Playmate Kindergarten, Day Care

My child spent more time in the counsellor's office here than in the classroom learning to due extreme bullying.

They have a procedure where they push parents to put their child through a pyschoeducational evaluation and pay for it out of pocket. First, they give the parents a list of evaluators that they "trust", and then the teacher tells those "trusted" evaluators in detail "what is wrong with the child" (they actually provide the evaluators with the standard diagnostic criteria for a learning disorder they think the child has), and then the evaluator runs some tests to confirm the teacher's opinions. That way, the teacher practically elicits a diagnosis from the evaluators and the parents have to pay for it. So many 7-8 year-olds at that school were attached lifelong labels like that. That way the teachers can totally deny responsibility when the child has problems and instead attribute any negative outcome to the diagnosis. It does not matter if the child is teased or bullied by other kids, needs more attention and support from the teachers, is scared of the teachers, or is just having a rough semester because he or she just moved or changed schools. They say whatever problem the child is having has nothing to do with them and there is nothing they can do about it, since the child has a diagnosis already.I urge parents to be careful: Do not let your child go through a psychoeducational evaluation only based on one teacher's recommendation unless you see him or her consistently struggling at home as well. Also, make sure the child does not struggle academically due to some other problem, such as anxiety and depression caused by teasing and bullying at school (either by peers or by teachers). If you decide to proceed with the evaluation, make sure you know everything the teacher tells the evaluator about your child. If the teacher keeps you in the dark or is telling the evaluator things about your child that are not true, then do not proceed with the evaluation.

If your child fits neatly into a box (very compliant, never challenges what the authorities tell them is the answer, has no learning differences, needs no accommodations) then this is a great place for them. The school prides itself on being experts in elementary education, and if you and your child don't love everything they do and (at least pretend to) thrive in this "magical" environment, they will make you feel like something is wrong with your child and often find a way to push you out. They talk about being so welcoming and inclusive to everyone, but what they mean is that they welcome a very specific type of child and family and are not really interested in making room for those that they feel don't fit neatly into their "perfect image". It's a bit heartbreaking to see how they have made some families feel like they don't belong.

The school has many issues. They force their religion on the students. In my experience students feel the teachers give work and never teach them. Teachers are too strict. Teachers expect students to teach themselves.