This is a long overdue review. I am disappointed with their Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Kendall.
A little bit of background info, my daughter had never attended a preschool, and did homeschooling before her first day of Kindergarten. I made sure Mrs. Kendall was aware of this, and expected her to be graceful during this transitional period.
There was no grace. We were called in on the SECOND day of school because of my daughter's "behavior." Mrs. Kendall suggested a behavioral plan, and we happily implemented it the moment we got home (i.e., having my daughter raise her hand at the dinner table to speak, sitting still, waiting for others to finish talking before she can talk, be aware that Mrs. Kendall is authority and respect ALL teachers, etc). Luckily, by the third day, my daughter was able to meet Mrs. Kendall's expectations! I met with Mrs. Kendall after class, and was happy to hear that my daughter wasn't talking during class, raised her hand to speak, and recognized Mrs. Kendall as authority and treated her with the respect that she is entitled to have!
I thought we were all in the clear, but then I received a call the second week. On Friday, my daughter bit a 1st grade boy. My child had never been aggressive with anyone, so this came as a shock to me.
The Incident:
My daughter wanted to play with a ball that a boy had brought from home. She had repeatedly asked the 1st grade boy if she could play, or if he could share the ball, but he continued to refuse. Then my child "stole" the ball from the 1st grader. The 1st grade boy tried to take the ball away from my daughter, and that's when she bit the 1st grader. My child was taken to the office where she threw a fit, and hit/pinched the teachers that tried to calm her down. I was called to pick up my child because she was dangerous and should be removed from the premises.
I admit that my daughter biting the 1st grade boy was wrong. (She also apologized to the 1st grade boy, and he accepted her apology). However, I am definitely disappointed with how the school handled and responded to the incident because I later discovered that NONE of the staff members asked for my daughter's side, and only exacerbated the situation.
The Incident (Reconfirmed with my daughter):
After she took the ball from the 1st grader, the group of 1st grade boys started to grab and push her. That's when she bit one of the kids that grabbed her. Why was it okay for these 1st grade boys to treat my daughter like this and why weren't they punished for their behavior?
After this incident, Mrs. Kendall took my daughter straight to the principal's office and told her that she was in trouble and she was going to be sent home. My daughter, devastated, threw herself to the ground in typical tantrum behavior and started to cry. The teachers were grabbing her from the ground to put her in a chair, to which my daughter "hit/pinch" them. In reality, my daughter was scared because she saw 3 angry adult strangers who were grabbing her, and she didn't want to be touched by them. Mind you, the staff has established no trust or relationship with my child as this was still the SECOND week of school.
Mrs. Kendall called me later that night to inform me that my daughter was unfit for the school, and that she would be kicked out from Kindergarten. No second in-person meetings. No second chances. My daughter was not allowed to come back.
You see, I was fine with my daughter getting kicked out. It was stressful to look for a school that could take my daughter last minute, and to this day, my daughter still does not feel safe to go back to the Bay Church facility. BUT what angers and disappoints me is Mrs. Kendall's UNPROFESSIONAL and certainly UNQUALIFIED diagnosis of my daughter. During the last phonecall, she said that she suspected my daughter was suffering with BIPOLAR DISORDER and AUTISM.
My child is now attending a different private school with a Kindergarten teacher who has less years in teaching than Mrs. Kendall, yet somehow she is able to cultivate my daughter's true potential as a God-loving student. I never got called in again for my daughter's "behavior" nor did I ever have to worry about leaving her at school. This incident was a blessing because my daughter is now graduating from Kindergarten AND she also graduated from her "Bipolar Disorder" and "autism!"
Overall, I'm disappointed. This school is no longer the school that I once loved. To the Bay Christian School, please reevaluate your staff so they could reflect the school's mission. read more
