Up and Growing Child Care Center: Teaneck, New Jersey

good school where children can learn however very dramatic always drama never fails

•  OVERALL School Rating: 1
•  Health and Safety: 1
•  Environments: 1
•  Teaching Staff: 1
•  Teacher/Child Ratios: 1
•  Curriculum: 1

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I have my 2 children in this school and I will be pulling them out!! Ever since they started going, they have been sick. I think I only got 2-3 good weeks out of them where they weren’t sick within a few months! I NEVER see anyone cleaning anything. I can only assume that’s part of the problem. I can understand children are going to be sick but what my kids are going through is rediculous!! Then it obviously transfers to myself and my husband. We’re at the point where we’re both mad. Then, this past Friday sent me over the edge. I received a letter stating that my child was “evaluated” by his/her care provider (and I call her that because she is NOT a certified teacher what-so-ever). Not once was it mentioned that my child would be “evaluated!!” And I double-checked the initial paperwork just to make sure. The letter stated that they send their staff on these “workshops for continuing education.” I didn’t know that a workshop gave you the right to formally “evaluate” children! So basically it stated that they think my child has “Sensory Integration Dysfunction” but all the problems they have at school I do NOT have at home. I personally think it’s the teacher. I will not mention her name but ever since my child’s second week at this center, I knew he/she didn’t like her. I didn’t like her demeanor either. When you first meet the staff everyone is all nice and smiley, but when you bring your children there every day, it’s a different story!! Not to mention the fact that one of the problems on this “evaluation” was that the two “teachers” in my child’s class have to repeat themselves several times before he does something. To that I say, yes, because teacher # 1 my child does NOT like and teacher # 2 has such a bad, thick accent that I’m positive my child cannot understand her!! How can someone like that “teach” our youth?! Most of the staff there have horrible accents. So of course you’re going to have to repeat several times!! But now I am so pissed off to say the least that this place “evaluated” my child without my consent and by un-approved people!! Then they tell you in the letter that if I had any questions to go and ask your doctor!! And the letter was in my child’s lunch box. They can’t even come to you and/or have a conference with the parents about this, which they should’ve because this isn’t something that should just be thrown around!! Oh, and the Director of the place has extremely poor sentence grammer. Nothing is ever proof-read. The problems start there and just span throughout the whole daycare. Do yourselves a favor and do NOT bring you children here!!!

•  OVERALL School Rating: 1
•  Health and Safety: 1
•  Environments: 1
•  Teaching Staff: 1
•  Teacher/Child Ratios: 1
•  Curriculum: 1

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Many things have to be fixed! The Director at this school informed me that she does not do background checks on her employees! Any center that does not complete a background check is not the center for my child!

Also there is no security at the door and teaches were chatting with each other rather than looking at the children The Director plans the curriculum and the teachers implement, While the Preschool and Kindergarten room lack light and windows the infant room has a nice large space with an area separated for the infants and toddlers.

•  OVERALL School Rating: 1
•  Health and Safety: 1
•  Environments: 1
•  Teaching Staff: 1
•  Teacher/Child Ratios: 1
•  Curriculum: 1

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This place is horrible. The person that had the positive comment should check out the other preschools in the area. When she does she will not want to every go back to up and growing!

•  OVERALL School Rating: 1
•  Health and Safety: 1
•  Environments: 1
•  Teaching Staff: 1
•  Teacher/Child Ratios: 1
•  Curriculum: 1

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this center is horrible. Children with illnesses such as ringworm and lice are allowed in. Discipline ranged from ignoring behavior to locking children in closet. Rats and mice droppings on tables in morning. Dirty and smelly.

•  OVERALL School Rating: 1
•  Health and Safety: 1
•  Environments: 1
•  Teaching Staff: 1
•  Teacher/Child Ratios: 1
•  Curriculum: 1

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There are a few anonymous writings that are false or the whole truth is not spoken therefore I am clearing UP and GROWING”S name to the 5 star it is. The school has security doors you must be buzzed in, but if someone is going out and lets someone in that is a differnet story then just walking in. If you are not annouced and you just walk in the girls just might think you were buzzed in if you wanted a tour you schoul have asked when you saw the infant room and a child was crying with no one attending the child. A staff member probably just did and walked away to attend another child our children are very well taking care of. You have no idea what the staff were talking about to say they were ignoring a child while feeding, there are children who get runny noses you can just wipe them and it will look like you did not. The cleaning supplies in the infant room are right above the changing tables two bottles of state required solution and paper towels the changing tables are cleaned after every child. If they were not our children will have extreme infections and not one even gets a diaper rash. This reply is for the March 4, 2008 .

This is a reply for the April 7, 2008 parent. UP and GROWING is extremely clean the toys are cleaned everynight by a janitor and the children who put toys in their mouth they go riight in a bucket to soak. Our rugs are cleaned each month the florrs are washed each night and the bathrooms are done twice a day plus after every child the toilets are cleaned. Our children are not sick unless the outside world is sick. The staff goes to workshops very often to learn and when we received the evaluation on sensory intregration dysfunction we were sharing it with the parents whose children scored below normal just to have them aware of their child and we said we are not doctors but you can discuss this with your doctor because most people like to label children A.D.D. or A.D.H.D. and medicate . This evaluation should have been a help to parents but those in denal well that is why they got angry. The staff’s education are all in requirements to the state. I am looking at a very prejudice person writing this and must say if the child’s behavior is difficult we can see who that child gets it from.
Response to the May 21, 2008 If the director did not do back ground checks the state would close them down they must do back ground checks. UP and GROWING has a buzzer door no one can get in unless buzzed in. The Director is a teacher and implements the curriculum with the head teacher. The Preschhol and Pre k classes have two huge windows each about 4 feet by 4 feet lack of light?
Response to the September 24, 2008. Every one has an opinion why this person thought the school was so horrible is confusing the rooms are big, bright and clean, the teachers are caring and friendly the school is the best in the area I have looked at them all.
Response to the ringworm and lice the school did have children with lice one child lead to another about three at the same time but the lice and ringworm comes from them how they start it and of course children touch each other and then another will get it. When the school finds out that a child has ringworm or lice a note goes out to the parents and the rooms are cleaned that night top to bottom. The locking children in closets is extremely funny first we do not have closets but wall closets that are kitchen cabinets and for mice droppings do you really think the staff would come to work each day knowing there are mice, if you find one I will personally write to the papers myself.
All in all people who are nasty and angry in life should seek help!Type your review of this child care center here…

