Explorers In Learning LLC - Phoenix, Arizona

P R.

I've had the opportunity to work at Explorers in Learning, twice. Which means I have more insight than most who quit after two weeks or a month.

Back in 2018, EIL was a place where it was an honor to work there. The directors got along, and if they didn't I never saw it. They were respectful and focused on the children more. Staff that were there had been there a long time. They stood for something. They gave raises and praise. My first year there, I received a 2 dollar raise. My second time around, I received .37 cents.

Now, EIL is not a place for growth of development. They do not care about you as a teacher, but they love to have you as a body in the classroom. I'd recommend asking them how their turnover rate is. Just in my 1.5 years (with a 2 month unpaid maternity leave) there, I've seen plenty of staff come and go, 20 that I can think of off the top of my head. A business owner once told me, "Happy people don't leave." I'm not trying to tarnish your thoughts on EIL, but it's not a place to work if you have your own thoughts and opinions.

The only benefit they offer is PTO if you work over 32 hours a week. As much as the parents pay, I spoke with two of them outside of work and they were shocked to hear that as pricy EIL is, they do not offer any benefits. If you put your notice in, make sure you use your PTO before you go. I was denied my measly 6 hours of PTO on my last check which was really disheartening since I stayed 3 and a half weeks to ensure they hired someone qualified to take my spot, which they didn't. As a single mother of two, that's a full days pay as I worked part time.

As much praise I received from the assistant director, the parents, and the bonds with the majority of the staff there, the director and one out of two of her daughters who work there are drama filled. They ask you personal information, so they can report it back to her. You're not able to fully express yourself without walking on eggshells. If you want to be in the office, dealing with drama, gossip, a place where the director admittedly said she only knows 5 percent of what goes on in the center, and stress then sign right up, they're always, ALWAYS hiring.

You'll have a staff meeting once a month to talk about the same thing without a solution.

Ironically, even though I had my issues with the director, the parents and students loved me. Before maternity leave, the director made the decision to remove me from infants since I raised concerns about the ethics in the classroom. Shortly after being removed, a formula fed child drank breastmilk that didn't belong to her. I assume the director removing me from the classroom was to get me to quit, but it didn't. She put me in Bumblebees where I thrive as well. Then a bonus... I had all my babies that I started with and gained in infants. I was extremely happy.

One last thing... "Policy is situational" per the director. So really, it isn't policy. Policy is only enforced if you are disliked.

From a parents point of view:

The teachers are pretty good. My son was in Inch Worms and the bond he created with his teachers and the assistant director was like no other. I appreciated the love they gave to him. They allow you to bring you own food in which isn't common. My son never ate the food there though. It doesn't look very appetizing. The teachers are great, but they don't stay very long. From January to August, my infant child had two lead teachers quit.

One negative about the parent aspect is a parent said they were pulling their child because the director can't get along with his wife. That was such a sweet family and they're gone because of the director.

Letavia D.

I can’t believe this daycare center is trying to diagnose my child with behaviors, and wants to have a meeting? first of all the director Crystal is not a doctor, then she goes on to say I didn’t say she has behaviors and tells me it’s an assessment. Now she’s telling me they can’t do assessments unless they have a degree. Omg at least get your story together. It’s a daycare center all kids learn different how do you expect a toddler to be perfect. And she leaves me a voicemail to let me know that my daughter is drop from the center.

Tiffany H.

My husband and I moved our family to Phoenix the summer of 2020, during the height of the pandemic, and we are both essential workers so we needed care for our children who were 2yo and 4mo at the time. We looked at a few child care centers in the area and felt most comfortable after visiting with EIL. As someone who works in healthcare, they actively followed all appropriate protocol in regards to COVID realistically and I never felt my children were unsafe there in any way.

In the 3 years that our children attended there, they flourished. The teachers and the front staff felt like family and our children enjoyed attending every day. Communication with us was always quick and any concerns were handled quickly. Our children also learned so much from the teachers there and now that my oldest is in Kindergarten, it is clear how much he learned from pre-K there!

I will say the only downfall was the change in hours. Their initial hours were great for us and our busy schedule, but the change really strained us. However, while we briefly looked for a possible different child care location, we ultimately decided we wouldn't be able to find a place as great as EIL. We only left because we had to move out of state and my children still talk about missing their teachers there and all of their friends.

I realize families have different desires when it comes to child care, but if you are looking for a place where your kids are safe, loved, educated and feel like family, then EIL is the right choice.

Mackenzie S.

We’ve been taking our boys here for over 3 years- one is in the preschool class and the other is moving into the toddler class soon. Our oldest was born deaf and all of the teachers he’s had have been so willing to learn and make accommodations for our child. He’s doing amazing academically and we credit a lot of that to his teachers that he spends most of his time with. The infant teachers are also fantastic- even as a second time mom I still feel like I have no idea what I’m doing and the teachers here have not only kept my kiddos safe during the day but helped me with the hard things when asked for their advice such as- introducing new foods, weaning from the bottle, and later on potty training! I can’t say enough positive things about this daycare, they’re the best!

