Why is Bright Horizons so pricey?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bright Horizon's are typically accredited and they compensate their teachers very well. They also do not skimp on things like cleaning. The cheaper centers are often not accredited not could they be (you do have to be open for a year to seek NAEYC accrediation) and many pay their teachers minimum wage with no benefits. Also, rent in this area is a real factor in operational costs.

No BH does not pay staff well.

I agree the pay is crappy. Also I noticed the kids 3-4 couldn’t count, read, write and barely knew the colors and shapes compared to my old center where the kids in that age group were. BH was mostly play all day and the kids weren’t learning anything. Most of the teachers were mediocre/foreign and just happy to say they worked there like they were the top of the line teachers. Save your money and go elsewhere it’s not worth it.

At what daycare center are most 3-4 year olds reading and writing? I don't think that is common. However, for what it's worth, our DS is in that age bracket and goes to a BH center. He knows capital letters very well and most of the lower case letters. He also recognizes numbers and can count to 15-20. Also, knows all of his colors and shapes.

That said, isn't it generally accepted that play based preschools are the better approach? Do you really want someone drilling your 3-4 year old on more academic issues all day long? I think it's unlikely your kids would enjoy that.

3-4 years old they’re learning to writing and reading. Most of the kids I’ve seen are basically behind once they start “real school” after leaving BH. I would expect for the tuition for the child to be learning something. They can play all day at home or with a babysitter for way less. Most centers that aren’t play based academics start in the toddler room and it’s not drilled all day long or forced. The kids still get to play and be kids they're actually learning unlike BH teachers randomly maybe asking one open ended question and snapping a pic of your child playing with blocks to send to you.

How do you know this? Are you a kindergarten teacher surveying parents on where their kid went to daycare? Just seems like an odd comment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bright Horizon's are typically accredited and they compensate their teachers very well. They also do not skimp on things like cleaning. The cheaper centers are often not accredited not could they be (you do have to be open for a year to seek NAEYC accrediation) and many pay their teachers minimum wage with no benefits. Also, rent in this area is a real factor in operational costs.

No BH does not pay staff well.

I agree the pay is crappy. Also I noticed the kids 3-4 couldn’t count, read, write and barely knew the colors and shapes compared to my old center where the kids in that age group were. BH was mostly play all day and the kids weren’t learning anything. Most of the teachers were mediocre/foreign and just happy to say they worked there like they were the top of the line teachers. Save your money and go elsewhere it’s not worth it.

At what daycare center are most 3-4 year olds reading and writing? I don't think that is common. However, for what it's worth, our DS is in that age bracket and goes to a BH center. He knows capital letters very well and most of the lower case letters. He also recognizes numbers and can count to 15-20. Also, knows all of his colors and shapes.

That said, isn't it generally accepted that play based preschools are the better approach? Do you really want someone drilling your 3-4 year old on more academic issues all day long? I think it's unlikely your kids would enjoy that.

3-4 years old they’re learning to writing and reading. Most of the kids I’ve seen are basically behind once they start “real school” after leaving BH. I would expect for the tuition for the child to be learning something. They can play all day at home or with a babysitter for way less. Most centers that aren’t play based academics start in the toddler room and it’s not drilled all day long or forced. The kids still get to play and be kids they're actually learning unlike BH teachers randomly maybe asking one open ended question and snapping a pic of your child playing with blocks to send to you.

No, most 3 year olds are not reading and writing. They are learning pre-writing skills and maybe some recognize words but it’s not reading. Some 4 year olds might do some writing, but it’s not the norm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bright Horizon's are typically accredited and they compensate their teachers very well. They also do not skimp on things like cleaning. The cheaper centers are often not accredited not could they be (you do have to be open for a year to seek NAEYC accrediation) and many pay their teachers minimum wage with no benefits. Also, rent in this area is a real factor in operational costs.

No BH does not pay staff well.

I agree the pay is crappy. Also I noticed the kids 3-4 couldn’t count, read, write and barely knew the colors and shapes compared to my old center where the kids in that age group were. BH was mostly play all day and the kids weren’t learning anything. Most of the teachers were mediocre/foreign and just happy to say they worked there like they were the top of the line teachers. Save your money and go elsewhere it’s not worth it.

At what daycare center are most 3-4 year olds reading and writing? I don't think that is common. However, for what it's worth, our DS is in that age bracket and goes to a BH center. He knows capital letters very well and most of the lower case letters. He also recognizes numbers and can count to 15-20. Also, knows all of his colors and shapes.

