Village Toddler Center

I was so excited to bring my child to the childcare center where I grew up attending & being a single father and having to work long hours…
I’m extremely pleased with the nurturing my child receives at this facility the ladies hear are absolutely phenomenal.
My son absolutely loves and looks forward to attending every morning without having to cry when I drop him off.
They go above and beyond there professional I would highly recommend this facility over all the ones that I’ve toured in the recent months.

My son has been there since 1 year old. Depends on the teacher, the experience can be very different. Since the new director stepped in, some adjustments have been made. Now my son is now in the pre-​K class, and he loves it. Ms. Kathy and Ms. Silvia are the best!!! The kids love them and talk about them all the time. If you are looking for a pre-​K class, this is it!

My daughter went here for about 10 months. Starting when she was 14 months, so she was at the infant/​toddler side. At first it seemed ok. But it slowly went down hill. My daughter was always filthy. She got sick sooooo much when she was here. It was crazy. She always cried when we dropped her off. Every singe day. Kicking and screaming. Even when we would go pick her up she would cry and get so anxious! I honestly feel so bad that I let her stay for so long. I just always thought she was just being a clingy baby who didn’t want mommy to leave. But I believe now that it was because she didn’t like going. She didn’t get the best treatment and attention there. I also noticed once that one of the «teachers» on the infant side was kind of mean to the children. She didn’t seem to have much patience with kids. Maybe she was having an off day. Idk. Once she was old enough they moved her to the preschool side. The first thing I noticed was that it was so dirty. And the kids were running around like crazy. There def wasn’t enough adult to children ratios there. Also they have a water fountain and expect the kids to drink from there and don’t really focus on making sure they’re getting enough water. My daughter wasn’t even two and she couldn’t work it well. She started getting constipated and I’m 100% sure it was due to lack of water. I had to tell them to please make sure she is constantly drinking from her sippy cup, but I don’t think they did anyway. I had to compensate at home trying to make her drink double the water but it was difficult since shes only a toddler. Also they don’t have any sort of biting policy/​rules. My daughter got bit about 6 times! And they never showed any real signs of concern. When I would ask why it kept happening they would just say «it happened so fastl, or «they’re children, it happens.» No, my daughter has never bit anyone. It shouldn’t be taken so lightly. I had enough after that. I took her out. She’s at a wonderful daycare that she loves going to. She doesn’t cry when we drop her off anymore and when we pick her up she’s so happy. So I know she just didn’t get the right attention at the Village center. Please don’t take your children here. Some of the caregivers are nice, but overall it’s not a great daycare.

We are thrilled to have found such a wonderful school for our son.
He enrolled at the age of 9 months going from a full time nanny to part time daycare and transitioning to full time daycare on September of 2014.
This is a perfect fit for him and us we both work and life would be so much harder without Village Infant Center.
Village Infant Center is clean, the staff is wonderful and I highly recommend both infant and toddler care at this school.
They really get to know the babies and toddlers they care for — I for one am completely confident and satisfied that our son is getting the best care.
Thank You

