La Petite Academy on Columbia 100 Parkway

My 4 year old son has been going to school here since he was 4 months old. Sending an infant that young to daycare was nerve wracking, but I loved being able to check in on the monitors and the teachers provided plenty of updates and pictures/videos. As my son got older he experienced great social interaction and learning. He receives a good balance of education and play time. The director, Ms. Joanne, and the individual teachers genuinely care about my son. This is a great feeling as I drop him off everyday. My son looks forward everyday to seeing his teachers and his friends. I would recommend this center!

This is the first daycare I have ever experienced. My 1 year and 4 year old go here. We Love it here. The staff are very friendly and you can tell they really care for the children. I’m very picky when it comes to who can watch my children especially since one is on the spectrum, but I trust this place very well.

Short Story: Do not send your children here, specifically infants. My oldest attended aftercare here and always looked bored and some of the other children were ill behaved on the video camera. Kids Connection is a much better aftercare option. Long Story: The incident occurred in 11/22 (it took me awhile to write this review in an unbiased manner ). My understanding is that Joanne Tucker is still the director and the woman that left bruises on my son is still employed at La Petite. On the morning of the incident, I woke up my son (9 months at the time) and put lotion on him as usual and his skin was free of bruising. That afternoon Ms. Joanne Tucker, the director of La Petite Columbia called me to let me know that my son vomited twice that day (vomiting was the norm for him at that time) and that she took his temperature, which did not indicate a fever. That night, my husband and I discovered a large circular bruise on each of our son’s arms. We sent pictures of the bruises to his pediatrician and to La Petite. In his email, my husband indicated that we were very disturbed by the bruises on his arms because someone had to intentionally handle him in a harsh and unacceptable manner. The following morning, my husband and I went to La Petite Academy to talk to Ms. Joanne and Ms. Claire. Ms. Joanne indicated that she did not know how the bruises came to be and that she had not had the opportunity to speak to the teachers in the infant classroom yet. I requested to obtain the classroom video footage or for the footage to be reviewed. Ms. Joanne informed me that she would need to request the footage from the regional director in order to review it. Afterwards, Child Protective Services (CPS) called me to schedule a home visit, in order to establish contact and to document our son’s bruises. While CPS was in our home, Ms. Joanne called and said that the teachers were unaware of how he could have received his bruises. Our pediatrician performed a physical evaluation on our son and indicated that the bruising appeared to be the direct result of child abuse by an adult. CPS investigated and interviewed the La Petite staff. Based on their initial interviews with the teachers, CPS deduced that the bruising could have potentially been the result of SD holding our son down on the changing table while Ms. Joanne took his temperature in his ear. CPS was told that our son (9 months at the time) was resisting. After reviewing the video footage CPS determined that SD was holding our son down as originally suspected, but the video showed that he was not resisting to the extent that it was described to her. After Ms. Joanne took his temperature, she left the room. After which, SD picked him up to a standing position and continued to hold him inappropriately with only one hand on his right arm while he bounced up and down on the changing table. She then picked him up from the changing table and carried him on her right hip while continuing to inappropriately hold him with one hand on his right arm. All of which caused the bruising. My husband and I decided that we no longer felt comfortable sending our children to La Petite. If our son was resisting having his temperature taken, it would have been appropriate to either perform a forehead or under the arm temperature check. Otherwise, Ms. Joanne could have called his parents to pick him up. The amount of force used on our son was highly inappropriate and excessive. I sent a letter to the Director and Regional Director and never received a phone call following the investigation. When I finally got in touch with the regional director she said Ms. Joanne is so sad that your son is no longer attending La Petite. Why isn’t she sad that the incident occurred and occurred partially in her presence? Or that someone took some accountability. DO NOT SEND YOUR KIDS HERE.

I would recommend if you are considering this location to go in for a tour WITH your children to get a feel of your own. I won’t go into details but I did not enroll my children into this daycare center.

Short version: This is the best daycare in Columbia! Staff members are professional, kind, and communicative. I have zero regrets about sending my child here and I recommend La Petite Academy of Columbia to anyone in need of childcare. Detailed version: I recently accepted a full-time job and needed to find a daycare for my 16-month-old son. The pandemic caused me to stay home much longer with my son than I had originally anticipated. So I was super nervous about this process. However, Ms. Joan (Director), Ms. Whitney (Assistant Director), Ms. Bernie (Teacher), Ms. Carlie (Teacher), and Ms. Erica (Teacher) created a WONDERFUL experience for us. Each of these women have shown us the best care, respect, and professionalism that a parent can ask for. The center is organized, clean, and provides diapers, wipes, and food! Ms. Sirena (the nutrition specialist and cook) is especially knowledgeable and accommodating of children with food allergies. My son has attended the daycare for about 2 weeks, and he LOVES IT! My husband and I love it as well. We get timely updates and pictures of our son daily. We also get access to the cameras in his classroom, so we can peek in at any time (we often do!). His teachers are always super engaging, patient, communicative, and kind. They offer a balance of structured (reading time, water play, etc..) and unstructured free play. As a parent, this is my first experience with a daycare and I'm beyond thankful that it's with La Petite Academy of Columbia.