An Updated Review of Malena's Mini School

In January of 2012, I was on the hunt for a new daycare facility for Kaleb and ended up deciding to enroll him into Malena's Mini School at their location on Pine Forest Road.

Although he had just turned 3 earlier that same month, he was placed into the "older 2s" class because Malena's promotes on the same schedule as the public school system and his birthday hadn't happened before the cut-off.  At the time, I was a little disappointed about that, since he was already fully potty trained.  Little did I know then that the "older 2s" class would be the highest level we would be happy with at Malena's.

At the beginning of June, the week after the public schools let out for the summer, Kaleb was promoted to the 3-year-olds class.  Since he was already fully potty trained, he wouldn't have to wait until the end of the summer for his promotion.  It was really great for the first week or so, but the newness wore off quickly.

While I am a very strong proponent of young children taking naps—Kaleb still takes one every afternoon, no matter what—I am no where near as rigid on this point as Malena (the owner) is.  She serves the children lunch at sometime between 11a.m. and noon, and then expects them to lie down immediately for a 2-hour-minimum mandatory nap.  Even though a 2-hour nap would be no problem at all for Kaleb at home in his own bed, the early time coupled with the distraction of being in a room full of friends made it very difficult for Kaleb to accomplish this napping requirement.

He began coming home with bad daily reports almost every day, and most every comment was centered around Kaleb not being compliant with the napping law.  To make matters worse, Malena herself told me that she was making that class' nap times, and my child in particular, her personal mission.  Her stern attitude made me feel as if I were in the principal's office all the time.

On a Thursday in early July, as I was picking Kaleb up early after having been called, yet again, to retrieve my non-napping kid, Malena told me that she didn't think there was anything "wrong" with my child except that he was stubborn and non-compliant.  This didn't sit well with me.  Because I work with students with various issues all year at school, I had begun to think that Kaleb's behaviors mirrored those shown by some of my students who needed help but weren't getting it.  I called his pediatrician and made an appointment for the next day.  I was out of ideas, and I needed some help.

That very next day Kaleb's pediatrician, with input from the child psychiatrist in the office, diagnosed Kaleb with ADHD and prescribed a low dose of Adderall XR (because he weighed enough to safely take this medication).  The change in Kaleb's behavior was almost immediate, and our home life saw an equally immediate improvement.

Malena seemed amazed that I would question her opinion, based upon her 30+ years of working with kids, and seek help from Kaleb's doctor.  She seemed even more amazed that I had been right, although she never did admit it.

Unfortunately, since ADHD is treated with stimulant medications, napping was the one factor that was not aided by this medication.  Things only got worse with the "extra attention" Kaleb was receiving from Malena.  On on occasion she reported to me that she had physically restrained Kaleb on his nap mat, to prevent him from lifting his head up and "looking around."  Kaleb absolutely hates being restrained for any reason, and he began to cry.  She told me that she told him he better be quiet and that she would call his mommy to come get him if he woke up any of the other sleeping children with his crying.  She said she continued to hold him down, but that he cried more quietly.  That was the beginning of the end for me.  While not illegal or outright abusive, this was not the sort of correction I wanted Kaleb to receive from adults.

A few weeks after Kaleb had begun taking his new medication, Malena was waiting for me as I came to pick Kaleb up at the end of a day.  She told me that my child was "just a pain" and that if anyone could "make a napper" out of him, she could.  Now, bear in mind that Kaleb is a good napper at home, even asking for naps when he is tired.  But he doesn't need a nap before mid-afternoon and he needs fewer distractions.

The final straw came the on Wednesday, the week before school school started back.  I was dropping Kaleb off at the daycare that morning, and while signing him in on their computer system, I overheard Malena on the phone with another child's parent talking about MY child, and there was no doubt that it was my child she was talking about.  I couldn't believe that someone who had been in the business, successfully, for so long would be so tacky and unprofessional.

Within hours, I had made the decision to move Kaleb out of Malena's.  I decided to enroll him at Escambia Christian School, having a good personal knowledge of that school myself because I attended middle school there and my younger brother went there for Pre-K 4.  Kaleb has just finished his first week there, and he seems to love it.  I feel as if they are more open to working with students and parents to overcome whatever challenges the child may have, and I think they are genuinely dedicated to every child's success rather than just wanting to turn out child-sized order-following automatons.  To make it even better most of the staff there still remember me, and Kaleb has the same teacher now in the Pre-K 3 & 4 class that my brother had 19 years ago.  And I'm even saving $60 a month on tuition versus what I was paying at Malena's!!

What I hate most about this all is that the staff of Malena's are a group of competent, dedicated, caring people.  The director, Rebecca Knowles, is an extraordinarily superb daycare director, and every teacher Kaleb had loved him dearly.....and he loved them just as much.  If only Malena herself would go home and be a hands-off owner, at least with regard to managing the children, we'd probably have stayed there until Kaleb went to Kindergarten, as was the original plan.

Bottom line: If you're looking for daycare for your infant or toddler, you're likely to love Malena's!  Just don't plan to keep them there if your child is at all likely to fall outside Malena's cookie-cutter mold.