The owner reached out to me regarding my review. So I'd like to add some additional details. She was "shocked" to learn that I had concerns about the lack of consistency in classrooms and teachers, although I had explicitly discussed this with the director. I have also spoken with other parents who told me that they have brought this concern to the director as well. I should clarify that it has been 13 teachers and 5 classrooms in two and a half years, not three. Of those 13 teachers, only 4 are still employed by Lightbridge. Additionally, the owner proudly told me that they have an average tenure of 1 to 2 years for teachers, which strongly highlights a management issue. While the director "reinforced" to me that she had wonderful relationships with the teachers, it does not change the fact that I have had teachers cry to me in the parking lot of the school about the lack of respect from the administration. The teachers spend all day, every day with these children and have strong relationships with the parents. The administration is completely out of touch with their staff and the parents if anything in my review surprises them. read more

As parent... I can't suggest enough that you find another day care for your kids. My son came home filthy covered in his food from lunch all over his face and shirt ruining his clothes. He'd also come home with bites and scratches almost everyday. He also got a case of hand foot and mouth because the admin doesn't send the kids who have it home allowing the disease to spread like a plague in the classroom. The classrooms are over filled with only 2 or 3 teachers handling 20+ kids leaving many unsupervised. I've also seen how rude and disrespectful the admin, especially the director Tina is to the staff. Talking down to teachers in front of parents seemingly almost every time I see her. So I suggest you never leave your child in this dangerous, incompetently run environment if you actually love them. read more

It takes a lot for a parent to trust strangers with their kids. However with the state of the art technology at Lightbridge, as creepy as it sounds, it is really nice to know that you can drop in at any time via the video feed. The hour-by-hour updates are wonderful - knowing whether our kid ate much that day or slept much that day is invaluable for us at night. Their ability to keep on schedule is miraculous - I still have no idea how they get those kids to sleep at the same time! Each day the staff adds pictures of your kid to the app. This is a really great and reassuring feature... plus, they are just really nice pictures! I am also really impressed by the teachers' ability to teach new skills at such a young age (potty training, sign language, and so much more!) This stuff happened without our asking and we were blown away to see some of these skills at home. I could rant about all of the features and benefits for quite a while. Not everything is always perfect - the cost is difficult for us to afford, and we had our hiccups during the pandemic. But ultimately the care of the staff is what has locked us in for the foreseeable future. There are a lot of really excellent teachers at this school who genuinely care for the kids. read more

"head teachers" are not trained and are not qualified. They are often out of ratio and try to rectify being understaffed by switching children in between classrooms or kicking them out of school without following protocol or policy. There have been police reports due to physical violence. The administration does not care about the children - they care about money and will tell you "it's a business" when questioned. Absolutely do not send your child here read more

This might be the worse run daycare facility ever. I was so excited for this place to open. After almost a 5 month delay in opening ( should have been my first indication that Greg and Dina did not know how to run a business) my son started in Sept 2019. I notified them 7 times ( starting in April when the initial rate agreement was shared) that they had been under billing me. Month after month my emails went unanswered and the wrong amount was charged. In December, they decided to back bill me for their accounting error. They tried to withdrawal more than double our normal rate without even an email or conversation about it in December's tuition withdrawal. When, questioned on this, the one owner Greg only replied to my husband, not myself or the other owner, dispite the fact we were all on the email. One can only assume he feels the "men" should work out the billing. When I went to drop off, the owner's wife berated me for even questioning the "glitch". Offered no apologies and told both my husband and I she had lost trust with US?!? We were the ones who were being honest. In addition, Greg and Dina had been charging us for parent view since September when we were promised it would be included the first 3 months. They also moved our son to a higher ration room with a lower tuition and continued to bill us as if he was in the infant room. Money and billing issues I could maybe overcome. Care for my child I cannot. Since day one we have had gaps in care, neglect, abuse, untrained staff, ratios not followed, administration has had to cover ratios in all the rooms daily, no wonder they can't reply to emails or keep their books straight. It is almost too upsetting to type it all out. As an example I will attach a daily record sheet where Lightbridge academy of Shrewsbury thought the appropriate amount of care was given to my 1 year old son. He was there for 7.5 hours. He arrived at 7:20am. When he arrived he had: 2 bottles, a water cup, breakfast, lunch, and about 4 snacks packed ( none of which were puffs). When I picked him up he was already packed up and I was told "he threw most of his blueberries on the floor" by a teacher they refused to name ( morgan I later found out). If you love your child and expect honestly and well run and trained staff this is not the place for you or your child. No wonder the staff doesn't show up and keeps quitting. Even the director, Renee, told me several times... "she's never seen a daycare run this poorly". The assistant director, Tina, pulled me aside one day after an issue and told me as a mother I needed to speak up and that she would have done the same thing. Obviously even the managerial staff can see what a poor business Greg and Dina are running. Run don't walk away from this dayc read more

