Children's Courtyard at Valley Ranch, Irving

i worked at the childrens courtyard in plano for over a year. if you would like to talk about the way they run their centers, feel free to call me. ###-###-####

N.

I had my daughter there from 12 weeks - 14 months. She's 4 now, so my information is a little dated. All in all, we were happy there and left because we moved and I changed jobs, so the location was no longer good for us.

The facility was very nice, and they have web camera access to view your child during the day. I loved the head infant teacher, at that time and the lead teachers in the toddler room were also good with the kids. The director was very attentive to the room ratios and was always accessible. I did find that they had a pretty high turnover rate with so many of the employees being 20ish and only there as a stepping stone. With that, it was difficult on my daughter when she was around a year to show up in the morning and have a new face.

All in all, we were happy there, my daughter was well taken care of, and we built good relationships with some of the teachers (who I think were underpaid!). There were signs of bureaucracy, but I was able to communicate concerns with the director when I thought they were negatively impacting the teachers.

Good luck!

My daughter went to Children's Courtyard in Grand Prairie. She was there for less than four months before I moved her to another daycare for 2 years...

From my experiences, it seems that the director really sets the tone for the daycare. If you have a good director, then he/she is more likely to keep the staff trained and in line...but they can't control every aspect of the children's care. There tends to be a lot of turnover at Children's Courtyard in GP...including several employees that were fired.

I got to know some of the ladies that worked at Children's Courtyard in GP and learned that they're not paid well...and that there tends to be a good bit of conflict between the employees. Their general guideline is not to tell the parents anything other than the bare minimum. Although their official policy is that parents are always welcome...they really don't like parents to visit.

The Children's Courtyard does a good job of advertising and projecting a positive image to the public...but the ratios are really not better than any other large daycare...and the employees don't seem to get more money/training than other large daycares. They do have a great playground, though!

I hope you find a good fit for your child. Finding good child care is very hard. I did a lot of research, and still, the daycares I used fell short. I think a home daycare may be a better option, especially if you know the provider.

Good luck!

I have no info about the CC in Irving. I sent my infant (3 months to 11 months) to the one in Bedford. We had a few problems in the beginning. But once we got all of it straightened out, it was a wonderful school! They have a good curriculiam (sp) for the "older" kids too. I looked into it because I didn't want her going to different centers. They are structured. My daughter loves going to daycare. She was a totally different kid after about 2 weeks. But don't worry, it was a good change. Good luck.