Opinions on these day cares? (Summerville: military, house, price)

[southcarolinaonmymind]

We are moving to Summerville next month. We are on the waiting list for the following day cares.

Good Shepherd
St. Luke's
Sunshine House
Gateway Academy

Any comments? Negative or positive?

Thanks!
SC

[todseyah]

I'd stay away from Sunshine house. They're overpriced compared to most (wanted almost $900 a month for my two toddlers) and their big "thing" for the toddler class is karate...not really what I want my 3 year old learning.

[southcarolinaonmymind]

Thanks! Doesn't sound like our type of place either.

[todseyah]

Not a problem The reason why I stay home with my two is because we cannot afford decent childcare here.

[NCBoyMommy]

St. Luke's is wonderful. We had our oldest there until we moved. It's very competitive to get in there (at least it used to be). We had to camp out for out spot. We had him at Good Shepard while we waited for the new year to start at St. Lukes and we liked it as well but St. Luke's is great if you can get in. As a side note---I'm not sure that you can get into St. Luke's if you are not a member. We were members there, camped out all night and still got the last infant spot. If you are looking for an older child you might be okay.

[southcarolinaonmymind]

Thanks for the info. I just called St. Luke's to double check and she said you do not have to be a member of their church to attend the day care. Unfortunately,we are number 15 on their waiting list.

Also, we are on the waiting list for Summerville Baptist.

Thanks for all your help!

Tricia

[NCBoyMommy]

Originally Posted by southcarolinaonmymind

Thanks for the info. I just called St. Luke's to double check and she said you do not have to be a member of their church to attend the day care. Unfortunately,we are number 15 on their waiting list.

Also, we are on the waiting list for Summerville Baptist.

Thanks for all your help!

Tricia

You can apply if you are not a member but members get to sign up earlier....what I meant was you may not be able to get in (get a spot) without being a member. It usually fills up during the member registration.

[deeni]

sconmymin, do you mind if I ask a question? I don't mean to threadjack but I was wondering why there are waiting lists for day care? Is this normal everywhere or is this just something that goes on in this area? The reason I ask is that a child is possibly in our near future and I am very apprehensive about this issue. Any way around being put on a waiting list??

[southcarolinaonmymind]

Hi Deeni,

I have learned that most of the good day cares have a waiting list, ie. they fill up fast. Preference is given to existing students and their siblings, then the remaining spots are made available to new families. The only way I have been bumped to the top of the waiting list where I am now is that my 2 other kids went there so they gave me sibling preference. My advice is to give yourself plenty of time to shop around then ask the director when she recommends registering to be sure to get a spot. For the record, the places I have listed have given me a 3-6 month time frame before they anticipate openings. Looks like I'll need a babysitter from August until I get a spot at a good center.

[todseyah]

Originally Posted by deeni

sconmymin, do you mind if I ask a question? I don't mean to threadjack but I was wondering why there are waiting lists for day care? Is this normal everywhere or is this just something that goes on in this area? The reason I ask is that a child is possibly in our near future and I am very apprehensive about this issue. Any way around being put on a waiting list??

This is a major military area and that is the reason for waiting lists (that and the people who don't believe in birth control and have 6 kids). If you think getting one child into childcare around here is hard, try getting two kids 14 months apart that are not potty trained yet . We moved here in 2006 and are STILL on the waiting list on the Naval Weapons Station for two spots.