Day care reviews: Joyful Noise, YMCA, Kindercare, Belmont Academy, CCLC and Grandma's Place

We've been looking for a day care to get Hank into as of June because my sister, Anne, who's currently watching him, is going to have another baby in August.  Touring day cares takes a lot of time, so now that I've done the work I thought I'd share my thoughts with you.....in case you're looking for day care some day too, or are just curious.

All of the day cares have a 1 employee to 4 kids ratio, and all tuition rates are for full-time (5 days/week) infants.  Tuition decreases as the child ages, beginning with a lower toddler rate (about 2 years old).

Joyful Noise/Citykids 1120 SW 5th Ave.

This was the first day care I toured.  I was very impressed, and they were the only NAEYC accredited center (a very difficult accreditation to get).  The downside is it's hard to get into, partly due to their accreditation, but also because it's available to City of Portland employees first, general public second.  As such it's 75% City employee kids that go here.  The menu looked the best of all the centers, and they have a small outside play area.  I really liked this place, if you can wait, or think ahead and get your kid on the waiting list way before they're born!  The wait is currently 1 year-18 months.  Tuition is $1,136/mo.

YMCA 601 SW 2nd

I did not like this place.  At all.  I didn't bother getting much info from them.  The center director forgot our appointment and seemed put out to give me a tour.  She was also really short with an employee that asked her a question while I was with her.  The employees were all older women, and my impression was they didn't really seem to enjoy their jobs.  Tuition is about $1,100 per month and there is a wait, although not as long as Citykids. 

Kindercare 1400 SW 5th

I liked this place.  I got a good feeling from it, and the employees (all of who were younger women) seemed to have a good bond with the kids.  Enrollment was small, which is a big plus, but I found out why - it's expensive!  They're the only ones to give a tuition schedule on a weekly basis.  I think that's because it doesn't sound quite so spendy that way.  $332/week - not too bad.  Right?  Wrong.  For 52 weeks of day care you'll pay $1,440 per month!  Yikes!  They do offer US Bank employees a 10% discount, and you only pay 1/2 tuition if your kid is out all week (vacation credit).  But this still puts Kindercare as the most expensive center I looked at.  Otherwise it seemed like a nice program and good facility.  They had a nice outside play area, but no inside gym.  The center was compartmentalized because it was an office building before it became a day care.

Belmont Academy 3841 SE Belmont

Belmont Academy brings to mind one word: "gross".  Ew.  I do not recommend it, and they couldn't pay me to put my kid here.  It was set up very strange - spread out in lots of old buildings.  It's also very open to the public, and right on 39th & Belmont, so surrounded by lots of walking traffic.  That scares me.  This place was dirty, and it really turned us off.  I'd decided I'd never consider this place within the first 5 minutes.  You do not take your shoes off in the infant area (I asked if I should, and was told, "oh, don't worry about it").  Everything was old and run down.  The toddler area was set up in a weird basement area that didn't even seem legal (I'm short and I could barely stand up straight down there).  Tuition is $955/month.

CCLC (Children's Creative Learning Center)  2215 SE Gladstone

This center was rather impressive.  They're owned by the same corporation that owns Kindercare, so it is a big corporate day care, but it doesn't feel like it.  This center is in a remote industrial area near the train tracks, behind the Fred Meyer corporate offices.  Each CCLC is tied to a big corporation, Freddy's in this case.  A big percentage of the Freddy employee's kids go here.  The center is set up like a school, with each age group in their own classroom.  The employees seem to like their jobs, and we were impressed that during nap time all of the kids were asleep at the same time.  The curriculum seem solid.  They did not provide field trips for the older kids.  There were a few nice outside play areas (no inside one).  We got a good feeling about this place.  Tuition is approx $1,100 per month.  They only provide full time day care, there are no part-time rates.

Grandma's Place @ Clark Family Center  2740 SE Powell 

I saved the best for last...the winner is: Grandma's Place!  We liked CCLC and Grandma's place the best overall.  But Grandma's Place won out.  The building is very new, so everything is clean and in good shape.  The day care is in the Catholic Charities building, but not affiliated with the Catholic church.  The employees really seemed to like their jobs, and to genuinely like the children.  The layout is very open, this is not a classroom setting.  That was probably the only semi-downside to me - it was a little noisy for this reason.  But I saw infants napping, so they seem to get used to it.  The menu looked tasty, and formula is included in the tuition.  They use sign language with the infants (with charts on the walls), this was a big plus.  They take the kids on field trips once they get older.  They have a Spanish language program for the older kids.  They also have a really nice indoor gym, which is pretty rare.  They are building an annex next door, which will be done this Spring, and it will provide an outside play area as well.  Tuition is $973/month.  Although it turned out to be one of the less expensive places, we made up our mind without any tuition consideration.  Also - this was the only place that the center director called me to see how the tour had gone.