Stephen's House

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Choosing a daycare is a difficult choice for any parent to make. My wife and I are both working professionals and after much debate it was decided that we would place our first born in daycare. We began our search, and unfortunately the first daycare we selected turned out to be a poor choice. After a few months it was clear to us that we needed to find a new daycare provider. Upon receiving a recommendation from our pediatrician, we enrolled our first born with Stephen’s House in 2004. Currently, all three of our children (ages 5, 2, and 1) are attending Stephen’s House. They are well adjusted, healthy, and happy children. We have never had any hesitations about leaving our children in the care of the Stephen’s House staff. Some of the reasons that we would recommend Stephen’s house include; low turn over of staff, our children enjoy it, and the organization is well run.



Due to the low turn over in the staff, our children have had several of the same teachers over the last five years. We really like the fact that all three our children had the same infant room teachers. It is a comfort and gives you a real sense of security to see the same faces day after day. The fact that all the teachers are well acquainted with our children creates a consistent atmosphere.



Our children enjoy going to Stephen’s House. They are always excited to see their friends and teachers. Our oldest daughter is in her final year and has made several great friends along the way. The director and teachers are great to work with and have created wonderful experiences for our children.



The facility is very well-run and organized. As my children have grown, Stephen’s house has placed them in more advanced rooms to match their abilities. The teachers have schedules/routines they adhere to every day. Our 5-year old can already write, do basic math, and is learning how to read.



Opinions will always be subject to scrutiny when it comes to the care of your children. It would be difficult, if not impossible to find a daycare that is perceived as perfect to everyone. Even we have had issues come up over the years and after we communicated them with the staff, the problems have always been rectified to our satisfaction.



We are appreciative to the director and staff at Stephen's House for the care they have provided our children. I would definitely recommend Stephen's House to anyone looking for a quality daycare.



Lew Carpenter

A friend I made while our children attended Stephens House alerted me to the fact that there were several positive and negative comments going on here, so I wanted to come in and post my two cents' worth. Both my friend and I had negative experiences at Stephens House, both in the unsanitary and unsafe conditions of the facility and in the quality of care. Many people ask me why I quit my high-paying job to stay home with my kids, and the number one reason is the lack of quality daycare services in our area. At Stephens House, many of the parents cannot afford to stay home with their sick children, as I was told by staff members, which is not acceptable to me. I agree with the reviewer who sympathized with the plight of those parents; however, it is no reason to expose my own children to very sick children. When I asked staff why obviously sick children were not sent home, I was told they were not aware the children were sick. I find this hard to believe, when I could tell that the children were coughing horribly and noses running. Also, when I touched the head of one of the children, she was hot. I asked if the staff checked the temperatures of the children to determine whether they should not be at daycare; I was told they did not. These answers were not acceptable to me, and I was tired of paying for full-time daycare when I had to stay home with my children half of the time or more due to illnesses they contracted while attending Stephens House. I do not feel my family should have to pay the price for being good, conscientious parents while other parents blatantly are allowed to break the rules and expose other children, staff members and families to dangerous illnesses. I voiced my concerns to staff and leadership at Stephens House numerous times to no avail. If you want to send your children to a place where they'll take your money, smile in your face, ignore concerns you express to them and allow your children to be exposed to illnesses and other kids' germs, then this is the place for you. If you genuinely care about the health and safety of your children, you will skip this place.

It's interesting that there were several positive postings in the same week awhile after someone expressed their honest opinion of the poor care at this facility, which I happen to agree with. Perhaps there was a staff meeting to discuss the poor review, then several staff members or family were told to go in and submit positive reviews? This forum leaves it open to bias in that owners, employees, family and friends can go in and post fake reviews. My experience with Stephen's House is more in line with the negative reviewers, so read the other reviews with a bit of synacism as to their veracity. If it were that great of a place, why would there by any negative reviews? My children will no longer be attending this facility either. Oh, another word to the wise, if you call them and ask if they have any openings, they will always have a good excuse as to why they have current openings. They say that they usually have a long waiting list, but I was told when we first started that they had openings because someone decided to use grandma to babysit (two openings just happened to be in my kids' ages). I've heard many similar excuses given when casually passing by the office picking up or dropping off my children. I've heard: we've had someone move out of the area, someone lost their job, someone decided to stay home with their child, etc. Could it be that all these excuses are to cover up the fact that many discerning parents simply were not satisfied with their service and facility?

