Preschool - Bethesda child development in middletown (daycares, home)

[MovingtoDE2014]

Does anyone have any experience wih the Bethesda child development center in Middletown de? I'm thinking of enrolling my kids there. I had a great tour but was unable to find any reviews online, and would love to hear from parents who've sent their kids there. Thanks!

[momonthemove]

I don't know anything about the school - however it is located in an area that is congested with traffic. Depending on your drop off/pick up times it could be difficult and time consuming.

[newmassphd]

Given our search for a good daycare, I've come to study and know a number of daycares in a 40 mile radius.
While I didn't send my kids there, theirs was among the dozen (literally) facilities we considered.

For an empirical evaluation, I would recommend you consult the Delaware stars program (can be found via web-search).

DE stars evaluates childcare/early learning centers/provider through a number of quality metrics. The ratings range from
zero starts up to a maximum of five stars. Various factors including continuing provider education, facilities, access control,
etc. enter into the evaluations.

The Bethesda child care center rates at 5-stars. In my experience, for the most part, the stars rating coincides with the quality of daycare. We pulled our child out of a 3-star facility (not knowing it was 3 star) and moved her to a 5-star facility and noticed a remarkable difference.

We found the best places will fill up quickly, so we found it effective to get added to the wait list for 3 centers.
When Bank of America, Gore, and AtraZeneca scuttled their daycare programs, it flooded the local market
with additional families vying for daycare slots. It wouldn't cost you more than a nominal deposit to
secure a space on a wait list at a daycare. Some places don't require deposits and some do.

Also think about what my wife and I called the daycare-strategy. It seemed in our situation to have the daycare
in one of two places, either closer to home or closer to work. That way, in the handful of "your child is sick
and you need to pick him/her up," scenarios it is more convenient and accessible. Made the mistake once
of having it mid-way between home and work. Certainly it isn't an issue if your home and place of work are
fairly close to one another.

Beyond the stars program. Think of your child's personality. While there's not much you can do about the
ratios in Delaware (short of hiring a nanny). For a child of 2+ years, the ratio is 7:1. Given that,
having 1-teacher present with 7 kids is more personal that 2-teachers present with 14 kids. My daughter is
more introvert, so the 1-teacher to 7-kids works better. Facilities will respect the ratios and some will
also be fractionally lower than state mandated ratio limits.

If you are near the Maryland border and find a good daycare in MD, their ratios are better than DE.

In MD…

Young toddler,ratio is 1:3
For 2-years, MD ratio is 1:6

In DE…

12-24months, ratio is 1:7
2-3 years, ratio is 1:10

granted some facilities will staff right at the ratios and some may staff
more favorably (such as 1:6) than DE mandated ratio limit.

If you find you are on a wait list for Bethesda, there's always the Goddard near the
Amazon facility in Middletown you could use as a placeholder until a slot at
Bethesda opens and you are next on the wait list.

In addition, I used to drive by Bethesda on Main Street twice daily. The traffic can get
very hectic, a strategy I saw many parents using is to park in the parking lot
and walk the one or two blocks to the facility rather than fighting to get out
of a parking slot right on the Main street.

Good luck.

[MovingtoDE2014]

Thank you so much for all of that insightful information. It is really helpful!