Breanna B.

Our daughter has been attending explorers in learning since she was 10 weeks old, the teachers have been amazing. She is now 18mo old and has learned so much! I am amazed every day by the fun things the teachers do with the kids! Our daughter absolutely loves going to school and she adores her teachers. Drop off is always so easy because she is so excited to be there. They also use an app to share pictures and what the kids are learning. We can easily communicate with the teachers throughout the day to know how our daughter is doing. We are so happy we found this school!

Rachel L.

Our son has attended Explorers in Learning for 9 months now. He started at 12 weeks old in the infant room and I was a mess leaving him for the first time but all the staff made me feel at ease, I could tell he was in loving hands. My husband and I are so grateful to have found Explorers in Learning after going on some not so great tours of other daycares. The facility is beyond clean, bright, full of kiddos artwork and new toys. I would recommend Explorers in Learning to anyone.

Jody L.

Parents be aware! This daycare is run by very unprofessional management. If you are only looking for someone to keep your children alive while you're at work, this daycare might work out for you. If you are looking for someone with passion for kids and education, I'd recommend going somewhere else. I should have believed what other reviewers said!

My child started at this daycare about 5 months ago. He is delayed in developments but he wasn't formally diagnosed by the pediatrician until a short time ago. I thought we would be transparent with daycare so we could work together while transitioning him to specialized care.  As soon as we told them about the diagnosis, the director told us that they are required to hire additional staff ASAP just to care for my child and that we are responsible for the additional staff's paycheck.  I understand she was just a messenger for the daycare owner but that was the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. I would be more understanding if she told us that they couldn't accommodate our needs anymore and gave us a definitive timetable for leaving.  Instead, they used hostile tactics in order to force us out as soon as possible before we could find other accommodations. I felt like they were trying to shaft us to cover their loss of business during pandemic. On top of the daycare's additional requirements, they engaged in completely unprofessional behavior towards us and made it a very uncomfortable and hostile environment for us.  They made us wait until all of the other parents had picked up their kids before even getting our child.  They also didn't even acknowledge that we were even in the building and instead engaged in other conversations with other parents.  My husband also overheard the teachers and administrators insulting us as parents and complaining about how difficult my child is to take care of.

We decided to part ways because they turned out to be nothing but disappointment and a disgrace. They shouldn't be in the education field. The way this situation was handled was extremely unprofessional.  If you care about your child and don't want to go through what we did, stay away from this daycare!

Sara P.

Beautiful facility and friendly staff. It's frankly a shame it didn't work out because my son was coming home really happy after his days there and I thought a smaller child to teacher ratio was going to help him more than any other facility around here. I'm only leaving this review so the next person with a child with a developmental delay doesn't try here and get their heart broken too.

My son went for four days. I was very open and honest that he had been home with me for a year and a half because of COVID and had only gone to daycare for maybe five months before COVID hit. I was also open and honest about his speech delay and tantrums. I didn't even have his evaluation/diagnosis in hand before they kicked him out.

Unfortunately for him, he was kicked out for being aggressive with other children, and unfortunately for me, I had never seen or heard about him being aggressive with other children either at his previous daycare or when I've had him around children close to his age previously so I had no idea this would happen. His little cousin slapped him once, and he was entirely non-reactive.

One recommendation I have for the center is to pay attention to what resources they provide to a parent if they have to tell them they "can't help" their child. EIP doesn't help children older than 36 months. I tried that for literally a year during COVID to get him assistance there and no one got back to me. Additionally, as my child doesn't have a disability, which they would have known if they had seen his evaluation that came today, some of the other resources they provided me just weren't of help. He also goes to the same practice one of their speech therapy flyers was for, which kind of gave me a chuckle.

All in all, I'm sure if you have a child who is typical this place is wonderful and is going to be fantastic. Sign them up and enjoy it! They use the Procare app, which is also amazing. If you have a child with a delay and/or limited interaction with other children, it's probably not going to work out for you, and you should just try something else. I saw another review like this and ignored it, thinking it was probably a one-off, but I was wrong.

Huge props to the center for not keeping my two week deposit though and showing empathy to the situation. I absolutely appreciated that because they didn't have to do that, and I wish them nothing but the best. I get that my son got dealt a really bad hand this past year and is going to be hard to manage until he adjusts back to the world, but he's also not going to do better continuing to stay at home with me and none of the resources provided to me for help were actually helpful.

UPDATE: Well, my son's stepmom unpacked his bag from yesterday, and behold...none of the snacks they asked us to send for him because he wasn't eating their food were opened. No wonder my son was angry and acting out. He was hungry, and they ignored what was brought by their own request. It makes much more sense how we went from "He did great today" to "We can't help him" in the span of less than a week. Now that's unprofessional and clearly a case of not wanting to follow through with the expectations set during the enrollment process. Shame.