This center does a really great job teaching the kids and not just "babysitting." Unfortunately, we eventually had to pull my son out due to witnessing several different staff members putting their hands on the kids and yelling at them. He attended in the 4/5 year old class.
I witnessed one employee grab a child by the chin, turn his head to her and say "look at me!" I witnessed another grab my own child by the arm and pull him to her because he stepped out of line. I also witnessed a staff member bent down to a sitting child yelling in his face. The look on his face was one of pure terror. (I'm not talking about a stern, raised voice. This was indeed yelling.) I picked up my child one afternoon, and could clearly hear a staff member yelling in the infant room through the closed door. What could you possibly have to yell at infants about?! My son would tell me with no prompting how one of his teachers was mean, always yelled, and also flicked students. (This was not Miss Maggie. She is a great teacher and probably the best at the center.) Another thing that made me uncomfortable, was when my son came home singing a song with the words, "It's Christmas, don't be a jerk." In my personal opinion, "jerk" is not an appropriate word to be teaching 4 and 5 year olds.
I spoke to the director and I was assured that the teachers would be "talked" to, but I continued to witness these things after that. I think more than "talking" to should have been done as it's unacceptable to put your hands on children in the manners that I saw. We also felt very uncomfortable dropping off and picking up my son because most of the staff would give no greeting or even look in our direction. I'm not sure if this was due to my complaints to the director or not. My son gave 5 members of the staff Christmas presents and received a thank you from only one (Miss Maggie). It's a shame to have to explain to a young child why some of his "teachers" didn't like his gifts, which is what he asked me.
As I previously stated and to be fair, this center is absolutely amazing at the planned activities, field-trips, and learning for the children. I was very impressed with that. We just weren't comfortable with the overall treatment of the children besides that.
After posting this review on their Facebook page, it was promptly deleted and I was private messaged by the Assistant Director! Instead of addressing concerns, they blame me for "never being happy" and having too many questions and concerns. Every parent should be able to ask questions and share concerns with the establishment tending to their child! read more