Paideia Academy is constantly on the run from licensers, staying one step ahead of being shut down by the sweat of the low paid employees on whom the burden of keeping the school open is firmly placed.
The director knows very little about what goes on in the classrooms, leaves very early every day without so much as a status report from her staff, and at any given moment may or may not have a program director. The staff is paid barely more than minimum wage and any strong teacher is basically discouraged from finding a home at this "school" due to the director's refusal to offer pay raises for hard work and constant attention to the basic needs of the children. She is exploitative, hiring mainly from a pool of immigrants who she believes will be easier to bully into remaining under her unfair work ethic. Strong teachers have a life expectancy of less than 6 months, which is to her liking as she prefers that these people not develop bonds with parents or children; she has been known to make up stories casting ex-staff in a negative light in order to explain the turnaround of a popular teacher.
Many of the teachers are positive, strong individuals who take good care of the kids, even though there are currently only two Montessori trained teachers at this "Montessori" school. The vast majority of them, however, are clueless as to even basic child care, leave children with feces crusted on their little behinds, pay little attention to them in group settings - a dangerous thing in a downtown daycare that must walk across busy 1st avenue to get to its outdoor play area - but instead sit and chat amongst themselves rather than interact with the children. You will never see this if you meet them only at the beginning and end of the day.
A bottom-of-the-barrel day care, you should think twice about putting your child in such an environment. The director offers competitive prices but makes up for it by operating in much the same way as a sweat shop.
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