My child contracted the highly contagious and dangerous MRSA bacterial infection from this center and was in the hospital for 5 days in isolation and also had to undergo surgery. I've found the sanitary conditions to be unsatisfactory, plus the clientelle is not the greatest (I believe they have some parents who are on public assistance), so that may also have contributed to the spread of the MRSA. I have nothing against poor people, but the research and statistics show that these people cannot afford adequate supplies (enough diapers and cream to change frequently enough), medical care, etc., and they are often carriers of infectious diseases such as this. I'm all for helping out the needy, but not when it comes to exposing my child to dangerous illnesses.

Our relationship with Stephen's house began in 2002 when my daughter was 2 years old. My son was born in 2004 and has been with Stephen's house since he was an infant. We chose Stephenson's house initially for several reasons, but in particular because of the layout of the classrooms and the longevity of their staff. We also found the facility to be very clean and well kept. When I began researching prescools, most of them had the classrooms separated with just a partition. We were completed overwhelmed with noise as soon as we entered the facility. Stephen's house has each classroom very well separated for privacy so the children can focus and have minimal distractions at nap time.



Our son currently has the same Pre-K teacher that my daughter had four years ago and will graduate this summer ready for kindergarten. We love Miss Melissa! It is obvious that the administrator and staff truly care about their kids. They plan extra activities and even a few field trips in the summer for the bigger kids. The fundraiser they had in February was all month long with a different activity every day. We were given a calendar of events and my son couldn't wait until the next day to see if it was crazy hair day, hat day, beach day, and then a carnival on the last day of the month!



We consider Stephen's house to be our child's second family. When children see the same faces day in and day, these teachers play such an important role in their lives. I cannot express our gratitude enough to be able to drop my child off every morning knowing they are in good hands. I would highly recommend this facility to any parent (and have).

My daughter has been in this daycare for the past 2 years and obviously we both love it. She will be going to kindergarten next school year and she is more than prepared thanks to the quality care she has received. My daughter is learning Spanish! She loves to go to daycare here and never wants to stay home even when i give her the option because she loves the staff and all of her friends. She tells me everyday how good her day was when i pick her up. I have never had a problem since she has been going here. All of the staff are friendly and I appreciate that when they see me they always acknowledge my presence with a "good morning" or "have a good day or good night". Her teachers always give me an update on whatever my daughter has done that day. I think the fundraisers give the parents a chance to assist in the continued quality care for our children by helping raise additional funds for the daycare for necessities and some extras. I personally am a single mom and I love the manangement. Ms. Jan has been very helpful to me. I feel like they honestly care about my daughter and its not just about a dollar. I can go to work without worry because I know my daughter is in good hands. The facility is clean and decorated with the children in mind. I see the staff on a regular basis cleaning the facility so I am not concerned about that. It smells clean and looks clean because it is clean.



Until my daughter came to this daycare I never let her be in the care of anyone other than family. Now I feel like Stephen's House is part of my family. In this day and age it is hard to find trustworthy, loving, quality care for our children. I would definitely recommend this daycare to anyone, and I have!

