Need Daycare Advice, Please...

July 22, 2006 1:48 PM

I'm looking for safe, reliable, and affordable daycare in Portland, Ore.

It's for my son, who will be two in September. We'd prefer a place in outer southeast Portland, but we will consider other areas.

East 'burbs--e.g. Gresham and Troutdale--might be considered too. Bonus points for anyone who can recommend a solid Russian babysitter or daycare center.

posted by iced_borsch to human relations (5 comments total)

Is East Vancouver out of the question? Sorry I don't have any leads, but Vancouver has a bigger Russian population than any area of Portland, I believe.
posted by peep at 2:44 PM on July 22, 2006

I work at a daycare center on SE 60th and duke that that you should make an effort to stay away from. Only a few a of the teachers there are qualified for the age group they teach (I'm not legally allowed to be left alone with children yet I am in charge of 4-9 children ranging in age of 4 through 8), we are often over ratioed, we don't follow the health codes, our playground is unsafe, labor laws are consistently violated (I only work when we have over 22 kids, sometimes I get called in to work only to be sent home a half hour later), we repeat art projects, illegally mix age groups, and overload the van we use for field trips. If we complain to the director we and chastised for "not being a team player" and having a "negative attitude". I didn't think it was that bad until I took a ccrr course and we spent a half hour afterwards talking the instructor about all the various codes and whatnot we are made to break on a daily basis. The other girls there rat to the director (who watches us via telescreen...erm..webcam) if we ever dis the center in any way.

Even though it's corporate, kindercare seems to be a safe bet. My ccrr instructor spoke really highly of them and I doubt they could get away with as much law fudging.
posted by Betty_effn_White at 3:35 PM on July 22, 2006

Funny Bug daycare in Lake Oswego/Tigard (right off I-5 near 217) has none of the problems mentioned above. It's run by my best friend's mother. They might be full right now, but I can find out if you're interested.
posted by SpecialK at 5:42 PM on July 22, 2006

You might want to check out Mt. Hood Community College's Child Development Center. They may either be able to provide daycare or provide some references for the area.

Here's their link:

http://www.mhcc.edu/pages/1014.asp
posted by Bungalowgal at 8:59 AM on July 23, 2006

I'm a little late to the question, but check out Little Footsteps Daycare Center at 2225 E Burnside. It made our top-two list recently, and location was the deciding factor that sent us elsewhere.

Also, we had to find a new daycare because the previous one downtown closed so that it could be demolished and turned into luxury condos. At that daycare, our daughter's teacher was Russian or Ukrainian. I will try to find out where she went.
posted by turbodog at 1:51 PM on July 25, 2006