Bright Horizons PK3 vs Public?

[Anonymous]

We send our child to a bright horizons in a government building, and we LOVE the school so far; however, we realize that after 2s the educational options *might* be better elsewhere. We prefer public school over private for pre-k onward and are IB for Miner (which we’re not sure we want to attend), but we’d also apply for top privates in DC if we’re not happy with our school by pre-k / k. Anyone have experience staying at a great BH program over public pk3? Anyone switch? Any recommendations for how to think about our options / what the best options are within Northeast/Capitol Hill/Downtown? Thanks!

[Anonymous]

What is the question here? You prefer public over private but you’ll apply to a “top private” for friggin preK?

[Anonymous]

DCPS generally does prek3/prek4 universally well. I’m sure there are exceptions, but I’ve not known anyone not happy with their prek experiences. I would suggest attending open houses next year to get a sense of school programs. There are a ton of great ones.

[Anonymous]

My kid did PK3 at a downtown BH because our neighborhood school does not offer PK3 and I didn’t want to do two transitions. The education is essentially the same. In fact our PK3 teacher at BH had previously taught at DCPS, and our PK4 teacher in DCPS had previously taught at a BH.

[Anonymous]

Bright Horizons means you have care even when DCPS is closed. Don't underestimate the convenience of that.

[Anonymous]

I thought being part of an elementary school offered a lot of advantages. If your school has a gym, auditorium for performances, real PE, music and art teachers, etc., it's very nice. My DD attends a not very well regarded DCPS but the quality is better than her perfectly fine daycare and she really loves when she participates in big kid stuff. For example, just getting to watch the 3rd-5th grades put on a musical was so special to her and she ran up for hugs afterwards.

The biggest difference IMO is that her preschool teacher has a MA in early literacy and used to teach first grade, so DD's reading really took off. You may or may not get that level of credential and experience in BH, it just depends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought being part of an elementary school offered a lot of advantages. If your school has a gym, auditorium for performances, real PE, music and art teachers, etc., it's very nice. My DD attends a not very well regarded DCPS but the quality is better than her perfectly fine daycare and she really loves when she participates in big kid stuff. For example, just getting to watch the 3rd-5th grades put on a musical was so special to her and she ran up for hugs afterwards.

[b]The biggest difference IMO is that her preschool teacher has a MA in early literacy and used to teach first grade, so DD's reading really took off. You may or may not get that level of credential and experience in BH, it just depends.

We did BH downtown prior to PK3 and moved to a DC charter for PK3. I would say generally DCPS teachers will have much better credentials than BH and depending on the school will also likely have much more community building activities as well (school plays, field trips, other activities).

Although I will echo an earlier comment that with DCPS/DCPCS you have to be ready for all of the random days off and dealing with aftercare enrollment, which can be bumpy.

At BH is was nice to have every (non-holiday) day covered and also not have to worry about aftercare.

[Anonymous]

BH really depends on the quality of the individual teachers. So of you know who would be teaching your kid, that's a big factor.

[Anonymous]

This is so helpful. Thank you!

[Anonymous]

I'd do Miner's pre-k over staying at BH.

[Anonymous]

Does your BH have a full preschool class for each grade? How do they separate 3/4/5? Ours struggled to have enough kids in the preschool age bracket so they were often lumped together and sometimes even with the older 2s. I would make sure you understand what you will get at BH. I have known several people who had kids at Miner for PK and they were generally happy. Don't forget the benefit of meeting other kids/families in your neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

So, I have a unique perspective because my daughter's PK3 year was SY 2020-2021 when DCPS was virtual most of the year.
We did the DCPS "morning meeting" and a "small group" immediately after it via Zoom, then once it reopened, I walked her to her federal daycare/preschool where she did the rest of the day. It wasn't Bright Horizons but it was a YMCA run center where they use a similar curriculum (Creative vs. Discovery Driven).

They offered part time in person education at DCPS later in the school year that year, but it would've been a hassle to bridge the hours with the daycare, so we stayed "virtual" all year. Daughter joined her classmates the next year with the same teacher in personfor PK4 so I have a good sense of how the PK3 year wouldve been if it had all been normal.

I think it's a wash between the two. Pros and cons to both. DCPS teachers have MUCH better credentials (actual degrees vs. short term certificates). Actvities and curriclum will be the same or similar. But DCPS (in my opinion) had much worse behavioral issues with the kids, which caused a lot of reports home about disruptions. A factor will likely be because the daycare was all kids whose parents were working full time and could afford $300+ a week tuition - less stress and possibly more routine for the kiddos.

So, I'd make the decision based on budget and future plans. Also depends on your kiddo - I can see the DCPS meeting an advanced child's level more (ours did - at least for PK-K but that ended in 1st/2nd when the differentiation got to be too much for the teachers). BH will be more consistent too - no weird DCPS records day off like yesterday, hours will better match your work schedule without needing to pay for seperate aftercare of questionable quality, etc.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

We switched from a fed BH center that we loved on the Hill to DCPS. DCPS is “real” school, even for pk and involved more sitting still, not talking over each other, and other behavioral prep. If you have a kid who is on the older side or just has the personality where they are able to focus, I think DCPS for pk3 is better. BH is more fun, my kid liked it more, the teachers were more lovey dovey, etc. Also, our BH class had less kids with emotional outbursts. If I had to do it all over again, I probably would have stayed at BH for one more year, but we really did appreciate the cost savings. Also, my kid is now in kindergarten and I do think DCPS was better prep for K, not necessarily academically, but moreso for the large class size, ability to focus, etc.

[Anonymous]

My child stayed at BH for PK3 and learned so much more there than her old BH friends did in DCPS. Was taught to write their name and phonics for all of their letters. The convenience of having to scramble for after or back up care was also a perk. I also think the emotional support they can provide at BH was essential at that young age. They let kids be kids while teaching them. I don’t think we’d get that at DCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child stayed at BH for PK3 and learned so much more there than her old BH friends did in DCPS. Was taught to write their name and phonics for all of their letters. The convenience of having to scramble for after or back up care was also a perk. I also think the emotional support they can provide at BH was essential at that young age. They let kids be kids while teaching them. I don’t think we’d get that at DCPS.

FWIW, so OP knows, they do all of this ^ in DCPS.

There are pluses and minuses to either decision. But I do not want OP to think that somehow kids don't learn how to read/write in DCPS pre-k, or that they aren't received social/emotional support. Phonics, writing, and social emotional learning are the key components of most DCPS preschool programs.