Preschools - Anderson Mill Area (Austin, Cedar Park: credit, daycare, neighborhood)

[JR1211]

My family is in the process of moving to Austin and are looking for some feedback from anyone who may have some experience/heard anything about these schools that would be helpful in making in a decision. Currently, we're looking at the following three preschools for our 2 year old daughter:

AUSTIN CHILDREN’S ACADEMY
12310 Ranch Rd 620 N
Austin TX 78750

RISING STARS PRESCHOOL
3307 El Salido Parkway
Cedar Park, TX 78613

STEPPING STONE SCHOOL
12301 Hymeadow Dr
Austin TX 78750

As a FYI, we'll be living in the Comanche Trail neighborhood around Lake Travis (78732). Thank you so much in advance for any advice/help/suggestions!

[mesmer]

Are you looking for a daycare or a preschool?

[COCUE]

Do you have any reason to be in Anderson Mill area daily? These preschools may be excellent but they seem really far from where you live. If your work or something isn't bringing you to Anderson Mill, I would suggest considering preschools closer to home. 620 traffic is miserable

[CarnivalGal]

Do you need a full-time center or would part-time be OK. I agree that driving up to those schools will be tough. Traffic through that area is horrible.

For full-time, I would check out School in the Hills. It's in Steiner Ranch and pretty close to you. You will also be going against traffic, so it shouldn't be much of an issue. Very good center.

I teach preschool, the only one of these schools that I have heard bad things about was Stepping Stone.

You can look up inspection and licensing reports of any school here: DFPS Search for Child Care Center or Home

Every school, even the best, will most likely have some infraction. Some are very minor, like not having a lesson plan posted. Be more wary of schools that have background checks not up to date, out of ratio, or caregiver was unsure of number of children, that sort of thing.

[JR1211]

Thank you all for the response. CarnivalGal...that website is golden . The reason we're looking around that area for preschools is because work will bring us there each day.

[CarnivalGal]

Originally Posted by JR1211

Thank you all for the response. CarnivalGal...that website is golden . The reason we're looking around that area for preschools is because work will bring us there each day.

I would also advise you to not put too much weight on accreditation. They really don't mean much. The absolute worst center I have ever been in (I had to observe there for a class) was (and still is) NAEYC accredited. Some of the best centers I have ever been in had no accreditation at all.

A lot of bad schools get accredited so they seem to be better than they are. A lot of really excellent schools have dropped their accreditation altogether because the paperwork and administrative BS required is absurd, and hey got tired of dealing with it. And they don't need a piece of paper to "prove" they are good.