I have known Big Future Preschool for a very long time. Several of my friends who sent their kids to BigFuture rave about this school just like the other reiewers here.
My LO went to this school as well for sometime and then we moved on to another school. There are several great things about this school and some not so great.
Firstly the great things -
They are flexible in terms of helping students adjust when they are new. They let my LO hang out with the kids during playtime to try out even before we officially joined the school. Most schools don't do that. So thumbs up for that.
They are open most of the year, no winter or even Christmas break. So if you are busy parent it works great for you.
The school is pretty clean and very well organized.
Great art work!
Some of the teachers are great!
They take pictures every so often.
Not so great things-
The good old team is gone - All the great teachers like Ms.Saba, Ms.Shala, Ms.Prakash are all gone within a matter of few months. They were amazing teachers who were passionate about teaching and cared about the kids.
With all due respect to the new team, it is huge loss to the school and its students. Also, it tells me that the management failed at keeping the staff that originally made the school the great place it was.
Director - She is polite and answers any questions whenever she is available. She cares, but not enough. I say that because as a director you need to work with parents and see what each* child's needs are and ensure teachers work on those aspects. This Director philosophy is "this is what we do, and this is what you get" and she is not the type that encourages individual attention. Every kid is unique, if you don't give them individual attention, how can a 'one-size should fit all' approach help them?
Individual attention and speaking skills - Very little individual attention and not enough activities that encourage kids to speak up or talk among each other or with the teacher. Kids do a lot of listening to teachers and that caused LO to get frustrated by the end of the day as there wasn't enough opportunity to talk, scream, sing etc.
Teachers - As I said above, some teachers in the new team are great, but there are some that are sometimes a bit too harsh on kids and rude to parents.
Teaching is not just about making the students follow your instructions, checking all the items in the checklist and getting through the day, it is about nourishing those new lives with love, compassion and showing that in example and at the same time showing respect towards their parents.Not that they don't do any of that but when some of them repeatedly show a lack of respect and compassion it is uncomfortable to leave the kids under their leadership.
And here is a big problem I had with this school - Communication!!!
They don't give daily updates like most schools do. They say teachers are here to answer if any questions but the teachers on most days give the template update of "He had a good day!" or "He did good". There is no info on how long LO slept, what his mood was like, what he enjoyed working on all of the week or who he plays with the most. You may get some info if you ask but sometimes you may not know even if you ask because the main teacher has left for the day already and if your LO had a meltdown on your way home for no apparent reason, you don't know what was different at school that particular day.
Great teachers connect with the students and observe what they like and don't like doing, what their strengths and weaknesses are. Some of the teachers here do that and occassionally*, when they have the time and are in a good mood, communicate it to the parents. So parents have to get really lucky to get a good update on their kids. Some teachers here give the "you worry too much" look when you ask more than a couple of questions.
In summary, it was like LO goes into this gray box and comes out. I kinda knew what went on but not really on most days.
It is okay to not do paper updates everyday but the management doesn't put any efforts into compensating it with other forms of communication.
Last but not the least, they don't do as many special events as most schools do. In other schools they always have something special going and that stimulates the kids and encourages them to look forward to going to school, but my LO showed lack of interest in going to school because it is the same routine every day without much excitement.
I hope the school keeps up the good work they are already doing and addresses the issues for the students and parents that are still there. read more