First red flag, when we walked up to the infant center, the gate was unlocked. My husband just walked right onto the playground where the babies and toddlers were playing!
This school claims to be a Christian preschool but I was told by the woman who gave the tour that they «sing bible songs and may read a bible story twice a month». I was expecting that Jesus would be incorporated to daily life at a Christian preschool. There was no mention during our tour of Easter, Christmas, ect activites. I suspect maybe this is minimum to be categorized as a Christian preschool.
In the two year old room (we focused here because our son is 2):
There is no structure what so ever. No «books area», «blocks area», etc… Everything appeared to be shoved into cubbies. The kids just run out inside, have lunch, have nap time, run around outside and go home.
The items I could see were FILTHY. Thick black smears and chunks of food on toys. My husband and I hardly touched anything and our hands felt thick and grimy.
The room smelled of mildew very badly. And while she said they were remodeling and would be moving into another room, she never showed us the room but merely pointed to the closed door.
I counted 14 2 year olds with 1 20 something lady on her cell phone. The tour guide, Margaret, mentioned the other teacher was in a meeting but when we went through that room again approximately 1 hour later, there was still only 1 teacher.
We were given a tour of the 4 year old playground. There was a maintenance work bench with tools on it! Tools! Tools just sitting around, not in cases, not locked away. Drills, screw drivers, pliers, lots of things kids can be seriously hurt by!
I felt like we were rushed through our tour and the woman did not feel geniune and warm the way you want to feel when you are entrusting them with your most prized possession. It was robotic and cold feeling; she pushed me to register my son right then. She wasn’t even nice to our son. He tried to talk to her on 2 different occasions and she obviously couldn’t be bothered; she waved him away with her hand and even said, «yah, yah.»
I was very disappointed in this preschool. I feel very sad for the kids who are attending. There must be better care around Burbank. Please steer clear!

sadly i can no longer recommend this place. Seems as if the new director is quite discriminatory and lacksidasial. I went with my brother to find a place for my niece as i had recommended this place. They too were excited about what the children were experiencing here. They were also excited to learn from me how I learned from the teachers how the children were exposed to male teachers and they required them to all the duties. Turns out the director told my brother that they do not hire males for the younger children and when asked why, she proceeded to put the blame on the parents saying that they would not like males with children under 3. My brother and I left, disgusted, at how children were taught to fear men and did not even take the tour.

This is a great school and the teachers are outspoken and they care as there caring for there own child.
This will be my second child attending the school ultimately for two overwhelmed patents there is no better alternative… my kids love attending the daycare… on holidays when the school is closed my kids are sad and can’t wait to go back and play with there friends.
Thanks for everything I wish you much success

Our boys are so happy at Village! Our oldest started at 6 months and will soon be 3 years old. Our second started at 3 months. They both receive so much love from the caregivers. My older made great friends and is so well rounded and polite! To this day, neither of my kids ever cried at drop off, including day 1!

I am proud to say that I highly recommend this daycare to anyone in search of an excellence and gentle place for their child/​children. The teachers are very caring. In addition, show a lot of interest and love with each of their children. The class sizes are according to law and the children get a lot of attention.
The curriculum is great; my children are clearly learning a lot. The things that come out of their mouths every day (in a good way!) amaze me! Moreover, I credit the school for these things.
I cannot speak for anyone else but when I walk out of the door, I take comfort in knowing that my kids are in safe loving hands. Unlike some centers where the TV watches the kids, they are always on the floor teaching and playing with the children at their own level.

Our son has been in Village since he was 1 ½ and our daughter since she was 2 ½. We were impressed from our first tour. We were shown the variety of animals the kids get to interact with, including an injured duckling that was found on a school walk which was brought back and raised by the kids, to the «take apart,» area which serves to help the kids with fine motor skills, to the artist of the month. We also liked the play based approach the school focuses on. All of our kids’ teachers have been incredible. They pay attention to the individual needs and likes of each child and are personally invested in every one. They know who your kid’s friends are, what they enjoy throughout the day, and even how they have spent their weekend. My daughter is now in kindergarten, and still likes to come back to the school to pick up her little brother and see her past teachers.

