St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church — Local services in Carney

My 5yo son has attended St. Demetrios Preschool since June 2023 and up until now everything had been great and my husband & I had zero complaints. Unfortunately, we were informed yesterday that a teacher had brought in fidget slime for herself that our son was interested in. He asked to see it and was told no a few times (a separate issue that we’re working on, we understand no means no and stress the importance of respecting boundaries), however, he ended up touching the slime when the teacher wasn’t looking and as a result my son had his hand smacked by this teacher. We did receive a prompt call and apology from the director, however my husband confirmed that as of this morning, the teacher in question is still employed. Sadly, we no longer feel comfortable sending him there.

We had never met this teacher prior to this day, we actually thought this was a new teacher, but evidently she’s employed there for a while which was also surprising, especially knowing that prior to supervising the school-aged children for the summer program, she was in with toddlers. This is a very disappointing and difficult situation all around. A lot of trust has been broken, it has been an emotional day to say the very least. It’s hard to explain to a small child why they are suddenly no longer going to a school they love, as well as abruptly losing friends without a chance to say goodbye. We were also tasked with having to let him no that under no circumstances is anyone (especially teachers) are to put their hands on him.

Furthermore, we’re now out of childcare for the next month until the new school year starts and this has left us in a very tough position and scrambling to find alternative care.

I digress, and suffice to say, I’m extremely upset in how the relationship between my family and the...

I can't say it any better than my daughter my son-in-law and my fellow mother/mother-in-law (see all- new reviews ) of the disappointment in how St. Demetrios handled the situation with my grandson and the caregiver watching him that day in summer/pre school. For a grown adult and a caregiver of children to bring a slime/fidget/stress toy to the class and have it out where children can see to me is unthoughtful and cruel. We get that it is a fidget toy which can be used by anyone children or adults however to bring that particular fidget stress toy to a class with 5-year-olds and expect them not to want to look at it touch it see it is cruel and I can't understand how a person could just let that happen and then smack the child after the 5-year-old curiosity was just too much and he tried to touch it. It should have been put in a drawer or you should have brought a different stress fidget to work that day, I personally have a ring that you put on your finger it also could have been handled so much differently and appropriate for the age of the children she was put in charge of to watch. Again I can't really express it any differently or better than the previous reviews. I'm just adding my disappointment and how this whole situation was handled and I'm sad for my grandson that he had to experience this and I'm sad for my daughter and my son-in-law for now having to deal with this at home. Trust is a very difficult thing to gain once it has been broken, just hoping and knowing that children are resilient that my grandson will be move on from this and hopefully...

Our son went to the preschool until this school year. He spent 2.5 hours at school on the first day this year, crying and refused to participate in activities because he wanted to come home. The classroom he was in there were only 5 kids including him. The teacher didnt greet them like a normal teacher would greet students on the first day of school. Instead she just told them all to sit down on the floor. It was like she was a drill sergeant and was there just to collect a check.

I always go to pick him up early in which I did on the first day as well. The director Betty approached me when it was time for his dismissal suggested I put him in a contained classroom, refunded my money, and then explained to me that my son is worse than another child she kicked out for having an ASD diagnosis who is non-verbal. I was shocked, I didnt even know what to say. She explained that his behavior was terrible, but confirmed that he didnt hit anyone, he didnt say any bad words, he just wasnt comfortable in the classroom, preferred to play with toys and didnt want to eat lunch.

To think that anyone would be comfortable sending their child in an environment with someone who would speak that way about a child/children. And kick children out and label them as having a behavior problem with normal 4 year old behavior is CRAZY. Of course kids would rather play with toys at 4 years old. One word...