Creative Minds Early Learning - A Warning and experience with Kate McCabe
We attended Creative Minds for a short while before withdrawing our child from the centre. I am writing this review anonymously to protect our family's privacy and safety.
We withdrew our child because we had seen ‘orange’ flags from day 1. However, ultimately an incident (which I will outline if you read the full review) that made us unsafe was conducted by the director, Kathleen (Kate) Mary McCabe.
Like most parents we were drawn to CM for its outdoor play philosophy & proximity to the forest. I can also speak to the lack of childcare availability in the City of Vancouver. This also leaves many families with few options when finding care.
Here are the incidents that occurred within days of our attendance:
Disconnect between Kate & staff. Many of the parents & educators currently at CM ‘reassured’ us that Kate is not there with the children full time. This left us wondering why (which we soon found out).
Kate sends unusual emails. On one occasion, she wrote a lamenting email about how another child ( & named them) had made our child cry. She wrote on Feb 27 2023: “So in the end I used the screen! I was horrified with myself”. As a parent entrusting an ECE professional like Kate with our child, this seemed like a strange way of handling typical toddler social dynamics.
After our first hour at CM, we explained that our child had asthma. Kate called our family doctor a ‘gatekeeper of information’. She gave us unsolicited & inappropriate medical advice (naturopath, herbalist, dietician) with recommendations of ‘holistic medicines’ in lieu of our inhaler. She cited on Feb 21 2023 that an inhaler could ‘give your child thrush’.
She continued to text me to ask if we had taken her ‘medical recommendations’.
Several (4+ parents) at CM have shared with me that this is just ‘how Kate is’ and how they cope is that they block/ignore her emails or designate one of the parents (usually the father) to communicate with Kate.
Another parent told us privately that Kate/Staff had forgotten to feed their child their food. Kate blamed the child’s upset behavior (due to not being fed) on their personality.
High staff turnover rate: you can ask how long each educator has been at CM. When we entered spring of 2023, we saw 4 educators leave & the longest tenure was 1.5 years at the time. The other ones who left had all been at CM for less than 7 months before leaving.
- Our child told us that Kate would say loudly to them “STOP CRYING" repeatedly.
On Mar 8 2023 3:37pm, Kate called me and put my child on the phone & claimed my child asked me to call me. She picked up the phone from my child while they cried & walked away from them. I could still hear my child sobbing in the background as Kate talked over them and closed the door to her office. I asked if my child was alright and if anyone was attending to them. Kate said: "I am not sure".
(8/3 call, pt 2) On the same call, Kate discussed a non-emergency event that is a normal occurrence for when children undergo a transition to a new centre. Instead of offering compassion or her expertise, she said the following:“I feel inadequate for [child’s name]”, “I really don’t know what to do”.
(8/3 call pt 3) Kate proposed if she could disrobe & wipe my child in front of other students so as not to ‘lose a staff member from the floor’. This is an inappropriate proposal that compromised our child's dignity and safety.
The negative effects of attending CM were obvious after we pulled our child from school immediately. Our child cried when we mentioned Kate. It took our family many months to recover from our experience.
We removed our child because we felt that although Kate may not be on the ‘floor full-time’, she is the director & dictates much of the culture at CM. Our experience suggests to us that she is someone who doesn’t seem to know what is developmentally normal for toddlers and is not afraid to push boundaries that compromise safety.
FAQ:
Did you call licensing?
We have also involved licensing but because the teachers who witnessed this behavior have left the centre, they were unable to substantiate our story.
Could the high turnover rate at CM be caused by what Kate claims to be the “lack of pay and respect in the industry”?
Potentially but also the high turnover rate of seeing 4 teachers exit within 11 days as well as two of them admitting to me that there are better centres than CM signals otherwise.
Was your child developmentally delayed (re: potty)?
Not according to our family doctor and you can read more about potty disruptions in articles from Johns Hopkins Medicine: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/toilettraining
Is Kate just a ‘strong personality’ and someone who likes to ‘overshare’?
Perhaps, but consider what kind of person you want around your child. Do you feel confident that Kate can maintain those boundaries with children?
What if I have a similar experience? Is there anything we can do?
Please send me an email at creativemindsexpereince@gmail.com and I’d be happy to connect.
Comments
Post a Comment