My oldest daughter is now 3 and started with the Village Infant/​Toddler Center and Preschool at 10 months old. She is now at the preschool. Our youngest is 1 and is also currently enrolled here on the Infant /​Toddler side. Village has been a great fit for our family for many reasons. First and foremost, are the teachers! The school has been undergoing transition in the last year as you might have read in some of the reviews, however; as all things change and transition, the care my girls are receiving from the teachers is outstanding.
The preschool program is a play-​based program. Her classroom is filled with books, music, art supplies, pets (rabbit, snake, hamsters) that they get to feed and learn about, and we are bringing home artwork daily. Every year the children have their own art exhibit, in which they get to show off their newest creations. The school also offers extracurricular activities such as Spanish class and dance class. When the children are not inside creating, they spend most of their day outside playing and learning. She is greeted every morning with hugs and hellos and leaves every afternoon with hugs and goodbyes.
My one year old started on the infant side at 4 months. I had such peace of mind heading into work knowing all her needs would be met, which in my experience, is hard to come by. The ratios are low and the infant side is loosely based on RIE philosophy which I love. Her teachers made the transition easier for me and my little one. In our experience, the teachers have always been accessible. They have been a great resource for us in raising our children.
Our children are joyful and thriving. My husband and I have peace of mind. The school may not be the newest, shiniest, state of the art school, but it has been around for 70 years and it is a loving space to provide our children a home away from home.

This is LONG over due… I absolutely love the programs at the Infant/​Toddler Center and the preschool. My son started on the Infant/​Toddler side when he was 13 mos. We loved the feel of the school and decided to place him there because of several reasons after having him in a small in home day care. We loved the feel of the school, the RIE Philosophy (which emphasizes play) and the fact our son would be with the same cohort until he goes on to Kinder.
He is now on the preschool side, with the same loving teachers. The classrooms are welcoming, have pets for them to learn about, they children make art, play music, have circle time and even take field trips (pumpkin patch last month) to the library across the street for story time. The school has not only been there for 70+ years! but it is also linked with Village Church. This allows for community events such as Trunk or Treat and Love In Action (allowing for parents to have a evening free for date night).
I spend up to 30 mins each time I drop off and pick up my son and the one thing have consistently seen is the love and adoration ALL of the teachers have not only for my son, but for all of the children. My son has learned incredible manners and the routine provided at school has been so easy to follow at home. Most of all, I appreciate the fact that there are development days for the staff as well as parent-​teacher conferences in order to help you have a better understanding of your little one’s development. The school encourages parental involvement, which I love!
I couldn’t have placed him anywhere else and felt so much love and support for him and for myself as a first time mom. :-)

We are sad to end our seven years at Village with our two daughters. Our kids had wonderful teachers who were with them throughout preschool. We were hesitant at first since the school does not push academics, but the lessons learned have built a foundation of confidence, responsibility and love — not to mention academics — that is priceless. The staff worked with the individual needs of our kids and Director Kathy worked with us as our schedule changed and listened to any questions or concerns we had. My youngest one is so ready for kindergarten, but already wants to come back and visit. There is a strong family involvement and supportive community. It says a lot for the school and the extended church family.

Our experience with the toddler center leaves much to be desired. My child always came home with a dirty face and filthy clothes. They lost things from her lunchbox and I feel that other than her main caregiver, the center knew nothing about her. The center also finds every opportunity to charge additional fees and makes repeated requests for donations of all kinds. The preschool has a philosophy of no academics, as they believe in learning through play. So the children will go on to kindergarten unprepared. They have no special activities for holidays other than their poorly organized Christmas program, where the director spoke for 30 minutes (trying to get yet more money from the parents) and the children were on stage for about 10 minutes. All taking place during the workday. They are only interested in special activities for the children if they can charge additional fees for it. Most daycares and preschools I’ve looked into provide special activities for holidays like Valentines, Thanksgiving, and special summer programs.
The only reason I gave this center any stars at all is solely because one of the toddler caregivers really does seem to genuinely care about the children under her care. The others seem very stuck up and reluctant to deal with any child who isn’t assigned to them, even in the early morning when not all the caregivers are present. I’ve actually seen them step over a crying child in the outdoor playground who was visibly upset and had her arms stretched out wanting to be picked up. Another disturbing observation was a baby dressed in nothing but a diaper while sitting on the concrete in the playground outdoors around 5pm in the middle of winter. It must have at least been 60 degrees outside as the sun was almost down. This poor kid must have been freezing.
They also have some questionable safety issues, including a field trip on a school bus for children under the age of 2. I get it, school buses don’t have seat belts, but 2 year olds have no business riding on a school bus with one adult supervising about 3 to 4 of them. The purpose of the field trip? To take them to Village Christian Schools and convince parents to continue their education at their affiliated private school.
So if you like constantly being sold to and hit up for more fees and donations, with no improvements in care, then by all means take your child to this place. Definitely no longer a place for us.

