Searching for Day Care in Jacksonville? (renting, day cares, home)

[BadMagellanExperience]

I had to remove my one and a half year old daughter because she was constantly and dangerously being bullied. It sounds amazing for children so young, but it's true. I tried working with the Director and the teachers to no avail. I got sick of watching the cameras (that are apparently more for parents instead of the children's well-being) and seeing my child get pushed to the ground, pushed into the wall and constantly harassed by the same child. I worked with Magellan and the site director Nilsa (who during our conference agreed that it was a safety issue) for more than three months trying to get this resolved and they refused to take any effective action. I wasn't the only parent who had this concern. Another woman's boy had been bit by this child on two different occasions.

Magellan accused me of overreacting in an e-mail (the only way they would speak to me). Here is the e-mail:

"That is patently untrue. At no time was the safety of your child in question. Bullying requires intent and there is no intent in children of that age. You overreacted. We are governed by our contract and that contract has certain requirements that we all must abide by."

The Magellan Academy
Accounting Department

Apparently my child being pushed around is of no concern and the actions don't matter, only "intent" matters and their accounting department must be filled with folks with child psychology degrees. This is just my unfortunate experience. Also, my daughter's class had a significant teacher turnover. One of the teachers that brought the bullying to my attention on a Friday and was gone the next week, I'm not sure if the two were related or not. I really did try and work with them, but they didn't take my concerns seriously. If it had been a matter of someone taking her toys, that's part of learning and part of life, but to my surprise for this age, she was being treated violently by a much larger child and Magellan didn't want to do anything about it.

I'm not enthusiastic about enrolling her into a Montessori school. She will actually be cared for and taught as opposed to going to a glorified drop-off like Magellan. Magellan was never consistent on lessons, their daily reports were always the same and simply made for busy work that the teachers had to take away from the kids.

President Thomas Blitch inferred that I lied about the situation because of money. I can assure you it had nothing to do with money and the Montessori school and private care we are now getting is more expensive than Magellan. He called me a liar, degraded my parenting skills and spoke down to me through the entire process. And although he conducted an investigation, never spoke to me or my child's mother about it. I found him to be prideful and tactless.

When I posted a similar review on City Search, he responded himself as a teacher and parent and suggested that it was either financially motivated or my child was kicked out. Neither happened. His reasoning was that because we had late payments, we couldn't afford it any more. I ask you to use logic, if money was the issue, wouldn't we do anything to avoid late fees, which we paid every single one that we incurred? If money was the issue, why did I patiently work with them for 3 months to remedy the situation?

I have no motive but to tell you that I found them to not be wholly concerned with my child's safety.

[FittyCents]

it always cracks me up when rich people think that because they spend a lot of money on a daycare like magellan that there kid is going to be safe. that aint how the world is. it doesn't matter where you take your kid cause there is the same proportion on good people vs bad people everywhere. this is one of the areas where rich people are so busy thinking there kid is going to turn out better because they spend more money on it.

[theyoungrepublican]

Interesting thread. I don't have a child, however, my older conservative sister and her faithful husband do. They are currently looking for a Day Care and they are considering Magellan. Everything I have heard about Magellan has been positive. They actually have a camera that records the kids and you can watch it online. The camera means EVERYTHING gets recorded. If there is any wrong doing, it gets saved to the camera tape. My sister also said that the president, Tom Blitch, and his staff, are all Christians or Jewish. They both have Christian Values. I verified this on the website.