Lightbridge Academy - He was offered 7 blueberries ( most he threw on the floor) and 4.5 oz of formula over 7.5 hours. - Child Care & Day Care Near Me - Shrewsbury, New Jersey

There is daycares and then there is light bridge. My son has been going since they opened and it was the easiest decision I've made as a mama. The teachers are educated and experienced. He sends me pictures during the day and comes home with arts and crafts ! You and your family will feel like ur child is taking care of and they get to play and learn all day. You will love it. read more

The staff at Lightbridge in Shrewsbury have been nothing short of wonderful, kind and sincere in the short time my one year old son has been attending. They truly care and make every effort to make accommodations that provide extra comfort for both parent and child. My boy was a bit delayed in walking and it was causing us some real concern- I expressed this to the Lightbridge team - including Dina, Tina and Karla - they assured me they'd work on getting my boy to walk.. and within 2 days in the classroom, my boy walked down the hallway into my arms!! I truly appreciate their hard work and efforts to constantly improve as well as their willingness to address my concerns as a concerned and admittedly anxious mama. I highly recommend! read more

We currently have two children (3 years old and 16 months) at Lightbridge Academy in Shrewsbury and we could not be happier. The teachers and staff are exceptionally kind and take a truly vested interest in the children. The curriculum based educational approach has yielded tremendous results, which are evident daily. During these unprecedented times, Lightbridge has gone above and beyond to ensure the safety of the children, and upon reopening, we have next to no concerns about the safety and wellbeing of our children day in and day out. For any families that are in search of early education and childcare, I would highly recommend you take a tour of Lightbridge and experience for yourselves. read more

5 stars! Everything about this Lightbridge Academy is wonderful, from the staff to the management. I can not say enough great things about this location. The classrooms are always clean and organized, and the teachers are all experienced and easy to communicate with. I love that during the day I am sent updates on my son, pictures too! This school keeps my son engaged and sticks to his schedule. On top of everything, the teacher was able to get him on a great nap routine! I highly recommend this school to anyone that is searching for a daycare. You are truly treated like family here! read more

Franchise owner and director were very unprofessional. At first, I thought it was because they were unorganized as a result of the facility just opening up. However, after a few months, the unprofessionalism continued. I have three major complaints about this school. (1) Prior to enrolling my child into the daycare, I informed both owner and director that my child has a speech therapist that comes at specific time and day. Both individuals seemed agreeable for the speech therapist to come into the school. However, after giving my deposit, they then informed me that they were unable to accommodate the speech therapist at that time as a result of NJ's nap time regulations (which were not accurate). According to NJ.gov, naptime routines should be established for AT LEAST an hour and provisions should be made for children who are early risers, late sleepers, or who do not need a nap. The website states, "unless a child routinely becomes irritable and overtired from lack of sleep, a nap should not be forced upon a child." My child would have been able to sleep an hour (in which he isn't much of a nap taker) as well as receive the extra help that he needed. (please note: his current school honors his nap and speech therapy, without an issue). (2). There were several incidents where my child has fell and hit his head at school. Most of the time, the teacher assistant would inform me when I picked him up. As a parent, my main concern is the safety and well-being of my child. So, I would have preferred a full description of what happened and how they handled the situation. However, the director only provided me with a paper to sign for one incident, and not all incidents. But, they were quick to inform me that "my child" bite any other kid (which isn't like my child). After questioning the incident, it turns out my child was not the child who bit someone, they had mixed him up with someone else (3) I unenrolled my child from the daycare, so that he could receive the additional help that he needed. Upon conversation with the franchise owner Dina and the former assistant director (who quit after two months), they informed me that my security deposit would be returned since I told them in advance. I've tried reaching out for month and half via phone and email, in which they either blatantly ignored or informed me they would get back in touch (and never did!!!!) Finally, they answered me and informed me that they were unable to return my money. Why must it take a month and a half to come up with this decision, if it's in the handbook like they claim? After several conversations with Dina, she stated "it's a month notice, so we will figure out what to do with the security deposit." Now she's stating it has to be 45 days, how as a franchise owner does she not know what it is stated in the handbook? I am not pleased how this school has handled these situations. read more