United Way of Central Maryland Family Center in Columbia

My daughter has been attending this school since she about 11 months old and is getting ready to transition to the two year old classroom. she is thriving at this school and I couldn't be more proud. The Teachers put the kids first above anything. she is learning so for a one year old she can identify her letters numbers 1-10, can count to 20, learned colors, shapes, and has made plenty of friends. I am so happy I picked this school for my daughter.

The United Way Family Center in Columbia is a wonderful place for childcare in the Howard County area. Our family prefers childcare spaces that are accredited, regulated, have trained staff, are in commercial buildings rather than residential spaces, and above all, are community oriented and have family support systems. Our original plan was for me to stay at home with our child. Life had other plans for us and we found ourselves struggling to find a place with open availability and a mission/vision that resonated with us when our son was 16 months. The United Way Family Center was a wonderful find for us! While we understand the need for various types of childcare options, for us it was critical to find a place that felt more like an educational community resource, rather than a business opportunity to capitalize on. We kept coming across places that advertised that they were "different" because they were being ran/directed by someone who was a parent themselves. To us that is not a good enough reason to chose a place to look after our child. It made the search in our area incredibly hard, because that is the majority of childcare options that you can easily find online, for our area. While our first wish was to place our child in a Montessori accredited daycare, Howard county lacked openings/support for his age group, so we had to give that dream up and we don't see ourselves revisiting that option now that we are settled into the United Way Family Center. I cannot stress how lucky we were to find the Family Center. Our search was exhausting up until coming across them online. The center is still pretty new! The United Way Family Center checked off so many of our boxes in what we wanted from a childcare facility. We have been with them for about six months now. Our child started in the infants room and is now in the toddlers room. From the beginning it has been clear that they are transparent in their practices and very communicative. We feel that we are part of a community here. They are inclusive of all families, in all of their support. Our family was worried about the transition into group childcare. We were going from slow mornings at home, with Montessori style education/play, and a high needs child that loves to be held... to leaving him in care of teachers in a group setting. It was a reality that we had to adjust to as parents, and that was hard, regardless of where we would have been. But the staff was helpful. I think that the transition was hardest on us, as adults, because we had expectations for what we wanted it to look and feel like...while there was some room for improvement on the experience, we do think that the family center handled it well. Whenever we've had small issues.. for example, we thought the sound machine at nap time was being put on too loudly, staff took immediate action once we requested that it be lowered. This is just a tiny example in how even if there is something that stands out to us, they are willing to address it. As for the best thing I can say about the center is how kind the staff members are. The teachers that we have come across are absolute sweethearts that want the best for their students. They pay close attention to their teacher to student ratios, and are diligent about ensuring that they are always in compliance, and while I am sure that is a hard thing to do in practice, it gives us peace of mind that our child is being cared for. As a mandated reporter in my line of work, I appreciate the use of cameras in the rooms for the manager monitor/supervise the interactions of the adults/children in their rooms. And although we are not a big fans of our child being photographed, we appreciate the pictures taken throughout the day and shared with each individual family of what our children are doing in school. The Center uses a great app to communicate every happening going on with each child, and while I am sure that is also a challenge for the teacher to be inputting all of that information, I am thankful for it. Big thank you to the family center!