The search is on for childcare for the impending Aggietaco Jr. We've looked around a bit, but only visited 3 locations so far. Children's Center of Austin off of Jester is the winner so far due to proximity between home and work for both of us but they are the most expensive option by far.

Any other recommendations in the North, Northwest, and West Austin areas? We live in the Arboretum, the rib works in the Barton Creek area, and I'm downtown/mobile.

I run a non-profit preschool in the area and that Children's Courtyard has one of the better reputation for traditional childcare options in the area.

agmom95 said:

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I run a non-profit preschool in the area and that Children's Courtyard has one of the better reputation for traditional childcare options in the area.

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We actually haven't visited a Children's Courtyard yet, but plan to talk to the folks at one of their facilities by the Domain.

Are you talking about the Children's Center of Austin at Jester or one of the Children's Courtyard locations?

I'd be interested on your thoughts on other options in the area. Yelp reviews don't really do much in this area and I'm not quite sure what I'm looking at when I visit these places.

Yes, I meant the Children's Center of Austin at Jester. Had Children's Courtyard on my mind as that is what is at the front of my neighborhood in Steiner Ranch.

The Goddard School also has a decent reputation amongst directors out here.

The negative I've heard about Children's Courtyard is their willingness to max out the teacher/child ratio so much. I understand they will run with the 1:16 ratio for 3 year olds, maxing at 32 with two teachers without any thought. Being in the business myself, I find it absolutely crazy these places will do that. Even with the most experienced, educated teachers,that is insane!

Also, go to the State of Texas Child Care Licensing website and search for the daycares you are interested in visiting. Read their last licensing report to see any violations they may have recieved.

If they are accredited in anyway is also something to look for.

Other parents are the best way to find out about quality of care. Our school fills up based on word of mouth. I'm sure that is why you came to the Austin forum. Does your neighborhood or workplace have forums?

We use the Nextdoor forum for our neighborhood, and I've never thought of asking there (because I spend some much time ridiculing the majority of what is posted as urgent news).

I've been checking out the State's website, and most of the reports I've seen seem like minor issues to me, but thanks for that tip as well.

I hear ya! Our Nextdoor Forum is a constant joke between us and our friends.

We had our 2 boys at the CCOA at Steiner and had an overwhelmingly positive experience (including infant/baby care). Now - our youngest is at Goddard in Lakeway and that school is equally as good for my 3 year old.

Not sure how that translates to the other franchise locations...one of the most important things we looked at was teacher turnover - that would be one of my first questions.

Thanks for the recommendation on CCoA. We were fairly happy with their facilities on Jester, except for the large, mostly open room that all of the infants through toddlers shared. I understand their facility on on Bee Cave is similar, but I don't know about Steiner. Other than that, the only issue is that they were the most expensive out of all of the centers we looked at, and maybe the only one that didn't provide diapers in house, so there was that added cost as well.

Children's Courtyard was good (not great), but their teacher turnover was frustrating. They don't pay well at all, so any decent teachers will bail the first chance they get (can't blame them).

thirty-two said:

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Children's Courtyard was good (not great), but their teacher turnover was frustrating. They don't pay well at all, so any decent teachers will bail the first chance they get (can't blame them).

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I've read similar things, specifically about the Spicewood Springs location, but I also read that management changed semi-recently. I don't know whether that's good or bad, but we have plans to check out the Spicewood and Metric locations soon.

For those that care, we looked at the Children's Courtyard at Spicewood Springs on Friday and the one on Metric this morning. Both locations seemed well managed, answered all of the questions we had adequately, were clean as expected, and the few parents we asked coming/going liked the places. Surprisingly, the Spicewood location was more expensive than the Children's Center of Austin locations, while the Metric school was about 10% less than CCoA and 20% cheaper than the Spicewood location. I suppose they price the places based on income in the area and demand.

We've asked about teacher retention everywhere we've visited and they all answered pretty similarly - that there is turnover in the business but most teachers have been with their respective schools for over a year and about half at least 5 years.

The only major differences we've encountered have been regarding diapering. One place had diapers and wipes included in their base price, the Spicewood Children's Courtyard offered a $10/week service that was voluntary, the Metric Children's Courtyard required the $10/week service, and the CCoA required you to provide your own. All offered to change cloth diapers as long as you provided the diapers and a wet bag for the mess.