1) Whats the avg. cost of daycare in College Station?

2) Which daycares would you recommend in College Station? Preferably not a faith-based organization.

3) How early do we need to get on the waitlist?

Thanks.

1) Whats the avg. cost of daycare in College Station?

Depends on the age of the child. For good daycares, you are going to expect to pay from $500-$700 a month.

2) Which daycares would you recommend in College Station? Preferably not a faith-based organization.
Just because they are faith based does not mean they impose their religion on the kids. I highly recommend St. Joseph's Eagles Nest (and I am Baptist) or Sonshine Station. Both are wonderful. St. Joseph's actually prepared my daughter for regular school and she is one of the top students in her 1st grade class because of this.

3) How early do we need to get on the waitlist?

Once again, depends on the age of the child and where you plan on going. St. Joe's isnt too long of a wait, if any

You're going to spend at minimum about $525-$600 a month. We're not very big church goers, but we chose to send our daughter to St. Thomas Aquinas (off of Earl Rudder) after touring several facilities here. To me the faith based program have smaller numbers. The waitlist will vary from place to place.

[This message has been edited by luvmydoc (edited 10/2/2010 11:15a).]

No matter where you go, you need to get on the waitlist NOW. There are many wait lists 8-9 months long in town.

We go to Stepping Stone and love it there, the infant room is exceptional (Caroline is amazing).

The cost for an infant there is $700/month. Yes its high but I really like the place.

St. Thomas Aquinas!!!! Best place hands down

St. Thomas Aquinas!!!! Best place hands down

Thanks.

Sorry, I should have clarified the age. We're still a long way off from delivery, just planning ahead But we plan to enroll at 6 months - I guess that's "infant-care"?

Does anyone have any experience with the TAMU daycare?

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Does anyone have any experience with the TAMU daycare?

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That's Becky Gates, right? I've toured there twice, and while I like the what and they way they teach, to me it was very loud and very crowded. Each time I was there most of the babies were in exersaucers or similar and weren't being engaged, but that could have just been the particular time period I was there (maybe it was down time). They have a SUPER long wait list- so get on it now.

I would higly recommend A&M Methodist Church daycare. Our six month old started going there in August, and she loves it. The price for infants is $620 a month. I think it has about a 12 month waiting list. Do not let that scare you though, because a lot of women put there names on the list before they are expecting.

We are using First Presbyterian in Bryan. They run $650. We got on the waiting list as soon as we found out we were pregnant. The infant classes (I think they have two) are just 4 kids each, which is great!

We were going to use Covenant Pres on Rock Prairie but the classes were bigger, and the main thing was that we ended up first on their list as well, but we had our child in Aug and are not going to start him until Nov. They wanted us to pay the full amount ($650 I think?) each month to hold our spot...No thanks!!

You may want to consider home daycares. There are advantages and disadvantages. One advantage is that they are usually cheaper ($100-$125/week is about the going rate).

Just something to consider.

A lot of people like them better to centers for infants because there is more 1-on-1. But some people prefer centers for older kids because it is more "preschool".

I have a home daycare, so I might be a little biased. But I'm not trying to recruit you either. I'm full.

There are different levels of home daycare, too. Some are basically mini-centers with up to 12 kids. I am a listed family home, which means I can keep 3 children, plus my own.

Again, I'm not saying that's better than daycare centers, just another option.

Hey Mommabear - does the Brazos Childcare Network still operate a referral service? Oldest daughter is expecting in February and will need to make some arrangements.

yes, they are still doing their referral service, to my knowledge, anyway

Brazos Childcare Network
979-779-0487

For those who haven't heard of them, they're a group of home daycares and they have monthly meetings, etc. But they keep a list of home daycares with open spots.

Good Luck!

One plus for the faith-based programs is that they generally pay their teachers and aides more and have smaller classes.

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That's Becky Gates, right?

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Just a little FYI, don't confuse Ms. GATES with Becky CATES. Becky Cates has worked at Jane's Little Pals in Bryan a very long time, and I'm estimating 15 / 20 years.