Ivy League Early Learning Academy of Bayside

STAY AWAY from this place: Ivy League Early Learning Center of Bayside. Staff are very RUDE and UNPROFESSIONAL! We started to use this daycare in the beginning of September 2016 and decided to switch to Ivy League Early Learning Center of Bayside due to proximity to my work. Everything seemed ok in the beginning but four weeks in, I had an issue with the daycare as my child was complaining that one of the teachers (Ms. Martha) has hit her. Initially the daycare did seem very concern with this allegation and claimed that they did an investigation and that it was a misunderstanding. But ultimately I did not feel like they took my concerns very seriously as they did not immediately honor my request to remove my daughter from Ms Martha’s supervision and to this day my daughter continues to adamantly claim that Ms. Martha has hit her (she’s 3 years old but this is the first time she has ever mentioned anyone laying a finger on her). Needlessly to say as a parent, I was not comfortable with the situation and ultimately decided to take my child out of their care and that was when they showed their true colors…the staff immediately became RUDE, UNPROFESSIONAL and straight out DISRESPECTFUL to me. Of course as I was left with no choice but to take my child out of their facility, I expected a full refund of my deposit and unused days. I am not paying for a service where my child claims she’s being mistreated. I received one voicemail stating that my deposit will be refunded and will take 2 weeks. This was fine but there was no mention of my unused days. So I called again and had to leave numerous messages at the office as no one was returning my calls nor answering my questions. I was basically given the run-around. I was told that only the executive director Sharon can approve refunds. After a week of this, I was finally able to get a staff member to speak with me and they tell me this: the staff members were instructed not to speak with me and that it is not their policy to refund unused days and then she HUNG UP on me! How rude/ crazy is that? She HUNG UP on me….This is not how I expect to be treated, even as an ex-clients of any daycare/ service industry. I am very disgusted at this place and do not want any other parents to go through what I’ve been through with this place. It is also not a parent’s “policy” to pay for mistreatment of their child!! This is a terrible place. Their staff members and their senior director do not treat their parents with respect. Please stay away from this place at all cost. I honestly rather pay more and go to a place where I can trust the staff.