The school has great teachers and facilities, but we are SUPER dissapointed with the administration. They have had numerous mistakes, including overcharging us for tuition. Their handling of the COVID-19 global pandemic / Colorado state emergency, and the way they treated parents who lost their jobs was shameful. We felt their customer service was awful.
Details:
1) The school misspelled our daughter's name multiple times, despite us repeatedly telling them about the error.
2) The school incorrectly entered my email and my wife's email address several times. We often missed emails and had to ask other parents for info. Have corrected it at least 5 times already.
3) The school's text system for lock downs didn't notify many parents. We let the school know a few times, but it was never fixed for us. Kind of scary when there is a shooting near by and we can't stay in touch.
4) We signed up for 4 day program but were overcharged many months at the 5 day rate. When we told the administration, they didn't offer a full refund for the overcharge, and provided no proof or documentation.
4a) We confirmed that our daughter had only attended 4 days since she started with her teacher Ms Angela on 4/6/2020. MsAngela immediately knew she only attended 4 days. Still no full refund from the administration.
4b) Christi, the school administrator, checked their attendance logs, and also confirmed that our daughter had been attending 4 days. Still no full refund.
4c) I have disputed the over charges with my bank following their procedures. This takes time and effort, which is a big waste of my time. Everyone makes mistakes, but the school refused to acknowledge their mistake here.
5) During the state emergency for COVID-19, the school wasn't very flexible on policy and rules for families that lost their jobs and no longer were able to send their kids to school. They insisted on forcing parents to pay the full amount per contract with no compassion, understanding, or compromise......even while the school was closed and parents had to do work they were paying the school for.
5a) During the pandemic, the school closed and didn't offer the same instruction. We got 30min of 1:1 time per week for the full tuition rate. Paid the same amount, but did't receive the same service. We had to find other child care, but still paid the school for this. This was a fraction of what we got before the pandemic, with no option to drop out without penalty.
5b) The teachers tried to use zoom, but the school didn't buy licenses. Kids had to drop off every ~40min. Don't know what they used the full tuition costs for. The school eventually got licenses after parents complained, but this should have been something they was proactive about.
5c) Our family sent multiple emails and voicemails to the school, many of which were ignored and never responded to. I would receive read receipts form stephanie and christi, but neither would write back.
5d) We asked repeatedly to have our daughter changed to half day (both via email and voice mail). The school ignored all our requests to do this.
5e) A group of about 30 parents drafted a joint letter about the issues, and to ensure teachers still got paid. Eva, the school owener, wrote back promising a reply, but many parents didn't recieve it. The school was notified several times, but still didn't communicate with everyone.
5f) The school instead elected to send confidential emails to some families offering discounts and other things. We never received one of these emails from the school.....guess we weren't one of the special lucky families that the school liked.
5g) The school had their legal team send threatening letters to some of the parents who spoke up. At a time when many of us were struggling and needed support, this felt awful. They were trying to charge us ridiculous amounts, only to use that money to have their lawyer fight the families that supported the school.
5h) One parent called several other preschools nearby, and all had compassionate policies. Some offered 20% discount, some offered 50% and amount paid could be applied once school reopened. A large percentage waived drop out advance notice requirements. Every school except AML was willing to work with parents and find middle ground.
I am so heart broken by the way Christi and AML have behaved. The school is walking distance from our house, our daughter loves it, teachers are great, facility is nice, etc. But with each opportunity to treat the community decently, AML kept showing that they don't treat people in a kind way. We didn't want our daughter learning from people like this, and gave in and decided to pull her out and not return. So sad. We were the school's biggest fans. We would have gladly donated to support the school. Some bad moves by the administration have ruined all the good memories we had. I recommend everyone avoid this school and its administration. There are better choices out there. read more