Mixed emotions. I am writing this because i think parents should have as much info as possible when deciding on childcare. When doing my pre-K search, my husband and I felt GEMS was the best in the area. On our visit, we met and selected two teachers. We enrolled our 2 children (3 &1) at the time with the stated expectation that our soon-to-be-four year old would transfer into the GA PreK program. Upon enrollment, the 1-yr teacher had left and our child was placed with the teacher we did not want. I think her name was Ms Char- something. Maybe I expect too much from a teacher, especially for a 1-yr old class. Though she is heavily praised for her skills with children by other staff, I NEVER have seen her smile, children were not cheerfully welcomed on any day, and my baby did not want to be left with her. In my opinion, and this of couse is just me, I do not believe she enjoys her job but kind of just goes through the motions. Do I think any *serious* danger would come to my son? Not really. However, I expect more from a childcare provider. I never had an issue with my 3-yr old's teacher, Ms. Sabrina but I know my child did not particularly want to be left with her. While on the subject of teachers, on my visit I was encouraged to select the teachers I wanted and therefore was under the impression these would be their only teachers. Though these primarily were their morning teachers, afternoon teachers are another matter. It seemed like for a while, everyday I went to pick my child up a new teacher was there. Not cool for me. I like to meet and know who is watching my child *before* they are actually with them. And not to judge, tattoos and piercings are fine, but I dont think my babies' teachers should have displayed tatts all down the arm and facial piercings. Leave some things for your personal time. Now coming to my final beef with them. From the time I came, the time I enrolled, and a few time while they were there I advised them that I wanted him in the GA Lottery PreK program. I will take some of the responsibility on this. I should have reviewed the procedure at Bright from the Start, but I do remember the site stating that every school has its own application process. Not one of the many times that I mentioned my desire to have him in this program did anyone tell me that #1 there was an application I had to fill out, #2 what their deadline was for this procedure. So, when he turned 4 and I'm expecting him to be attending for free, I was told "well you never filled out the paperwork." What paperwork? long story short, he was not enrolled in the program, they had no space for me, and no resolution. I actually spoke with the director who expressed no remorse and told me that though their sign stated they had 10 slots left a month into their enrollment, this was incorrect as people started applying in March, and their people were a few weeks late in taking the sign down. Really?? You mean to tell me that at the time he was enrolled there were no openings? She tripped up a little at that point and could not confirm or deny. False advertisment? Its a shame because even though I would have had to pay, I would have let them stay but I did not feel right in my heart about giving money to people that are not necessarily honest. read more
