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November 2023 by Myiana White
Ms.Kalina is the best teacher. Wish she could move up as my baby grows but I know she’ll always be around. She truly sees what my child needs, wants, likes in all. Always putting her best foot forward even on her worse days (not that there are very many). She’s a beautiful & patient person! The staff are great and show very valuable team work/communication when it comes to the kids (all ages). I think the concerns brought to the faculty from parents have been addressed & they are doing their very best at this time. Always wanting the families to partake in festivities & extracurricular functions. Keeping parents in sync with learning/disciplinary action taking, progress, etc. For a first time mother I recommend Mill Creek (Bright Beginnings). - Thanks All!
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October 2023 by Tess Krovetz
Our oldest went to Bright Beginnings Mill Creek from infancy through pre-k, and we had a great experience - caring staff, excellent mitigation of COVID (and the many other bugs kids get), and a happy child who loves to read and learn as a result of his time there. Our youngest is still there and we continue to feel confident and safe with our choice. Staffing changes are common in daycare, and while that’s not ideal, there are a good number of teachers who have been there as long or longer than our family. As a teacher, I really appreciate their use of pre-kindergarten reading assessments to help us better understand our child as a reader. They provide consistent professional development for staff as well.
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October 2023 by silentsudo
Disappointing to say the leastSorry to say, but parents need to be honest with each other. Our experience was this- a lack of communication in nearly every regard, from minimal to no updates on our child's day, to weeks going by without a response to emails sent to administrators. A far cry from students playing in "organic gardens" and engaged in "child initiated learning" as advertised, we saw primarily worn out plastic toys and considerable amounts of screen time. Screen time for toddlers in a preschool? Yeah, we were surprised, too.Keep in mind that when choosing a school you're paying for a service, on top of providing your child with an environment where they can thrive. And because you can rely on their care, you can rest easy while you tackle the other parts if your work/home/personal life.Countless times we were messaged in the morning that school was short staffed that day and would need to turn away students. Often at pick up, our child was with an individual whom we had never met and who sometimes we never saw again. Staff seemingly came and went without any notice to families. Other times we witnessesd teachers aggressively yelling at children to stop behavior that was entirely developmentally appropriate (digging in an uncovered, unsupervised sandbox). Yikes!When these concerns were addressed per the school's "Happy Family Guarantee" we were assured that change would ensue, yet here we are. To us, these things meant that our family couldn't rely on the care we paid for, and when we were there, we always felt worried that our kid/their peers weren't getting what they deserved.A quick internet search revealed that owners of the school have also worked for an advisory group who council early childhood educators on how to maximize profit. Big sigh. And heads up, the school frequently requests that families nominate them for "Best Preschool" awards in exchange for $100 gift cards, so keep that in mind when reviewing their accolades.As parents who care not only about our own family, but the safety and well-being of every child, we can not, in good conscience, recommend this school.
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September 2023 by Silentsudo S.
Disappointing to say the least Sorry to say, but parents need to be honest with each other. Our experience was this- a lack of communication in nearly every regard, from minimal to no updates on our child's day, to weeks going by without a response to emails sent to administrators. A far cry from students playing in "organic gardens" and engaged in "child initiated learning" as advertised, we saw primarily worn out plastic toys and considerable amounts of screen time. Screen time for toddlers in a preschool? Yeah, we were surprised, too.Keep in mind that when choosing a school you're paying for a service, on top of providing your child with an environment where they can thrive. And because you can rely on their care, you can rest easy while you tackle the other parts if your work/home/personal life. Countless times we were messaged in the morning that school was short staffed that day and would need to turn away students. Often at pick up, our child was with an individual whom we had never met and who sometimes we never saw again. Staff seemingly came and went without any notice to families. Other times we witnessesd teachers aggressively yelling at children to stop behavior that was entirely developmentally appropriate (digging in an uncovered, unsupervised sandbox). Yikes!When these concerns were addressed per the school's "Happy Family Guarantee" we were assured that change would ensue, yet here we are. To us, these things meant that our family couldn't rely on the care we paid for, and when we were there, we always felt worried that our kid/their peers weren't getting what they deserved. A quick internet search revealed that owners of the school have also worked for an advisory group who council early childhood educators on how to maximize profit. Big sigh. And heads up, the school frequently requests that families nominate them for "Best Preschool" awards in exchange for $100 gift cards, so keep that in mind when reviewing their accolades. As parents who care not only about our own family, but the safety and well-being of every child, we can not, in good conscience, recommend this school.
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September 2023 by Danielle Marić
Our son was here for almost three months (Aug 2022) before we relocated out of state. It makes me sad to write this review because my experience since leaving this daycare has only validated my concern. My complaint is very simple; every single day, I would send my child to the Mill Creek location with pants on. Every single day, he would be returned to me, not wearing pants. His legs were very cold to the touch at pick up and so I asked if they could please put his pants back on after diaper changes. They NEVER did. It's concerning because if you're not staffed well enough in the infant classroom to put a babies pants back on after a diaper change, well then something is very wrong. I do think the facilities are nice and a few teachers were great. But overall, I would not recommend this facility until they resolve their communication and/or staffing situation.
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August 2023 by Danielle M.
Our son was here for almost three months before we relocated out of state. It makes me sad to write this review because my experience since leaving this daycare has only validated my concern. My complaint is very simple; every single day, I would send my child to the Mill Creek location with pants on. Every single day, he would be returned to me, not wearing pants. His legs were very cold to the touch at pick up and so I asked if they could please put his pants back on after diaper changes. They NEVER did. It's concerning because if you're not staffed well enough in the infant classroom to put a babies pants back on after a diaper change, well then something is very wrong. I do think the facilities are nice and a few teachers were great. But overall, I would not recommend this facility until they resolve their communication and/or staffing situation.
