I had the unique opportunity of working here as a lead teacher while also being the mother of an infant/toddler who attended in the same building. As a certified teacher and first time mom, I chose to return to work postpartum in a childcare facility for the convenience of childcare for my son while also still having the opportunity to teach. I was as nervous as most first time moms and was still finding my footing while attempting to navigate the transition of working in a public school to working in a private preschool.
My experience with literally every other employer for whom I have worked included training. No training whatsoever takes place at this facility. I asked questions (a lot of questions), but there was no designated staff member there to help or coach, and I was reprimanded for going to the director for help, who then told me I was supposed to be going to the assistant director for support, a woman who also talked down to me and would tell me the opposite of what the director would say. All was contradictory, and the director would put blame on her assistant for every mistake she made. There was absolutely zero accountability or respect shown by the directors. They would also put blame on the untrained teachers for making mistakes with things on which they were never trained, such as parent communication through the Tadpoles app.
As a new mother, there was an abundance of issues that arose from day two, including injuries that were the fault of other staff members. I am going to focus primarily on the fact that I was and still am a breastfeeding mother, and the directors did everything they could to force me to stop breastfeeding. DOL laws were broken, except for the oh too convenient one that does not protect employed mothers to pump or breastfeed after twelve months. That one was brought to my attention two days after my son’s first birthday. I was to immediately stop breastfeeding him then. The company does not care about mothers and children, but they will take your money and allow their infant teacher to judge mothers who send in breast milk for their babies. I had to listen to the infant teacher make many an ignorant comment about how the babies in her care should be “eating something else.”
Everyone is miserable here, and it is contagious. You can not trust your colleagues, because any slight bit of frustration you communicate with another member of staff will be told to the director as some fault or wrongdoing of yours. The gossip is stomach-turning. Most of the women are catty. However, some of my former colleagues were some of the nicest and coolest people. It was just impossible to tell who was actually trustworthy. There is no sense of team in this facility, only divisive behaviors and staff who are afraid to speak up (regarding health and safety, inconstancy in management, lack of communication, and harassment by other oddly-ambitious-for-a-minimum-wage-job staff members)— because those who do lose their jobs. This is childcare, not Game of Thrones, ladies.
Most people simply quit once they have had enough, which is why there is such high turnover at this location.
Upper management and Employee Relations protect their bottom line and their bank accounts, not their employees (or families). They create elaborate lies to terminate employees who call Employee Relations due to black mold in the building and harassment.
Do not work here if you are a professional who wants to teach. Professionalism is checked at the door. Do not work here if you are a new mother, especially a first time mother who is breastfeeding — because, let’s be real now: this company’s priorities are as backwards as it gets. Do not work here if you are interested in working as part of a team with the expectations that you will receive support when you need it, or, well, any support at all.
TLDR: Do not work here. The only thing this company is good for is learning all of what NOT to do in childcare and then taking your knowledge and experience to another, better company or school. But, honestly, it is not worth the damage to your physical and mental health or the abuse and condescension you would endure on a daily basis. Just don’t do it (unless you are a sociopath or a masochist, in which case you probably shouldn’t be working with babies and children).
