U-GRO Lancaster | Rohrerstown

This company has the potential to be amazing, and yet, they are sub-par at best. We are taking our daughter out of Ugro after attending for almost 3 years because her development has noticeably slowed down and she has been increasing in negative behaviors. Ugro offers a lot of amazing resources; cameras to see what your child is doing throughout the day, a giant indoor playground, and a newer facility with a lot of resources/books/toys. Despite having all of these fancier things, the teachers, leadership and quality of care is bad. We started looking for a new daycare last year when one of the teachers in the Turtles room was seen on camera dragging children across the floor by their arms, and my daughter was grabbed at the chest and yanked forward in anger during nap time. (I still have these videos with proof) These issues were reported to the Director, whose response was “we reviewed the video footage and did not see an intent to harm”. There was no apology from the Director (who is thankfully gone now) or the Regional Director Andrea who helped in reviewing the footage. Thankfully, we got moved to the ladybugs classroom where there are two incredible teachers, Allison and Erin (they are the best teachers and care so much about the kids). Our daughter has been moved to a new classroom since she turned 3 and in this new classroom there have been a multitude of issues: -Our daughter, who had never had an accident at school and was potty trained, was coming home with soiled underwear 3-4x/week, every week. o The teachers do not help the kids go to the bathroom and do not ensure the kids are washing their hands. I have witnessed teachers asking the kids “Did you wash your hands?” Of course a 3 year old is going to say yes. o Our daughter has been sick more in this classroom than she has the entire year she was in the lady bugs classroom. o The kids take off their own diapers after nap without any supervisor or help. There is absolutely no consistency in care- kids are put in diapers when they are potty trained. Minimal care and supervision- 3 year old kids serving themselves lunch (watched a boy eating off the serving spoon for a straight 5 minutes). There is constant Ipad usage in the classrooms to entertain the kids, despite the director insisting this is not appropriate and should not be happening. I walked into the classroom in the middle of the day multiple times to drop something off, just to see the kids all gathered around 2 ipads set up at the tables playing games/watching videos. There is little engagement with the kids- you can watch on the camera as kids are shoving, hitting, and being rough with each other, while the teachers just sit at the table on their ipad or looking in the other direction. They do not take the kids outside to play even though they are to go outside daily if the weather is above 32 degrees and below 90 degrees. The activity updates are thoughtless- there is no explanation what the kids are learning, the photos are blurry, and half the time, my child is not even in the pictures. Drop off is chaos. They combine multiple classrooms so there are 25 kids in one classroom- screaming, running around and the teachers do not help with making the kids feel comfortable. I My child has started saying things like “I don’t want to go to school” or being very clingy at drop off, when in the past she used to love going to the ladybugs classroom and learning. The new director who has been here for a few months is cold and distant. She does not engage with parents, is not visible, and while she answers emails and says she will follow up on concerns, there are absolutely no changes. This daycare is expensive, one of the most expensive in the county, and you most certainly will not get your money’s worth by taking your kids here.

I gave one star because thats is the only way to write a review. My grandon was in lady bug room. The one teacher was very unprofessional i watched her on video dragging a kid around twice. They are always short handed. The place is expensive not worth your money. The director does not engage with the parents. When we contacted her to express our concerns she made excuses. We no longer take my grandson there we found a better place. He is much happier and loves going to day care now. Ugrow sucks.

After a not so pleasant experience at another center (not a U-gro), I moved my son here and I have not been regretful of my decision to do so. It has been good for him, his development and my peace of mind. The teachers genuinely love these kiddos and it is seen consistently in the way that they care for the children. They are communicative if an issue ever arises and work with parents to improve a behavior or situation. They are responsive and consistent. Management is also responsive and engaging. I appreciate the way this center involves the family for extra activities and the live camera footage is also a key selling point. I love being able to tune it any moment during the day to check on my little one and see what he is up to. Overall U-gro has provided consistency for my son (which his last center lacked with frequent turn-over in staff) and developmentally he has been flourishing. My son is now in the Pre-K program and for the first time ever looks forward to “school” and seeing his friends and teachers. U-gro does come at a higher cost than other daycares in the area but you do get what you pay for. Everyone that I or my son have encountered in this center are experienced and professional.

We love the team at this U Gro center so much! The directors and teachers are all so friendly and caring. Communication is outstanding and the classroom programs are fun! Our daughter has learned so much and looks forward to going to school. She started with a pretty timid personality and the experience continues to help her grow everyday. I am so thankful that we chose this location and I truly cannot express just how much we love everyone here!

Staff was friendly and accommodating. Our 30-month old really bonded with Ms. Kate and Ms. Betsy. Lessons appeared fun and engaging. App was convenient and we received regular updates and photos. Minus 1 star only because the updates were inconsistent sometimes (in terms of quality/depth) and it definitely seems they've been hit by the staffing crunch a lot of places have. (Not so many kids per adult that I felt uncomfortable, but definitely more than I (or the caregivers, I'm sure) would have preferred) If you need a daycare option for a toddler, I would definitely recommend them.