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March 2025 by Lyndsey Mcilwain
My son loves going to school at The Merit School and always feels loved by his teachers Ms Asya and Ms Taylor! I appreciate the app that allows me to see everything he’s doing all day and to see photos of him! The administrators Ms Faye and Ms Ashley are extremely kind, knowledgeable and take the time to know my son.
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August 2024 by Alexis Franz
I cannot express how much I love this childcare facility. As a first time mom who had a lot of anxiety about putting my daughter in childcare, I am so grateful we found this place. The facility is incredibly clean, the staff is unbelievably friendly, and the environment is so loving and nurturing. My daughter has learned so much in her time here and looks forward to going every day. Highly recommend!
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July 2024 by Macayla Chace
I cannot recommend Merit School of Quantico enough!!! Our daughter started at 4 months which was very challenging for me as a first time mom, and a new parent in general. From the first day, our daughter has received loving and quality care. As a military family away from our own family, it has been so wonderful to have trustworthy care that we can count on for our daughter. She is 13 months now and we are getting ready to move back home. I will greatly miss her teachers and the staff. Thank you again for taking care of my baby girl. We will always appreciate you!!!
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May 2023 by Melanie Daniel
I have to say that this is the best place to have care for your babies. I have SEVERE PTSD and Anxiety, especially when it comes to my children. I literally had peace of mind knowing that this school had a strong communication, reported anything/everything that happened to your child (falling, child Vs child incident, etc) and just seeing both of my children enjoy attending or looking forward to the next day. Highly recommended.
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February 2023 by Lindey Maza-Collins
Highly recommend the Merit School at Quantico! My daughter has been in the school since she was 3 months old. She has been in 3 different classes as she continue to grow. The teachers in Baby A took incredible care of her and help ease the first time mom anxiety of leaving your little one. They would send photos daily, listen to concerns, and gave my daughter plenty of cuddles. Baby B gave her an environment to start to move and explore her area safely. The ratios that classes are kept low and allow for teachers to provide individualized attention to each child. My daughter loves each of the teachers she has had since starting. The toddler room has allowed her to start to do more structured activities while continuing to explore as she develops. They utilize sensory bins, table activities, music time, and outside time. I would highly recommend the Merit school at Quantico to any parent.
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February 2023 by Nareen Cossio
Awesome loving teachers and all staff
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December 2022 by Abdul M
Great and clean learning environment
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February 2021 by Bobbie R.
Ms. Ashley is wonderful, my kids love her. Met her when I was pregnant with my now 4 year old. We have had a good experience with all the current teachers! The babies get a lot of love and cuddles, and the big kids get plenty of outdoor time and activities!
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March 2019 by Shannon Washington
My daughter has been going to this school for a month now and I love it. She is in the infant room and her teachers are great. I get updates all day long and I also get pictures while she is at school as well.
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March 2019 by Vicky Miller
A big reason for us choosing this school was because they have an app that sends you updates and pictures about what your child does throughout the day. Complained several times that we didn't receive consistent updates and there were plenty of days that none were sent at all. My son has a speech delay so he can't tell us what he does at school. I let it pass because my son always seemed happy when we picked him up and always looked forward to going to school.
On a recent drop off there was a child who had an accident and I heard a teacher yelling at him to "take off his pants" and get "over here" in a tone that I would not want to be used on my 3 year old son if he had an accident. It made me uncomfortable and made me question how my son and other students are treated in the classroom so I reported it to the assistant director. I never heard anything back about it.
On another recent drop off I took my son to his classroom only to find it empty and having to go classroom to classroom to figure where he is suppose to be. A teacher who I had never met said he was suppose to be in "this" classroom which appeared to have way too many kids with not enough staff to supervise them. There was at least 10-12 students sitting in the corner of the classroom not being watched. If one student had hit another no one would have taken notice. I left my son hesitantly in there crying while I went to his other classroom to get his belonging only to come back and still see my son crying while the teachers were chatting amongst themselves. At that point I decided it wasn't a safe environment for my son and decided not to leave him there. I told the director about it and she asked another staff member to help me. I told her I didn't feel comfortable leaving my son here and than she just walked over to the classroom.
Today I took my son to his classroom. Once again it's completely empty no idea which classroom my son is suppose to be in. His entire class was going on a field trip which we were uninformed about. Took him to the classroom next door the teacher had no idea what was going on or where he needed to be so we left because I feel as it is pointless to ask staff questions as no one seems to care and I don't want to my son bouncing around from classroom to classroom.
I also saw the director today all she said was "Good Morning" no addressing the issue of my concern of not wanting to leave my son there the previous week because it felt unsafe.
I'm writing this to save other parents from worry, disappointment, and frustration. Overall, you will barely receive any updates about what your child does throughout the day if any. Your concerns and complaints will not be taken seriously or addressed. The director comes across as very uncaring and nonchalant and lacks leadership abilities. If the director can't address a parents issues with an ounce of care and concern how can the staff be expected to do so.
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March 2019 by Carolina Mongeon
Our 8.5 month old daughter was in the infant room for 5 full days and 2 half days. The Merit School at Quantico Corp. Center did not provide for her basic needs. Our daughter takes a bottle every 3-4 hours. On one occasion she was not offered a bottle for 7 hours; on another, she went 5 hours without a bottle or food. Twice in those 7 days she came home with a painful diaper rash – at no point during the day was diaper rash cream applied.
The week she was there full time, she repeatedly “refused” her second bottle of the day (if it was ever offered). I suspect this is because the bottles weren’t warmed. A couple of times when we picked her up they gave us a cold bottle they had “prepared” and were about to give her. At her current daycare she’s never refused a bottle. On several occasions the staff sent us a picture of her asleep in the high chair, including one time when she had been awake for 5 hours. There were 2 other times I noticed she was awake 5 hours between naps. 5 hours between naps is not normal for her nor developmentally appropriate. Instead of putting her down for a nap and taking steps to calm her if she was fussy, they just waited until she crashed from exhaustion. She’s not terribly difficult to put down for a nap and has never fallen asleep in a high chair at home or elsewhere. Her current daycare has never had a problem getting her down for a nap according to her schedule, even during her first week.
When we discussed these issues with the Director (Heather Whitlock), she didn’t seem concerned. She said some of the right words, but her attitude was basically “eh.” I believe that the director (while new to this location, but not the business of daycare) doesn’t provide enough training or support to her staff and that her uncaring attitude sets the tone for her employees. Additionally, this director and several of the infant room staff were from a recently closed, nearby Minnieland facility (Aquia Park) that also received negative reviews which we wish we had known earlier. I hope this review helps someone avoid the heartache we experienced using this daycare.
