"The toddlers classroom has been amazing for my child. The student/staff ratio in this class has really benefited my childs needs as well as the willingness of the staff in that class to engage in activities such as painting, learning letters, circle time and organized play. My child has learned so much from lead teacher Ms. Tia as well as Tracey and Ari."

"There has been a MASSIVE improvement in this school with new leadership in every possible aspect compared to when we started 4+ years ago. And staff turnover seems to have quelled; although it does seem like beloved teachers often leave because of better paid opportunities. We are happy with the health, safety, and general well-being of our children at LaPetite. Biggest concern is that tuition costs have frequently increased and LaPetite is now more expensive than other local comparable day care options that are more highly regarded/recommended. If we hadn’t already attended for so long and become so familiar with the staff/location wasn’t so convenient, we would likely switch schools to get better value."

"The experience when we first started about 6 years ago was outstanding. Since then staffing changes have left everything in flux."

"My child was bullied and punched in the face. No report was made by the teacher or director."

"Mrs. Lisa is great in the morning welcoming and chatting with the families. Mr. Myles has such a great rapport with the kids and make my oldest love going there."

"When i moved to this area mid school year due to active duty military no other before/after school provider had any space. I called La Petite and Ms Bianca said to me verbatim “i always have space for the kiddos” that instantly made me feel secure and know that i could trust my child attending the school. I love this school tremendously and I appreciate all the hard work the director Bianca does there as well as her wonderful staff! Each and every one of them are attentive to all kids and parent needs and to me that overpowers everything! Thank you La Patite for being amazing and taking my daughter in mid school year! Oh, how could i forget about the summer program?! My daughter loves it!!!! She wakes up every morning with the urgency to make it to summer camp at la Patite ."

"Due to our work schedules, we are typically picking our son up right core closing many days. At the La Petite location in Bowie, MD, the teachers would close the classrooms 30 minutes prior to closing and sit every child in their jackets and backpacks in the hallway for the last 30 minutes until the center closed. I always assumed this was normal until we arrived at the Gambrills location. The teachers continue to engage the children until the last child is picked up and our son doesn’t feel like he is being shamed for us picking him up near closing because he is no longer sitting in the hallway."

"We’ve had a great experience with this school. The teachers have been nothing short of wonderful! I love how they have open communication, set boundaries, enforce boundaries, all while promoting learning and encouraging imagination! All the meals are well balanced and I love that! I have no complaints! My child loves going to school and dismisses me every morning after he gets a toy. Happy child, happy mom!"

"Everyone is very friendly and my kids feel safe. It is clean and they enjoy being there."

"Things seem to be going downhill recently. The quality of new teachers or assistants being hired is low. The teachers who care aren't getting the support needed to create the educational environment."

"We started with one teacher who was AMAZING! She would take and send so many pictures and really worked to make my daughter happy. She has since left (for a positive reason) and the two teachers in the room now hardly send 1 picture a day, leave my daughter to dry alone for over an hour without really showing interest. I know she is still adjusting to them, but if her former teacher could get her to calm down quickly why can’t they. They also put her on an iPad to pass time and hide it so you can’t see it on the camera. By the end of the week my daughters voice is mostly gone because of all the crying she does. I really loved this place with the former teachers approach, but now it feels more like lazy babysitting than a true program that we thought we were receiving because of the first lead teacher."

"After a not so great experience with another La Petite we are very pleased with the experience we’ve had with this school. We love the teachers, all the staff, and are extremely happy with making the switch to the Gambrills La Petite."

"The teachers at this school are top notch. They are so warm, welcoming, and helpful. They truly make you feel like they care about your children and that feeling is irreplaceable. MS. Bianca joined as the director within the last year and she has been AMAZING!!! Her communication is great and she is so friendly when you come in. She is just what we needed; at least from a parents perspective."

"My Daughter started at La Petite at 18-months-old. My daughter adapted quickly and enjoyed it there until shortly after she turned 3 years-old. She suddenly started biting and fighting at school. We were shocked. She never does that at home. It got to a point where we'd have to pick her up at least two or more times per week. We engaged the teachers, we practiced the material they gave us at home as best we could. She didn’t bite or hit at home so we didn’t have opportunities to reinforce the behavioral lessons.
She would whine and cry every time I took her to school. She was adamant that she didn’t want to go. Not even 3.5 years-old and she was already capable of vocalizing that she wasn’t happy there. My husband and I, after months of racking our brain and worrying, decided that it wasn’t her fault she was behaving this way – she's 3 and a product of the environment she was in. I honestly believe that she’d get in trouble on purpose so we'd come get her. Ultimately, we realized that La Petite was not the right fit for our daughter when she didn’t improve no matter what we tried and La Petite proved they were incapable of taking care of our daughter consistently and reliably.
Let’s talk about reliability. Especially during COVID. Don’t get me started on the obscene number of COVID cases they had. In November 2021, they had a full outbreak – at least 2 cases they announced, and at least 1 wasn't - the one where my daughter also got COVID. See attached screenshots. This was the first indication that there was a significant concern about La Petite’s reliability and management.
All that aside, I have very little complaints about how she was cared for, the facilities, or the teachers. My complaint about this facility is about professionalism: The school director, Bianca Wilson, in particular. Recognizing that La Petite wasn't the right fit, we started looking for replacement care facility in the last couple weeks. We fortunately found a replacement school that would have an opening in a month-and-a-half. Simple enough, right?
We picked up our daughter from school on Friday without issues. My husband emailed Bianca to let her know to not charge us for the re-enrollment fee scheduled to be charged that coming week. Our daughter got sick with a cold that weekend, and got us sick, so we stayed home on Monday and Tuesday to recover. On Wednesday (today for me as I write this), I show up like usual to drop my daughter off at daycare and I’m stopped at the door by the receptionist, who tells me that Bianca responded to my husband’s email on Sunday to tell us that our daughter was not welcome back. Of course we hadn’t seen it. Let that sink in for a moment. Had we seen it, that would have been one day notice that we no longer had childcare. But we didn’t see it so I was blindsided. No phone call. No sit-down meeting with the director. No notice. No attempt to negotiate with us so that we could work out a plan. This is the height of unprofessionalism and disrespect in a daycare provider. I can accept that my daughter is not a fit for La Petite, but let’s work out a plan so that we can transition smoothly. Let’s talk about it. An email that was never acknowledged is NOT the way to expel a child from a daycare.
That’s not the half of it. While at daycare, I asked the receptionist to get Bianca on the phone. She wasn’t able to because Bianca was driving. But somehow, Bianca did manage to text the receptionist that we weren’t charged for care this week. If she has speech-to-text, then she has Bluetooth or a speaker phone to take my call. So not only did Bianca not communicate with us directly when expelling our daughter, she avoided confrontation about it. I contacted corporate to file a complaint, but they have yet to return my calls after several hours. So instead, I'm writing our story as a cautionary tale for other parents. If you want professional, reliable, and communicative childcare, then the La Petite on Johns Hopkins Rd in Crofton, MD, is not the right place for you."

"I’ve enjoyed my experience thus far"