Tell me about the security at your DC center

[gibbinator]

Walk in, get child. I mean, no one but the parents are allowed to pick up their kid (even with prior parental permission), but the doors are unlocked and we pretty much have to just trust the DCP to follow it's own pick-up rules.

[CloudBee]

That wouldn't bother me.

DS isn't in daycare, but here's how the gym daycare and church nurseries work -

gym daycare - sign him in, if the clipboard is there, same with signing out

church nursery - walk into flyer area of children's wing, scan the toggle on my keychain, click the screen for which service we want to attend, 2 tags spit out (stickers), one goes on his back, and I need the other tag to "claim him"

[SJ]

Jul 27, 2015 14:12:15 GMT -5 CloudBee said:

church nursery - walk into flyer area of children's wing, scan the toggle on my keychain, click the screen for which service we want to attend, 2 tags spit out (stickers), one goes on his back, and I need the other tag to "claim him"

Smart & fancy!

[chickadee77]

Ours has a big open area w/ receptionist, where we have to enter 2 pins unique to our daughter, then get buzzed in to the classroom area. Each classroom additionally has a door that must be entered with a code (that parents are not given, only teachers and staff, but can be opened from the inside). All doors leading to outside can only be reentered w/ staff/teachers entering their code, and there is fencing around all outdoor play areas.

There are times the kids are outside of the locks (chapel and music, when they're a little older), but are accompanied by teacher/staff. The receptionists are awesome - I've seen parents who "can't remember" their pins, and while they will say something like, "The first code is your child's birthday month and day," They won't actually give the numbers.

I feel like she's pretty safe; I also notice that there it seems like there is always a member of law enforcement picking up his/her kid, so that gives an extra sense of security, too.

[laurack]

that's how ours is. A generic code on the door. They change it every couple months. The receptionist/manager sits right by the door and I assume would be like "Who are you?" if a random person tried to slip in

[magpie]

ours is unlocked. You enter the door to a reception area that is always staffed by either the admin lady or the director, both of whom know everyone, and sign your kid in/out on her sheet in a binder. Walk through to the classroom and get kid. The teachers know us too. We've never had anyone else pick up DD at this particular center yet, but I think we have to fill out a form and tell the director if someone other than us will be picking her up. I'm not very worried about security at this place, though it seems pretty lax compared to others. I guess I feel safe because they all know us and DD.

[drloretta]

At one place we had a front or back entrance (back entrance was near the parking) and a generic code. Once you were in there was a stairwell to get to your kid's room. At another it was like Fort Knox with a fingerprint scanner and cameras everywhere. Last year it was a small anteroom and you buzzed to get in, which was more or less one giant room.

At camp it's a free-for-all, though I do have to sign DD out of aftercare. At regular pickup times we just grab our kid and go. During the school year at her Montessori school there's a generic key code, but everyone knows everyone and we have to pre-claim who's picking her up.

[ewall]

Jul 27, 2015 13:00:36 GMT -5 @pennypie said:

Nothing is locked at mine.

Front door is open to lobby. Sign in/out sheet is in lobby. There's another door that goes back to the school area. There are always at least 2 staffers in the lobby, but no locks/codes/etc.

This is how our daycare is. 

We toured one daycare that had either keyfobs or PINs (can't remember) but it didn't really matter because some parent let us in the building, no questions asked. So the systems are only as good as those using them?

[mrsjrd23]

Ours opens up,to a lobby with a window to the main office area and a locked door. There is a computer to enter in your security code to open the doors. Every authorized person for your child has their own security code created by that person so DH and I have separate codes. Once through those doors, there is no further security checks. We just have to sign in/out at the classroom as well.

[nursewife]

I wish mine was like any of these. Mine has nothing. No locked door, no sign in. They don't even require to be notified of a family member picking up the kids. I kind of hate it, and it's the only municipal daycare run in my area.

[estrellita]

Jul 27, 2015 14:08:08 GMT -5 gibbinator said:

Walk in, get child. I mean, no one but the parents are allowed to pick up their kid (even with prior parental permission), but the doors are unlocked and we pretty much have to just trust the DCP to follow it's own pick-up rules.

Pretty much this. We did put down our parents as authorized people to pick up but I would think they would ID them, plus we would call first or tell them in the morning. But yeah, nothing is locked. They have baby gates on all the doorways and a child safe closure on the fence to get in/out, but that's about it. Of course the adults are idiots and can't figure out the closure on the gate if it gets turned the wrong way. I've only ever seen it open though when kids aren't outside and I always fix it.

I do have to say that the teachers all seem to know the parents well. Even when there has been someone new or a fill in from another room, they always know who I'm coming to pick up!

[Deleted]

Ours is just a gate. No codes or locked doors

It's a daycare and preschool at our church

[starlily]

Jul 27, 2015 12:44:14 GMT -5 SJ said:

That is how ours is.

One set of locked doors that we use a generic PIN number for. Then we are in a hallway. There are four classrooms that are all off of that hallway. Each classroom has a door, but not locked. We then go to our children's rooms and pick them up.

This is also how ours is, except that we each have a unique PIN for the locked doors.

[catbus]

Ours is in our office building, so it uses the same entrance key cards as employees of the company. Parents who don't work for the company have to have a separate background check conducted, and then are issued a photo badge for entering the daycare. From there, it's free access to classrooms. This is why I'm cranky about parents holding doors for people they don't know--nothing bad has happened (yet), but people who didn't even mean to come in the center have been found wandering the halls, confused about how to get up to our company's office space. 

Anyway, sign-ins/outs are done with pen and paper in the classrooms as well as with a PIN on a computer by the entrance. Each guardian picks their own PIN, no duplicates allowed. 

[rbp]

Jul 27, 2015 14:08:08 GMT -5 gibbinator said:

no one but the parents are allowed to pick up their kid (even with prior parental permission),

What does this mean? What if the parents aren't able to do pickup one day?

[nextbigthing]

One set of doors, last 4 digits of my SS # opens the door, then open, but the people at the front desk will stop you if they don't recognize you. DH rarely does drop off/pick up so they don't recognize him and he always has to show ID

[Deleted]

Ours has nothing. Just sign on/ sign out sheets in the individual rooms. TBH, it's something I have had to put out of my mind because it's a fear I have. Im looking forward to her attending a more secure preschool (albeit on a college campus) in the spring.

[gibbinator]

Jul 27, 2015 17:53:42 GMT -5 rbp said:

Jul 27, 2015 14:08:08 GMT -5 gibbinator said:

no one but the parents are allowed to pick up their kid (even with prior parental permission),

What does this mean? What if the parents aren't able to do pickup one day?

Sorry I wasn't clear. Like if I said Grammy would pick up a kid last week, that doesn't mean she's allowed to do it again this week without specific permission.