Small World Day Care Center — Local services in New York

My son attended Small World Daycare last year when he was 2 years old. He had just turned 2 when he started, the youngest in his class; as his birthday had just past. To keep this post as short as possible, they suggested Early Intervention due to my son not speaking as much as some of his classmates; which I felt was unnecessary since he had met his milestone for language at the time and he was JUST 2 years old (2+1 month). EI did not approve services and I was told by the evaluator, there is nothing wrong with your son, there’s something wrong with that school. Well, the school was upset by us not being approved and multiple conversations were had with the director to discuss his progress. Every conversation felt negative. I was moving forward with getting him evaluated again due to their concern. Stacy White (the director) suggested to me that my son may have sensory integration disorder and said these words to me, “Maybe he won’t be a football player or a baseball player, maybe he won’t be an actor…Not because he isn’t cute but because he doesn’t speak a lot ”. I could not believe what I was hearing, there was no hope for my 2 year old? We can’t even have big dreams such as being an athlete or an actor? How could I be so blind to such a profound delay?! How could a director of a school say this to a parent? We have had 2 evaluations with EI & CPSE and I paid out of pocket for an OT eval. The occupational therapist, who would be qualified to diagnose sensory integration disorder was appalled that a director would make such a suggestion and completely disagreed. Last I checked, Stacy is not a doctor who can diagnosis disabilities and I didn’t know people with disabilities couldn’t be actors or athletes. Completely unprofessional. If your child is “a handful”, a climber, a toy bucket dumper or a just a little rambunctious; like some toddlers can be…reconsider Small World. I do not believe they had ill intentions but there’s a way to approach people about sensitive subjects such as suggesting something is wrong with your child; especially when you are not qualified to make such...

As a concerned parent, I don’t even know where to begin. If I could give this place zero stars, I absolutely would. Please do not send your children here.

The environment is completely unprofessional and chaotic. Staff members have mistreated students, and on more than one occasion, children have gone unaccounted for. That is terrifying as a parent.

To make matters worse, while walking past the kitchen with my kids, I overheard staff using loud profanity from the staff— completely inappropriate in a school setting. The entire place feels disorderly and unsafe, more like a poorly run daycare than a trusted learning environment.

Margo, the director, is completely unresponsive — she doesn’t reply to emails or phone calls and seems totally disconnected. Shari, the assistant director, is just as terrible, wandering around clueless and offering no real support or leadership.

The management and staff lack basic professionalism and accountability.

This place is not safe, not nurturing, and not somewhere I would ever recommend. Our children deserve a supportive, clean, and respectful environment —...

I am a mum of a 3k child currently enrolled in Smallworld Daycare center. My son attended 2k program last year (2024-25) and my daughter both 2K and 3k program in 2020 through 2022. My family and I absolutely love this school. The care and nurturing that they have offered to both of my children all through these years it is really unprecedented. My husband and I loved every teacher we had and always felt extremely safe leaving our two children in their care. My now 7 yers old daughter entered at 2 and left at 4 years old as a little strong independent little girl and so much of it is due to the education, support, and nurturing offered by Smallworld and all of its staff. She has the fondest memory of these years. All the families we have met with their children there have nothing but beautiful words. They are also an incredible place for families in need of financial help, in a city where childcare is so incredibly expensive. It is rare to find such a wonderful gem of a place in NY and I could not recommend it...