•  OVERALL School Rating: 5
•  Health and Safety: 5
•  Environments: 5
•  Teaching Staff: 5
•  Teacher/Child Ratios: 5
•  Curriculum: 5

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I went on a tour of this school and was very unhappy by what I found. I was able to enter the school and walk through the entire place without anyone asking me what I was doing there. I was unsettled by the fact the door was unlocked, but even more so by the fact that I actually had to stop someone and tell them I was here for a tour. Once I was able to meet with the Director she took me into the area where the younger children are and I was even more upset by what I saw. Children were in cribs crying with no one attending to them and their was a child rolling in a walker crying hysterically with no one attending to her. The Director explained that this was the child’s first day and she was getting used to her environment, but I couldn’t help wonder why no teacher was helping her get comfortable.

A teacher was feeding a child, but she was so busy talking to another teacher while she was doing this that she did not even notice the child’s nose running into his mouth while he was eating. The strangest thing about this experience was that the teachers did not even bother to stop talking to one another or attend to the crying children while the tour was going on. At the very least you would think they would look attentive while prospective parents and the Director was present. The last thing I must mention is the changing area for children. While it was clean their was no rolling paper or cleaning material available leaving me to wonder how the area would be cleaned after each diaper change. The Director said they had cleaning supplies but didn’t know where the rolling paper and cleaning supplies were right now.

•  OVERALL School Rating: 3
•  Health and Safety: 2
•  Environments: 3
•  Teaching Staff: 3
•  Teacher/Child Ratios: 4
•  Curriculum: 3

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These prior posts are really nasty and quite untrue. My son is in his third year at up and growing. He is learning a lot and is well taken care of. The caretakers are all very nice, well qualified, and they really love the children they are taking care of. The children there are also very nice…they are well-mannered and play well together; which I believe is a result of the social skills they are learning from the care takers. The school is clean, bright and airy (it is now located in Bergenfield, its old location in Teaneck was in a church basement and was dark). Regarding the April 7 post, which is one of the nastiest, I too got an “evaluation” about my son, but I didnt have a cow over it. I filed it away and discussed it with my doctor when it was time for my son’s next physical. I personally think it is great that the teachers take continuing education courses and seminars (which are required, as they are in most professions today), and they certainly don’t purport to be “experts” because they took a seminar.
The September 24 post is untrue in its entirety and certainly qualifies as a false, malicious and defamatory statement. Whoever is monitoring this website should get on the ball and stop publishing such trash.

•  OVERALL School Rating: 5
•  Health and Safety: 5
•  Environments: 5
•  Teaching Staff: 5
•  Teacher/Child Ratios: 5
•  Curriculum: 5

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I was a teacher at this school seven years ago. I left because I could not stand it anymore. Children were allowed in with contagious illness, active ringworm, lice etc. No cleaning was done, there were rat and mice droppings on the desks in the morning. I once saw a rat running in the nap room under the childrens’ cots. The director said it was the landlord’s problem, not hers. Discipline consisted of either ignoring the behavior or threatening to put the child in the art closet.

•  OVERALL School Rating: 1
•  Health and Safety: 1
•  Environments: 1
•  Teaching Staff: 1
•  Teacher/Child Ratios: 1
•  Curriculum: 1

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this center is terrible and the director does not have a teaching license, that is a falsehood, the staff turnover is horrendous the staff spends more time talking to each other then taking care of the kids…

•  OVERALL School Rating: 1
•  Health and Safety: 1
•  Environments: 1
•  Teaching Staff: 1
•  Teacher/Child Ratios: 1
•  Curriculum: 1

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this center is … DISGRACEFUL! I have never seen such horrible reviews on any school then this. I did some research to find the school also had a DYFUS investigation launched against a teacher a few months agp (for concerned parents, i cant tell you much about this bc i couldnt find to much information on it other then a child accussing a teacher of inappropriate acts) I recently went to this school to conceider taking my daughter. The manager is extremely unprofessional, throwing the owner and other teachers under the bus, in a very polite way. The school smelled like old urine, there were unattended kids running around and very unprofessional staff, using vulgur language. i even witnessed a teacher grabbing a young girls arm and shoving her in a corner, NOT MY HOW I DISCIPLINE MY CHILD (im sure they didnt know i was standing there, which is clear my child will not be paid much attention to)Ive never written a review, let alone this, but i felt it was my duty as a parent to make sure ANYONE checking into this school do a full blown investigation or just opt NOT to do it as there is much more i have not written (when it comes to my child, and other children, ill go the extra legnth to help)
I hope you heed these words, as i assure you, this is a warning to protect your kids growth, safety and health. This school is beinhg given the lowest rating as i feel that is what it deserves

•  OVERALL School Rating: 1
•  Health and Safety: 1
•  Environments: 1
•  Teaching Staff: 1
•  Teacher/Child Ratios: 1
•  Curriculum: 1

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