I LOVE Village Infant/​Toddler Center and Preschool!!! The staff is amazing! The teachers/​caregivers treat the children as if they were their very own. Everyday when I pick up my child she is busy and active. She comes home so dirty and that tells me she is engaged in all of the wonderful activities that they are learning. Playing is how she learns and this is apparent in everything she does. I would never have my child at any other program And to the person who wrote and said that they take under 2 year old’s on field trips and have no activities celebrating holidays like Thanksgiving and Valentines day as well as the director speaking for 30 minutes at the Christmas program asking for money is a bold faced liar. It’s sad to think that if someone has that bent of a sense of reality is able to write such a review. I know though that God will forgive them as I do.
Every child should be a part of this amazing program!

I received a call from the administrator today telling me that my son had to be removed from daycare immediately, as a result from a random daycare inspection check yesterday. They were told that «a few babies have to go.»
This is very upsetting for several reasons:
–they were very dodgy about telling me what happened during the inspection and the details of how they decided on choosing my son to be let go. Which leads me to suspect that: they aren’t operating at state levels or the facility is housing way too many children, or BOTH.
–it makes you question the integrity of the daycare (are they in it for the children’s well-​being? Or are they just in it for profit? the excess amount of children enrolled says it all)
–the caregivers can’t fully voice their opinions and observations about the daycare. There were days when they seemed to look very stressed and unhappy. I thought maybe they were tired from hearing babies crying all day, but now it may be because they are taking care of more that 4 kids at a time (4 kids per teacher is state max.).
–many parents are led to believe that they follow state licensing guidelines but they are not. I’m surprised they are still in operation.
–the administrative dept seems very dodgy, disorganized and cold-​hearted in general. When I was there gathering my son’s belongings, the director didn’t even say hi or acknowledge me, like she didn’t want to deal with the situation and left it all up to me to figure out what happened through the caregivers! They told me to go to the director, who was nowhere to be found… hmmm. So I had to speak with the 2^nd in command, and she gave me very vague answers.
The only redeeming quality about the daycare are the caregivers who took good care of my son and the other lovely kids he met, hence the 1 star. We will miss them dearly, everything else? Not so much.

Our children went here for 4 years. Our experience with the school was very positive for the first 2 – 3 years, but steadily went downhill.
The care that my two children received was very inconsistent: My older child had the same caring, communicative, professional teacher for 2−½ years, both at the infant center and then across the street at the preschool. After she was fired, the teachers have been sub-​par. Not warm or caring, just doing a job, basically.
My younger child went through 4 or 5 different teachers in 2−½ years at the school, and one that she ended up with can barely speak English and only works part-​time. The director never felt the need to let the parents know that the primary care-​giver was new or what happened to the old one. And the worst part: the teachers did not want to help the children with potty training! Is there anything more important for a 2-​year-​old to learn?
There is a high staff turnaround here, and each time a new teacher or assistant teacher is brought on, no introductions are made to parents. No explanation is ever offered when a teacher suddenly disappears.
Communication regarding incidents like hand, foot and mouth and lice infestations is poor. Despite the fact that the parents are emailed monthly newletters, email is never used for this type of critical information! Rather, a xerox of a note about an incident is placed into the children’s mailboxes, sometimes a full day later, and if the parents don’t check the mailbox daily, they have no idea. This strikes me as dodgy, especially since the school has a Twitter account as well; they know there are faster and better ways to let parents know!
The director is rarely onsite. When parents have issues, she can be very condescending, always pointing out that she teaches classes in child development. While I appreciate her expertise in that arena, common sense and the comfort level and trust of the parents should be a higher priority. It’s a business after all, with parents and children for customers. There are many other choices for child care in the area, after all.
In summary I would say, your kids will be safe here, but you’ll often be in the dark about what is going on, staff-​wise, health-​wise. You might luck out and get a great teacher, you might get a revolving-​door of unqualified staff. And I agree with one of the other reviews: play-​based curriculum is fine for the younger kids, but by age 3 and 4 the introduction of more academics would be beneficial in preparation for kindergarten and elementary school.

