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Does anyone have any information on daycares in the Mahwah/Ramsey area for a 2.5 year old.
Looking for full time care specifically at Lightbridge Academy, Prodigy Academie and the Learning Experience.
Any thoughts on any of these (how are the teachers/directors and centers) and approximate tuition rates for a 2.5 year old?
We are going to be moving to the area soon and before I decide to go on tours of any of these places I wanted to see if anyone had any thoughts; good or bad.
We didn't go to the Learning Experience, but Lightbridge Academy seemed too rigid and felt like the children were already in a very structured grade school environment. It seemed like there were overall more kids and the workers and managers only focused on their specific roles.
At Prodigy Academie, we were impressed that everyone from random caregivers to the manager and even the owner seemed to know all of the children's names. They all show excitement when the children and parents arrive and their program, while structured, also gives the kids the freedom to be kids.
We were looking for daycare for a 6 month old and another detail we noticed was that Prodigy Academie has everyone take off their shoes prior to going into the infant room while I don't believe Light Bridge did anything and another daycare, I think it was The Goddard School, had a sticky mat to help with cleaning shoes. Additionally, Prodigy had less room in the infant room than the others so while the child to caretaker ratio is the same, it seemed like they would have less distractions.
One other aspect of Prodigy Academie we liked compared to all of the others we visited was that it seemed to be the most culturally and racially diverse. While it's not a negative for the others, my spouse and I liked the idea of our child spending time with kids from various backgrounds.
If I remember correctly, one big plus for Lightbridge is that they have a big gym that kids can play in rain or shine.
Pricing changes from year to year but I believe they were within a few hundred dollars of each other. I think Lightbridge had additional fees for food though.
Overall, we're VERY happy that we chose Prodigy Academie, but I would still recommend taking the time to visit each and seeing what you feel fits your child best.
Thanks so much for your reply! How long have you been at Prodigy? If you don't mind me asking or don't mind sharing, about how much do you pay per month? Does the pricing go down at certain ages? I called Prodigy but like most places, they won't give pricing on the phone. I had called KinderCare and they did give me pricing and due to what they quoted me, I'm not even going to look at it. I was pretty astonished at what they were asking.
You gave me some great feedback. Thank you so much!
Sorry for the delay. We've been there for a few years. Current pricing is around $1500 - $1600 / month.
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