La Petite Academy

I visited numerous day cares when preparing to have my baby. I decided to start my young baby at La Petite (Glen Carbon, IL) because it seemed to promise so much. The tour was okay and the Administrator and corporate staff promised us anything we wanted. They assured us they would stick with our requested feeding, diaper, and nap schedule. Once we started, the Administrator was very ignorant. The Administrator refused to give us the corporate discount because she had “too many babies and toddlers.” My child was constantly hurt. Sometimes we received an accident report and sometimes we did not. I do not believe my child was being changed often enough. I requested the diaper be checked hourly, but the updates I received indicated it was only checked every 2-3 hours when awake. As a result, my child had his first diaper rash. The employees seemed unhappy and very stressed. No one ever smiled or had a cheerful outlook. As a result, my child seemed stressed by the atmospher more

I LOVE IT! My youngest brother went here for two years, and I decided to enroll my son here too. The teacher to student ratio is awesome, there are only three other toddlers in my sons class. I've sat down in the back of the classroom and observed what was going on, and I was pretty confident that this was the school for my son. They have circle time, they learn body parts, they learn to count in English and Spanish. I was very impressed with the curriculum. I would highly recommend this school, it's well worth the money. I I love how the teachers write a daily sheet for each child, explaining what they had for lunch that day and how well they behaved. They get a diaper changing every two hours, and they help potty train at 18 months! They have recess, and my sons teacher doesn't just leave him to wander around the playground, she makes sure she spends a little time with each individual toddler. My sons teacher is definitely someone who is rare to find. She is so enthusiastic about bei more

My son loves his teachers and friends at La Petite. I'm always greeted with a smile from teachers and support staff when I drop my son off in the mornings and they're always willing to help in the drop off transition when he'd prefer I stayed with him. He's learning like crazy there so the curriculum and schedule of daily activities is working well for him. All the teachers and support staff take an interest in all the kids in the school to get to know all their names. I feel well informed about the upcoming activities by the newsletter that is given to the parents; it includes the menu for the month which is nice to see the healthy food options they provide. They also have splash days in the summer, ice cream socials, Christmas program and various other fun activities. My son's teacher is really great about calling us to give us good news/praise reports when he's reached a milestone or has had a great day...along with communication notes on his daily sheet to keep us in the loop on da more

I was very disappointed with my daughter's preschool experience at La Petite. I also was a half-day mom for about a year, if only I had known better, I could have saved the $53.00 a week payment. It took me awhile to pick up the cues but I was struck by the great lack of enthusiasm the "teachers" had. Also there was one lady who loved to yell A LOT. I was very suprised at this. Supposedly the lead teachers all had BAs or BSs, but in what? Those who hadn't finished their degrees were the aides, and I fully understand the need for experience along with education but more often than not, they were just glorified babysitters. Where is the Montessori method that the owner claimed to have been following? And why did my daughter's class lose 2 teachers during her time there? I can tell you that these ladies were not being paid much and definitely worked just about that hard. There was also an outbreak of lice that was NOT reported until two weeks after the initial find. By then it had multipl more

My child attended half days for about a year before I pulled her out. I guess I expected a little better for the $. (The half day moms see much more of what is going on than those who leave their child all day). My complaints have to do mostly with the food, mess and general confusion that I generally see. Why are they serving hot dogs and hamburger helper? I don't feed my child that stuff at home! How much cost goes into that? Also, why are children not given napkins to eat their lunch with? The teachers I've encountered have been pretty good, although I see so many different floaters covering for missing persons that I usually don't know who is in charge until I pick up my child. Yes, she has learned a lot. But it is pretty standard for all the preschools in the area. The Montessori method that the managers will try to sell, well, I don't see it. Take your child to the actual Montessori school in Granite City if you want that education. This is just glorified day care with a hefty more

In researching a preschool for my daughter, La Petite was recommended highly by friends; in visiting for myself, I understand why. The teacher to student ratio here is quite small, allowing the children lots of one on one stimulation time with the staff. Since this is what I provide my child with at home, this is what I would like her to have when she is away from me as well. I feel very comfortable with this facility, but would advise getting on their waitlist if you're interested - it is typically a high demand business in Glen Carbon. more