Moving to SW Austin Need Childcare References (credit, day care)

[sgoldfish]

I hope I'm doing this right, we are moving to SW Austin sometime after the first of the year and I need daycare for my now 16 month old son. I currently have him in a registered in-home daycare and that has worked well. I'm not opposed to putting him in more of a school atmosphere. I'm not familiar with South Austin whatsoever so I need some input. We're not sure the specific location we will be living but I work @ Spicewood and Mopac. Your responses would be greatly appreciated.

[achtungpv]

Start looking now. The better daycares have a long wait list. We're moving our daughter to Primrose School, which is probably (hopefully) the best down SW and there's not an opening for her until June.

[Trainwreck20]

The ones we looked at when we were looking for daycare:

• Children's Courtyard (Wm Cannon and ~Escarpment)
• Bright Horizons (Escaprment and Davis)
• Country Home (Wm Cannon and Escarpment)
• Primrose (Brodie s. of Slaughter)

Everyone's experience will vary, depending on what your personal needs are, but all of those are generally well regarded. All were about the same price (as of last spring), except Primrose was a little more and CC had a discount for Freescale employees.

Also, there are a couple of threads about daycares in SW Austin. The individual teacher will make as much or more of a difference than anything else, but there is no guarantee that the teacher you meet will be there in a year .

Toddlers are slightly easier to get in to daycare than infants, but the infant wait is ~9-12 months.

As an alternative, there is a place called Jackie's that is well reputed and less expensive than the chains listed above. It has an indoor swimming pool and Gymnastics classes. It is actually Jackie's School of Dance, or something like that. It was off of Manchaca and Slaughter, so it was a little further than wwe wanted to drive.

[AGA]

Stepping Stone on Brodie Lane!

[Southern Phoenician]

I was in your same boat a few weeks ago... I ended up choosing the Children's Courtyard (up north at Riverplace). My son's previous preschool teacher told me to go to this link to check out the childcare centers I am interested in. You can view all violations and it also includes any "self reports" that they have to send (most are due to child injury) and the resulting inspection.

http://www.dfps.state.tx.us/Child_Ca...are_Licensing/

ETA (this website isn't very user friendly): You'll want to click on 'Search TX child care' and then click on 'search for a day care'. Choose 'licensed child care center' in the drop down menu and put in the zip code for the area you are searching.

I heard Primrose was really really good and I also like the Children's Courtyard-- they have in room cameras so you can view your child via the web any time of the day. They also try to get all centers NAEYC accredited thus having a lower teacher/child ratio.

Good luck!

[jco]

I'm considering going back to work and need childcare under ten hours a week. If I take the job, it's on William Cannon and Brodie Ln. I'm limited in that I'll need drop-in or mother's day out care. Can anyone recommend a place?

[atlanta hope]

I'm interested in finding out about Mother's Morning Out programs in SW too.
Thanks!

[Trainwreck20]

I know that Bright Horizons does as little as two day a week schedules, although I am not sure it some of those people may not just be waiting for more available hours or not. In general, most of the standard, full-time daycares will have a minimum price that you will pay (say two or three days per week) and then you can use or not use the time you paid for, depending on your need. We originally used two days a week, and based on the cost then and the probably increases, I am guessing that they now probably charge ~$600/month for two days a week, which would come out to $60 or $70 per day. BHs does not have daytime drop-in or hourly care that I am aware of. Since most are fully booked and pushing up against their child/teacher ratio, I am guessing it is hard to know how much staff they would need to keep on hand.

You will need to call to find out the details, none of the places really have anything near 'complete' info on their websites. We found, in general, that the administrators really did try to help out, with the exception of CC, where we had an awful experience with the admin (the asst. was great, but she moved up to the Riverplace CC). I would just be wary of any answers I got there until they came to pass....

I understand that the most flexible daycare (or day-out care) is available from the churches, but I don't know from personal experience. The Banockburn (sp?) church is right there, and is huge....

Call Stepping Stone, Childrens Courtyard, and BHs (or maybe even Primrose, but it is a little further away down Brodie S.) and talk to them. Oh, you may want to try Country Home, too, but I don't know much about it. It is right near CC at Escarpment and Wm Cannon.

[AGA]

I LOVE the drop in program at Clubhouse for Kids. It is a family owned drop in center and the owners actually work at the facility in addition to some really great cargeivers. I have noticed very little turnover.
My kids are school age and I use them instead of having to track down a sitter at the last minute, but they recently added a more structured program for the little ones I think!
Check them out-

Clubhouse for Kids
3601 W William Cannon
892-CLUB is the phone #
clubhouse-kids.com

As for mothers day out, alot of churches have that type of program!

[jco]

I actually just got off the phone with Clubhouse for kids! My son isn't quite in need of a curriculum preschool yet, so I thought this might be a good option for him until a spot opens up at a preschool.

Trainwreck, I am going to use your list and make some calls!