Young School - Waugh Chapel

Over a year before my son was supposed to start daycare I toured the Young School and was told my kid had a secure spot. I emailed approximately every month, I paid an entire month of daycare as a security deposit, I have numerous emails saying my kid has a guaranteed spot. I turned in all of my enrollment forms. I saw my kids name in the classroom. Well, that meant absolutely nothing because three weeks before my kid was supposed to start (which fell over the holidays, so really 4 school days before hand) we received a completely generic email that my child no longer had a spot and that they might have a spot in four months. If you are hoping to secure a spot for your kid, don’t go with the young school as they left us scrambling over the holidays.

We started our 2 year old at the Young School this fall and have had an amazing experience. Our son had never been watched by anyone other than close family, so we were concerned about how this transition would go. Of course there have been some tears along the way, but this transition has gone much better than anticipated. We have been so impressed with how loving and thoughtful the teachers have been in helping our son get comfortable at his new home away from home. Everything at the Young School has been top notch, especially the staff. We love you guys, thank you so much!

Our child has been enrolled at the Young School for approximately 6 months. We did a lot of research prior to selecting a childcare as we are first time parents and wanted to ensure that any childcare facility that we enrolled our child in would be nurturing, safe, appropriate, and always have his best interest at heart even when we as parents are not there. From the first day, we were welcomed by all teachers and staff. Our child struggled with sleeping in this new environment and being away from us, we were able to see through the live camera how attentive the teachers were to his needs. They held him when necessary, sang to him and comforted him until he got acclimated with the environment. Our child looks forward to going to school, learning new skills/things, playing with friends and being nurturing by his teachers.

Update: My children have been students at the young school for 3 years. We still love it! ------------------------------------------------------------------ My son is 22 months old and has been at the Young School since he was 7 months. His teachers are fantastic (many have 7+ years of experience), the administration is supportive, and the facilities are well-designed for the kids to explore. My son has learned so much from his teachers and his friends, who he has been with the whole time. Periodically there are teacher-in-service days, which kind of sucks because I have to take off work, and you don't expect that with a daycare. HOWEVER, I actually think this is a great idea. I love that the teachers get training every few months, which brings new ideas into the classroom and these certifications are a great benefit for the teachers, some of whom are working towards degrees. You can tell when you visit the Young School that the teachers are happy and love their jobs. They make the day fun for the kids, even as they are teaching them discipline. This daycare is the most expensive place we visited, but not by that much, and it is head and shoulders above the other places in quality. I am so grateful to be able to send my son to such a fantastic school. I nearly forgot to mention that over the summer the kids do water play 4 days per week! The kids love this, and it must be such a huge amount of work for the teachers to get the kids changed and everything, so I am so impressed that they do it so often. We love the Young School!

We currently have 2 children enrolled in the Young School at Waugh Chapel and previously our oldest child graduated from the Young School in 2015. I want to tell you about our experiences over the years. The first day we dropped off our little girl in 2010 she was only three months old. We were nervous about leaving her with people who were not family. When we entered her room any fears we had quickly evaporated when her teacher met us and took our daughter in her arms. We could clearly see that she would be ok. The teachers at the Young School are helpful and caring and we always felt at ease knowing our little girl was in their care. Indeed this has been our experience over the years as we sent two more children to the Young School. Our experiences that first year and for each year thereafter have been positive and warm. The Young School has done a masterful job of caring for our babies, giving our children room to grow and providing instruction not only in the classroom but also with little things like potty training! Our interactions with the staff have always been positive and the Young School has always been receptive to new ideas. The Young School has provided a unique learning environment through classroom instruction and field trips, to family-oriented gatherings to celebrate holidays and graduations. Parents are always kept informed of the latest news through personal interactions and an up-to-date email network. Questions are always answered in a prompt and thorough manner and we can always stop in the office to ask any questions we might have. In sum I have always felt safe knowing my child is at the Young School and know that they are receiving instruction to help prepare them for Kindergarten. In fact, we found that many of the lessons being taught in Kindergarten are a part of the Young School curriculum which makes the transition from day care to Kindergarten that much easier. Our experience with the Young School was and continues to be a positive one and I highly recommend the Young School to everyone.