The teachers at this school are caring and loving. My daughter has been here since she was 13 months old, and other kids in the family have also attended.
The infants/​toddlers are in one building but in separate classrooms and the 2+ kids are across the street. There’s a higher caregiver/​student ratio for the younger kids, and the grassy play area is bucolic. Parents get detailed reports about eating and pooping.
The older kids (2 – 5 yr olds) all play together in the yard. The older 4 – 5 yr old kids sometimes play in a separate area with a workshop, paint easels, a duck and rabbit. The teachers are good at making sure the older kids don’t bowl over the younger ones. It takes some adjustment– you don’t get the daily reports about activities or poops/​eating that you do on the infant side. There are daily-​ish writeups on the class activities near the sign in books. It’s up to the parent to check in with the teacher to get a daily (verbal) report on how your kid is doing.

I enrolled my daughter at Village Infant/​Toddler Center when she was 10 weeks old, having to return to work earlier than expected. I sat down for a parent/​teacher conference about a week before she started. Her teacher wanted to make sure she knew what our current routine was and what was and was not acceptable to us as parents (ie. paci’s ok, swaddling, normal feeding times, etc). The classes on the infant side are 4 kids/​teacher so I felt my daughter would get the attention she needed. Any parent will tell you that leaving their child with virtual strangers is tough, but it didn’t take long before I knew all the teachers on the infant side and felt very comfortable with them.
One aspect of the school I really like is that the kids stay with the same group and teacher as they grow and progress until they outgrow the facility, at which point the teachers start over on the infant side with a new set of kids. The groups consist of kids around the same age (the kids in my group are all born in the same month), so everyone is on the same developmental path and hits the milestones around the same time. There is a sense of stability and rules, and the kids develop at their own pace while encouraged to learn.
We have not gotten to the preschool side yet, but the infant side has been fantastic and I couldn’t be happier with my teacher. Every day when I pick up my daughter we talk about what went on that day (they keep detailed records of your child’s food/​potty and nap times), so I feel very much involved and do not feel like there is any communication issue. As for the tours one of the previous reviewers talked about, I have been at the facility when many tours have come through and what you see is what you get. There is no best behavior or pretending to be anything that they are not. The teachers don’t start singing/​reading/​interacting just because a tour is coming through — its what they do. Also, even though the center is attached to the church, you can opt out of any religious teachings/​literature. I do not want my daughter to be taught about religion at day care and the staff is very accepting of that choice and does not push anything onto my family.
Based on my experience, I would recommend the facility to other parents looking for daycare.

Our son started the infant center when he was about 6 months old. We loved the infant center. The facility was clean, the outdoor space was great and the teachers really care about your children.
Since our experience was so positive at the infant center, we continued on to the preschool. It’s been a huge disappointment. We are now looking for an alternate school for our kids.
The teachers are overwhelmed, it’s loud and chaotic most of the time, and there is not much communication between the teachers and the parents.
It follows a «play based» philosophy, which I agree with when the children are very young. But many parents are leaving the school as their kids gets to be 3 or 4 because they do not teach the alphabet, writing or basic letters/​reading, which leaves the kids ill-​prepared for kindergarten.
For me, I want to find a facility that is fun for the kids, mostly based on play, definitely has a lot of outdoor play time, but also teaches them that learning is fun, and prepares them for the next step. Learning can be play too if done properly!
Love the infant center, not happy with the preschool.