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February 2022 by Jenny G.
My daughter started here a couple months ago, after staying home with me and constantly being since she was born, she's now 18 months. Right away you could tell how much she loved it. She is so happy to go every morning and runs and hugs her teachers. The only time I've seen any crying is when her teacher has left before I pick her up. She was sick and out for several days (daycare ick after never being around kids plus being a quarantine baby) and she was extremely excited to go back. She brought me her shoes several times while she was out, indicating she was ready to go, the first day she went back her excitement started as soon as we got in the car to leave and once we pulled up she was overjoyed. They're great about updates, keeping you in the know and have been so patient with me even what I'm sure it wasn't always easy. It's given me a huge piece of mind knowing that she's happy and being taken care of, even if I sometimes I do get just a liiiiitle jealous.
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August 2021 by Taro M.
I do not recommend you bring your child to Bright Beginnings. We pulled our daughter out after a week but we had red flags throughout the sign up process. They are deeply disorganized at the administrative level and it inspires no confidence that they can provide quality care.The second day of pickup they brought me some other Asian child (I am Asian). Apparently they will just let your kids go home with whoever, and won't ask about who you're there for. Not great!If you tour, you'll get dozens of frantic marketing emails asking you to "Sign up today!" "Book a tour!" even if you've already paid your registration fee. If you reach out to the admin people over email you'll rarely get a response in writing, and they will never remember who your kid is or when your start date is. If you're wondering why they have to advertise so thoroughly and mail out hundreds of coupons, it's probably because they can't stand on good word of mouth and quality care.There's bad price transparency, and a slew of $50, $100, and $200 fees throughout their contract documents which gave me the impression they kind of just want to charge you for whatever they feel like. Tuition is not on the website as you may have noticed. When we toured the Crozet location, the person we met with did not provide us with a printed fee schedule, but she did write the monthly rate on a piece of paper and slide it across the table like we were in a high stakes negotiation in an 80s movie. In case you're curious:Infant/Waddler (6 wks - 15 mo) $1525 for 5 days/wkToddlers: (16-24 mo) $1200 for 5 days/wkTwos: (24-36 mo) $1125 for 5 daysThrees: $1075 for 5 daysPreK: $1025 for 5 daysFor $1525/mo plus a $150 registration fee and a $300 infant registration fee and a $300 "program enhancement fee" you could do WAY BETTER. Keep shopping around and don't go to Bright Beginnings.
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April 2021 by Adrienne A.
This is a beautiful facility staffed with loving, kind and hard-working staff, truly interested in each child. The pre-school curriculum is a wonderful blend of serious learning activites presented in a fun and engaging way. Lots of outdoor playtime, which is so important. The classrooms are well-designed and stocked full with age appropriate, high-quality, furniture, books, and educational supplies. Our grandson LOVED being a Cheetah!
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January 2020 by Shameca Mcfadden
I am enjoying the two year old class/elephants and working with my co-worker's. I am enjoying getting to know all of my parents. Everyone is really nice, I love how we teacher's can communicate by using tadpoles, it's very convenient.
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January 2019 by Maureen McWard
Thanks for a fantastic experience at Forest Lakes. I could't be happier with the teachers and management. The renovations for stunning- you really have to go and see them for yourself. There are no other preschools in the area that provide this kind of environment for children.
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January 2018 by Anastasiya Kulygin
Parents be aware!!! If you care about your little ones DO NOT take them even close this daycare. We got burned pretty bad and I really hope that no child will ever experience the horror that we had to go through. They will not feed your newborn, they will not change your little one, they will lie into your face about their approach to conflict resolution, they teach all the kids to laugh and point fingers at the kids that cry. All the teachers do is to try to catch a "happy" moment on their cameras to send parents pictures of their kids, so that parents thinks that everything is all right! If you take your child there you will notice that your child will start crying hysterically every single time you take her there. So, please LISTEN to your gut and to your child and take your child away from there. Also, after pulling our baby from this horrible place we started researching about this place and apparently there was a police investigation because a child was wondering on a street alone because they just forgot the child there. I wish someone just take them to court and sue them for everything they do there! HORRIBLE HORRIBLE place!!!
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January 2018 by Amy Barfield
We love Bright Beginnings and would recommend taking a tour for anyone looking for supreme childcare!
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January 2018 by Janelle Gorski
My 2.5-year-old son has been at Bright Beginnings (Mill Creek) since he was 3 months old, and we couldn't be happier with his care. Bottom line: staff members love my son, which is all I could ever ask. I love the staff. He is safe, and we appreciate the preschool curriculum.My only constructive feedback is regarding parent communication. We would appreciate more notice, especially about staff changes. No place is perfect, not even my own home, so I'm willing to look over this because of the quality of care provided.There is some staff turnover, but I understand it's less than the industry standard.We love Bright Beginnings!!
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January 2017 by Ayanna Ashnafi
I did not have a good experience with Bright Beginnings (Mill Creek location). The care that they were giving my 2 month old son was not up to par. For instance my child slept in a swing for 2 weeks. Which I was unaware of until the beginning of week 3. I found this out because the teachers were so excited that they had finally received his bed that they had to tell me. They have a schedule in the infant room which is not an issue. The issue was if my 2 month old son missed the changing time due to being asleep he wasn't changed until the next time even when he woke up before. I picked him up several evenings and found his diaper full to the point that if it had been squeezed the crystals inside would have come out. When feeding my son it was thought that he was done after eating only an ounce or two when he actually just needed to burp. Simple hygiene items were not being done. Babies noses had run down on to their lips and dried and babies had crusty eyes and eyelashes. Customer service was lacking at this location also.
