This place is amazing; a perfect combination of play, cooperation, teacher support, and learning! We've sent two girls through here and couldn't be happier, and many of our friends have sent their children here. Interestingly, our girls have been here from Nov 2014, including the time period of all of the bad reviews on this site. More on that later.
The staff is ALWAYS warm and engaged, and genuinely cares about the kids. The yearly progress reports I've received on my children are amazingly detailed with pictures, examples of key learning steps, etc. I can't count how many mornings I've walked in to find multiple kids with separation anxiety being held by the teachers (which also helps get the parents out the door and on the way to work.)
The school has several events throughout the year to make the kids feel special and keep the parents engaged. Speaking of engagement, I've had a great time staying and playing with my kids, and they encourage this.
And, critically, Teddy Bear is committed to protecting the special place they've created. They don't tolerate inappropriate behavior from the kids; the couple of times I've seen an incident, the teachers responded immediately and gently corrected the children. And I've also been there long enough to witness the administration asking a family or two to leave because their children didn't fit with the Teddy Bear atmosphere. I'm sure one (or more) of the negative reviews on this site are from those parents. I can only say that both my wife and I have each seen one issue where I, personally, wouldn't have even given the child a second chance...but Teddy Bear continued to work with the family. I think they left eventually, which is great because I don't want my kids to be the victims of somebody else's consistently-misbehaving children.
As far as comments on the staff's personality or interaction on the playground, I can only say that (for better or worse), for the last 4 years the Teddy Bear teachers have consistently known more about my life than I expected...because they listen to my girls and care about their activities both at school and at home. The teachers consistently have the most positive and cheery attitude, greet our children every time they walk in the door, and say bye when we leave. This has been a wonderful home for our two children, and we love ALL of the staff.
I'm guessing the negative reviewers have an ax to grind; I would have hoped they would be more honest with themselves and everyone else. Based on our experience, this is the best preschool ever, we could not have IMAGINED a more perfect place. Also, given the number of friends we have in the area that continue to put subsequent siblings in Teddy Bear's care, I KNOW that we are in an amazing place. read more