Starling Child Care

Starling childcare receives NO stars from me, but the websites makes you choose at least one star. Starling is a horrible place to leave your child. Not only did they not notice my 3 year old was missing, they then proceeded to lie to social services once I reported the incident. I also received a bill much higher than what I owed. They added a fee for not giving 2 weeks’ notice.... why would I need to give you 2 weeks to lose my child again. HORRIBLE PLACE TO LEAVE YOUR LOVED ONES!!!! DO NOT TAKE YOUR CHILDREN THERE IF YOU WANT THEM BACK IN ONE PIECE!
And to reinforce a review from earlier, I was also deceived by their kindness and educational environment during my first visit. Donna, the owner, puts on this big spiel about what they teach the children; this is a big lie. They have no business running a childcare center.
I will say there were a couple of good teachers such as Ms. Jessie, Ms. Jennifer, and Ms. Karen. But who is to say they will be the ones watching your children. Who is to say if these teachers are still employed there.
If you decide to check this childcare center out, pay attention to how chaotic it is. Pay attention to how half the staff cannot even speak English. Pay attention to how the director/owner is so concerned about you filling out a sheet on how many people are in your household (this is so they receive more money for their food supply). Pay attention to the vibe you get after meeting with Ms. Donna. JUST PAY ATTENTION!! I wish I had!
On a side note: I guarantee the positive reviews on here were done by employees or the owner, Donna.

So disappointed.

After only 4 days and no warning, no alerts or anything, Starling discontinued care for my son. It was the first week of school with, a new schedule, new authority figures, teachers and kids he didn't know. They did not give my son a chance. We were absolutely lied to and discriminated against.

I was so impressed with the warmth and kindness we received on signing up for morning care with Starling. They were so wonderful and flexible and offered to take my son to a school they didn't already service and accept my child who has Aspergers - very bright and high functioning - and attends general ed classes with support. This was all completely revealed to them on our registration. They told my son he could play with legos and showed him where he would be. I took him for a visit so he could learn the routine. Our visit was fine, we were prepared for the morning routine, and promised legos and flexiblity to move between the older and younger classrooms. It did not turn out that way. I told them he would need social support as with Aspergers he has a hard time making new friends, being appropriate, using appropriate volume and that he had been previously bullied at another daycare when the daycare teachers were not supervising as I had asked. I was assured they were very careful about bullying. I was assured that they had experience with Aspergers. I was assured he would be welcomed and get support. There were no legos for him to play with and the routine was much different than he expected. But when I arrived each morning and asked how things were going each of those first few days, I was told everything was fine.

Then Friday afternoon after only 4 days - the first week of school, Ms Donna called. She told me my son had been throwing things, was acting unpredictably and was scaring the other children. Total crap. I told her I would not be surprised if he was testing him limits and seeing how far he could go. She told me that she observed him and he was not testing limits, (because, you know, all kids act exactly the same) She even said she was worried about the driver of the van that my son was so unpredictable. This is ridiculous. I mentioned his aide at school in the conversation (he had a great week at school btw) which I completely divulged during registration, and she said oh yes well if you have an aide at school than for liability reasons he would have to have one at daycare - which is a total and complete crock.She claimed to not know he had an aide, and claimed his issue was so severe that she was shocked by his behavior - again after knowing him for all of 7 hours max over the course of 4 days. Offensive and untrue. I am an educator myself and i have seen this before, they just don't want to deal with anything different. They want to collect money and not have to actually have anything to manage. The teacher for the older school aged children is a 20 something hipster and doubtfully has any educational experience past glorified babysitter. I'm so disappointed - I had high hopes, they seemed flexible and tolerant, but the first 4 days of school, with a child who needs routine, and they did not give him a chance to work past a little obnoxious behavior in the first few days of a new school year. Ridiculous and not ok.