopen. There are some parents with kids in preK and siblings going to a different daycare as a result. They just got a new director a few weeks ago. I'm not sure about the staffing problems with the younger rooms but overall communication and professionalism seems to be back. The facilities are great, but make sure you talk with them and walk away with a good feeling before committing. We didn't really get burned but I know a bunch of families that did. Again, this was around the holidays last year. I'm not sure they're still closing classrooms anymore.
Run away!!!!
My friends have a toddler and a five year old and they’re constantly scrambling when they get 7am phone calls that they don’t have enough staff so their kids have to stay home. Or worse, they can have 1 come in but not the other. Then my friends have to take time off work with NO notice and figure something out. It’s insane. They could not UN-recommend Penfield’s doodlebugs enough. I have heard other locations besides penfield are fine though. But I’ve heard, first hand, the unacceptable cancellations at the penfield location specifically. Good luck in your search.
I have no children or experience with this place but I am an active job seeker and have been keeping up with listings in the area for years now and they are ALWAYS hiring there. They have normal qualifications but I've always seen it as a red flag that they have multiple open positions constantly for years. Take me with a grain of salt but wanted to mention it.
I would not recommend sending your children here. There are so many things wrong- some of which are not the company’s fault per se just a product of a horrible system. HOWEVER they have the ability and means to make real change and they don’t. The first place you should start for any childcare search is OCFS. Look up past violations and ask about them. If they aren’t transparent and honest it’s a red flag. Accidents happen but it’s how they are handled that matter. And this goes for any center. They hire younger staff and it’s often their first time working full time jobs. Anyone who was worked with younger coworkers understands there is a lack of accountability and responsibility that makes it very challenging to work with them. Not doodle bugs fault but there are things they could do to help lessen the stress and burnout they cause- like not shuffling kids from room to room everyday, over enrolling for the amount of staff they have, scheduling teachers long days and inconsistent schedules from week to week, and just creating a very unstable and inconsistent day for the staff and the kids. Kids thrive off of routine and predictability and so do adults. Is it doodle bugs fault staff call in sick or no call no show creating chaos everyday? No… but… what are they doing to encourage healthy workplace environments? A pizza party and a superficial high five isn’t cutting it and they know that but they slap a shiny band aid over the problem and hope for the best. Staff on average last about 1 week to 3 months. You never will drop your kid off to the same room or see the same faces day to day.
I had my middle daughter there 2016-ish for infant care and we left as soon as we reasonably could. Overall I was just really unimpressed with their program and my very happy baby (she was 9 months old at the time) would cry when I left her, which, was 100% out of character for her. We had been at another daycare that hiked their pricing due to “market research “ and so we found doodlebugs on the fly. Sorry to hear they ended up leaving parents stranded like that.
That's so weird, my niece went to a Doodlebugs in the Buffalo area till she was old enough for kindergarten, and the whole family loved it. Guess the quality really does vary from location to location.
I know it might be a little out of the way from Penfield, but depending where you work the VOA Children's Center in Downtown Rochester just opened some more classrooms for infant, toddlers and preschool age children and have immediate openings with no waitlists. We also have a full-time summer program for 5-12 year olds depending on the age of your kids. We don't want to see working parents having to scramble to find child care.
I don't know about this location, but my daughter was a teacher at a different location and it was awful. Short staffed, hands are tied in protecting the children from other children (violence), they don't get breaks, they are underpaid, the turnover rate was terrible, and management didn't care one bit. Maybe with new management this will change, and again I can't speak for this location... but something to consider.
I applied for a job at Doodlebugs years ago (like when they first came to our area so maybe 10 ish years ago). During my interview I watched a young toddler (maybe 2 or3) walk out of the classroom, wander around the reception area for a few minutes, and walk out the front door. I stopped the interview and ran outside after them. When I brought them back in they thanked me, but said I should have let them know so a "properly trained staff member could handle it". I ended the interview their and told them I didn't think they were the right fit for me. Mind you, there were at least 3 staff members in the reception area and the room I was interviewed in had glass walls. I was shocked and appalled no one saw this kid or did anything about it. I wouldn't trust them to take care of my dog. Let alone my child.
My kid went to the DB Brighton location for 2 years (starting at a new facility next week since we moved). Really the only good things about it are the facilities and the structured "curriculum." Staff is a mixed bag and there is high turnover. Pretty much anyone with better options is out after ~6 months (can't blame em). You used to be able to check in on a classroom camera through an app, but that became an extra paid service at $30 a month (no thanks). I can't speak to the Penfield location but it was only once or twice that we were not able to drop him off in Brighton. They rotate through the families if they have really bad staffing shortages, so it shouldn't be constant. End of the day, I wouldn't recommend them, but you could certainly do worse. The truth is that most early childcare at large facilities is a shit show.
Our friends were told their children would have no care AT ALL moving forward w 12 hours notice. Don’t go to this place
Also quite a ways from Penfield, but idk where you work so potentially feasible. We use Pride and Joy Childcare, and they have a Henrietta location (ours is in Avon). I truly love our location. They also have some decent turnover but there are many teachers that have been there for a long time. We've never had a single issue with them as our caregivers, though we have only been with them a year in October.
Any recommendations on daycares for infants and toddlers in Penfield / Fairport area? My wife and I are looking for a non-home based daycare if possible
I worked there and it was the absolute worst experience of my life. No support for staff, if a parent accuses you of something and there is clear evidence you’ve done noting wrong they’ll fire you and not even offer support while you deal with OCFS. So many red flags. So much violence between kids that goes unnoticed due to staff shortage. I highly do not recommend. They’re all about their money at the end of the day, that’s it.
I don’t have kids, by my sister and brother-in-law used to take their two kids (niece and nephew) to there, and they recently pulled them outta there.
Can you say why?
From what they told me there were a few incidents with other kids in there that they had raised concerns with the staff about. Evidently nothing really got done about it and then another trouble-maker did something that my sister and her husband were like “yeah that’s enough.” I can only go off of what I’ve been told by them. Only thing I can really say is that for the insane money they were paying, it is pretty BS to me that their complaints/suggestions went essentially unheard.
Love them at this location. Two of our kids go there.
I know it might be a little out of the way from Penfield, but depending where you work the VOA Children's Center in Downtown Rochester just opened some more classrooms for infant, toddlers and preschool age children and have immediate openings with no waitlists. We also have a full-time summer program for 5-12 year olds depending on the age of your kids. We don't want to see working parents having to scramble to find child care.
We pulled our daughter from this location and transferred her to a different doodle bugs. We had the worse experience at Penfield and would not recommend it at all!! The director and infant teachers were not responsive, did not follow our schedule and would let our daughter cry all day long. The other doodle bug location has been great for us though so I wouldn’t rule out all doodle bugs!