The Magellan Academy (http://www.magellanacademies.com/about/ourphilosophies.aspx - broken link)

The Magellan Academy is non-denominational, not parochial, and not affiliated with any church. However, we believe firmly that a child, like a boat, whose keel is laid without a sense of who God is and His role in our daily lives, is cast out onto the sea of life without a rudder - that their moral compass is aligned with what feels right to them at the time (situational ethics) or the legal system (which is in a constant flux) - and blows with the wind.
As mentioned earlier, A Beka is our curriculum. Their Foundation Statement says it all for The Magellan Academy, also:
"We are unashamedly Christian and traditional in our approach to education. Because of this, we have often had to go against the tide of the academic establishment in order to meet the highest standards of Christian scholarship. For example, we do not use the pseudo-scientific jargon of the secular educationists in our materials; we prefer to use language that can be easily understood by teacher, parent, and student. We have life-changing ideas to communicate, and we do not want these ideas to be lost to our students.
Our skilled researchers and writers do not paraphrase progressive education textbooks and add Biblical principles; they do primary research in every subject and look at the subject from God's point of view. ("Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ" Colossians 2:8.) Our editorial department has rejected the humanistic philosophy and methods of the progressive educators and has turned to original sources and the writings of true scholars.
Of course, the most original source is always the Word of God, which is the only foundation for true scholarship in any area of human endeavor. Thus our publications are built upon the firm foundation of Scriptural truth and are written by dedicated and talented Christian scholars who are well grounded in the practical aspects of classroom teaching. For excellence for your school, you can trust A Beka Book."

[amy_sk]

thanks for sharing. IMO, posts like these are helpful. not only will the users of city-data know about Magellan Academy but people who just do a simple search on internet for 'Magellan Academy' or 'Magellan' will read this post.

[SunnyNurse]

I'm not a fan of this "kiddie barnyard" and I am not at all surprised to see that Magellan has upset someone, yet again. I have friends who speak the world of Magellan but I would sooner put my child in a kennel. A company like this would have never survived 30 years ago when the values the company claims to have were actually American Values. I really fear for the future of this country because I foresee that many of the Day Cares of the future to be very similar to Magellan.

Please do your research parents.

[FittyCents]

Originally Posted by theyoungrepublican

The camera means EVERYTHING gets recorded. If there is any wrong doing, it gets saved to the camera tape.

hey Carlton just because there is a camera doesn't mean that a movie is made. internet cameras are cheap and easy to install. you need additional hardware and software to save the movies. it isn't like they have a 1988 VCR with tapes that a janitor changes in place at most of these day cares.

one of my boys installs these and he says that almost nobody spends the extra money needed to archive what happens. he said this is usually because they don't want to be liable.

so moral of this story is Camera doesn't mean what you said.

Peace ;>

[theyoungrepublican]

Originally Posted by FittyCents

internet cameras are cheap and easy to install. you need additional hardware and software to save the movies.

I don't like admitting I am wrong, but you are correct. I spoke with the head of Information Systems at my school's computer lab and he told me two things about this type of camera in this type of situation.

1. "these cameras are great because they give all of the parents an opportunity to log in to a weblink and check up on their children."

then he said...

2. "BUT, at the same time, the cameras give parents a false sense of safety because if something happens when no one is watching, whatever happens is kind of like that tree that falls in the forest. Does it make a sound? Try to prove it either way."

I don't understand why places don't spend the extra money to record the footage the camera takes. Daycares are a place that should have nothing to hide.

I would also like to point out that I think the comment the nurse lady made, where she said that she would rather put her child in a kennel, I think that was a bit out of line. Seriously, a kennel?

[FourTimeMom]

I can't believe people are still falling for that places Tom Foolery. Women need to stay at home and watch the kids instead of dropping them off with strangers.

[Ryde41]

I'm not sure about those particular cameras but our organization saves the recorded information for something like 72 hours. If a complaint is made or the place is robbed the recording can be accessed. Unless someone complains, they are not reviewed. The cameras paid for themselves after our first robbery. That could be the case in the daycare. They might not look at them unless you allege something happened.

[indigo1]

Avoid at all cost Magellan. Someone mentioned Nilsa: Just for the record, she an angel, sweet, decent person.
The owners are shameless, arrogants and liars. ALL they care about is money. They will breach any agreement just to make one more dollar.
Theachers go unsupervised. Supervision is done by parents who through cameras watch their kids being abused and yelled at by teachers.
It took us one week to realized what goes one at Magellan.
If you love your kid stay away from Magellan.