It has taken me a little over a month to rewrite this review…read more
Initially, we were prepared to air out all of the details of our experience. However, on our son's last day, Mrs. Roman apologized and showed genuine remorse, even gifting our son a parting gift. Because of that gesture, we held off on posting our revised, updated experience until now.
After our son left a little over a month ago, we realized we needed to be honest about why we chose to withdraw him. Our decision came down to two major factors:
1. Constant teacher turnover.
Since our son began attending in January, he had around seven different teachers. Even though there are two teachers assigned at a time, it makes no sense to have four major staffing changes between January and October. That instability directly affects children, especially infants and toddlers who need consistency.
2. If you question anything, the environment shifts immediately.
The moment you raise concerns or ask for clarification, the school takes it personally. The warmth disappears. You are ignored from multiple teachers, since they all talk, given the cold shoulder, and treated as an inconvenience. It is extremely uncomfortable to drop off your child each day knowing the people you're entrusting them to, no longer like you, respect you, or even acknowledge you. If you can afford to spend a little more on a better environment, we genuinely recommend it.
And even then, after our son left, we continued hearing from multiple parents and former staff (several, not just one or two) that these issues are ongoing. Teachers have shared that they have been spoken to in a disrespectful manner, with some even mentioning they've witnessed others cry. Families have also mentioned the emotional impact that the constant teacher changes have on their babies, who are repeatedly forced to adjust to new faces every few weeks.
These problems stem from the top.
Khan is not who she portrays herself to be during tours. On two different occasions, she expressed how upon a teacher's departure, the teacher took half of the families with her and each time I asked her why, she said she did not know, well, now we know why. We experienced this directly when she wanted to stop feeding our son instead of clarifying a simple lunch question. (We did not allow for her to deny our son school lunch and they continued to feed him). When leadership cannot retain or support teachers, it directly trickles down to the children--every single time.
We've also been told the school allegedly cleans with laundry detergent, water, and Pine-Sol, which raises concerns about exposing babies to unnecessarily harsh chemicals. And many parents are familiar with and annoyed at that " Happy tots smell"
We truly wanted to move forward, especially after Mrs. Roman's apology, and we still appreciate the kindness she showed on our son's last day. But we also feel a responsibility to other families. Ironically, we've heard better things about the sister school around the corner, but this particular location continues to face the same longstanding issues.
Good leadership starts at the top. And that is exactly where this school is failing.