Our child has been at Stephen's House since infancy. I visited numerous daycare's in my search, and from the minute I walked into the center, I felt comfortable there. The walls are brightly colored and the spaces are inviting, with mats and toys that are age appropriate. I have been very happy with the quality of care from the beginning. The teachers in the infant room were very caring those first days and weeks he was there. They would reassure me and also give advice when it was asked for. I felt they were very cognizant of the stress new moms face when leaving their first little bundle with strangers. As my child has grown, he has developed some special needs that require extra time and attention. The director and all of the teachers he has worked with have been very open and more than helpful in meeting his needs. When issues have arisen, the director and staff have been very quick to partner with me to solve any problem or mitigate any concern I had. They have gone above and beyond their duties to help and work with my son and to them I am truly grateful. I have found the facility, toys, furniture, etc. to be clean. I enjoy that the teachers use different methods to teach the children, using technology, hands-on projects, books, songs, etc. In regards to following the state regulations, it seems to me that they meet and quite often exceed the state standards set up for daycare centers. Although I do not like the fund raising aspect of daycare, I would rather participate in those than pay higher per week costs. Stephen's House is a great daycare and we will be sad when he has to move on.

We have two children currently attending Stephen's House since birth. A daughter that is 4 who will be starting kindergarten this year and a son that will soon be 2. As first time parents, we did LOTS of research on day care facilities and in-home care options because it was a big decision and as first time parents we all feel no one is good enough for our kids. We believe that it takes a village to raise children and parents need partners in their children's education, healthcare and upbringing.



We've had a wonderful experience at Stephen's House. We have never felt that our children's safety has been at risk. At morning drop-off, we've spent more time to get to know our kids classmates, observe the class culture and the teacher's style and have always been comfortable and happy. Our daughter has been in five different classrooms since she started and each time we've worked closely with the teacher to discuss various issues as potty training, behavioral changes, educational development, etc. It has been a true partnership. No one is perfect and anytime we've had concerns, either teachers or the director has addressed them and/or educated us on child development. First time parents.....there are so many things that we learn about child development on the first kid that seem abnormal to us but normal to little kids. Do a little research and you'll feel better because so much happens between birth and potty training. Hang in there!



Our daughter will be starting kindergarten this fall as a little girl who is learning to read, can write lots of words, does math, and speaks some Spanish and German. This could only be possible by us working together. We are very grateful to the owner, director and staff at Stephen's House for such a wonderful experience for our daughter. We know that our son will follow in her footsteps!

As the parent of a child who has been in this center since birth, and who is about to be 2, I feel I have to comment on the inaccuracies in the review titled "Poor Management" posted by 12bcareful. Prior to enrolling a child in this Center, I also worked in child care for 6 years, in 2 different day care centers and I believe the person who posted this review has extremely unreasonable expectations of ANY child care center. I have never felt there was a problem regarding sanitary conditions at Stephen's House. The staff is very concerned about hand washing and proper hygiene, particularly with younger children. As far as the number of children per care giver is concerned, I have never seen numbers exceed the state requirements. Children are children - they will get hurt, both in day care and at home. Although the staff takes every precaution against the injury of a child, there is no way to prevent injury 100% of the time - the important issue here is how the staff handles an injured or ill child and my experience has always been that they are loving and attentive and communicative with parents when a child is hurt or ill. It is far more likely that a parent with a sick child will bring the child in with contagious symptoms putting all the children at risk and leaving the child to be cared for by staff. That is far more detrimental to the health and well-being of other children than anything else I can think of. And as to fund raising, that is, unfortunately, a necessary evil in day care. Child care is a terribly expensive business to run, with child care givers being, as a rule, notoriously underpaid resulting in high staff turn over and consequent inconsistency of care. The staff at Stephen's House appear to be paid better than most because the turnover is low in comparison to other child care facilities, resulting in well-trained providers and consistent quality of care. If fund raising is required to maintain that, then bring on the bake sales! Finally, I would like to thank the staff at Stephen's House for the loving care and attention that my son has received while he has been there and I know we will miss the staff and director when he starts school. Thanks to the staff at Stephen's House, I can go to work without worry or guilt - perhaps the person who has such high expectations of child care should stay home and take care of his/her children inasmuch as it does not appear anywhere is ever going to be good enough.