That said, isn't it generally accepted that play based preschools are the better approach? Do you really want someone drilling your 3-4 year old on more academic issues all day long? I think it's unlikely your kids would enjoy that.

3-4 years old they’re learning to writing and reading. Most of the kids I’ve seen are basically behind once they start “real school” after leaving BH. I would expect for the tuition for the child to be learning something. They can play all day at home or with a babysitter for way less. Most centers that aren’t play based academics start in the toddler room and it’s not drilled all day long or forced. The kids still get to play and be kids they're actually learning unlike BH teachers randomly maybe asking one open ended question and snapping a pic of your child playing with blocks to send to you.

How do you know this? Are you a kindergarten teacher surveying parents on where their kid went to daycare? Just seems like an odd comment.

I’m a former teacher been in education over 20 years worked at BH for 3 years.

[Anonymous]

I send my kids to McLean Daycare. The provider cooks daily fresh Persian meals and my kids looove going there. I would pay $2000/ month for that kind of service. They learn abcs, numbers and everything. If you are lucky maybe you can find an opening at their home daycare. 571-730-4111 just fyi.

[Anonymous]

Just to clarify we pay $400/week going to McLean Daycare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BH is like Starbucks. You are paying for a good latte. Not amazing but good. And it’s consistent. You know what you are getting. You don’t have to worry or think too much. That’s what you are paying for. You could get a less expensive latte somewhere else but you’d have to do more work to find it.

I think this is right. You know that there are at least minimum standards you can confidently rely on.

Yeah, I wouldn't bet on that. The super expensive BH center I toured was beautiful but has had multiple complaints against it for things like giving medication to the wrong child. Really parents, you can do better than this. Tour different centers, check their licensing inspection history, ask to speak with current parents. It's the least you can do for deciding where your child will spend most of their waking hours.

We had major issues with the BH in Rosslyn.

For instance, one day they forgot to feed our infant for 8 hours. We arrived and all of her bottles were untouched and she was red eyed and unconsolable in a crib. None of the floaters in the room could tell us why she hadn't been fed. They had no idea. Management had no idea either.

The center was also constantly out of ratio. One morning there were 10 infants with one teacher. I reported the center to the county for this. They were subject to a surprise inspection and cited for being severely out of ratio. The county threatened to shut them down. BH buried the notice on a bulletin board, hiding the citation from parents. We left.

It's really hard to find infant daycare slots or we would have left sooner.

This is an EGREGIOUS violation that you should've reported immediately! You would've been interviewed by VADSS if you had done that and they can't hide from the violations. They are posted on the VADSS website. In fact, every inspection is posted with every little violation.

Not feeding an infant for 8 hours is cause for them to be shut down immediately!

I'm a VA preschool director and we've had one tiny little complaint (think paperwork) after which VADSS was all over us for days!!

People - REPORT these kinds of violations.

Also, Bright Horizon's business model is to get FREE OR REDUCED rent from office buildings, companies, etc. in exchange for giving employees in those buildings priority. They're not paying high rents or high salaries to justify the high tuition. They're owned by a private equity group. Think about that.....

[Anonymous]

I think they tend to cater to large employers, so a lot of parents get a discount and don't pay the full sticker price. I pay ~$2,600 even though my center is listed as $3,250 per month (based in Seattle). I've also found that they have a lot less turnover than other places I've toured. My 9 month old has been cared for at two different BH centers, and the quality is equally awesome at both. My understanding is that the higher relative cost is due to the more skilled labor and the standardized protocols and oversight. It's a huge portion of my take-home pay but worth it for my career in the long run and peace of mind in the near term. Wish we didn't have to make this trade-off. Even with the discount, it's insane.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think they tend to cater to large employers, so a lot of parents get a discount and don't pay the full sticker price. I pay ~$2,600 even though my center is listed as $3,250 per month (based in Seattle). I've also found that they have a lot less turnover than other places I've toured. My 9 month old has been cared for at two different BH centers, and the quality is equally awesome at both. My understanding is that the higher relative cost is due to the more skilled labor and the standardized protocols and oversight. It's a huge portion of my take-home pay but worth it for my career in the long run and peace of mind in the near term. Wish we didn't have to make this trade-off. Even with the discount, it's insane.

Someone from Bright Horizons didn’t want to let this thread end on a sour note.

[Anonymous]

Kindercare seems to be most expensive in the DC regions
Then there are a few very small places (the Cheesecake one comes to mind)
Then Bright Horizons
Then pretty much every where else

Bright Horizons wasn’t the most expensive option back when we were looking, but their hours where longer, they weren’t shut down as long for COVID, there seemed to be true separation between pods, they provided all food, and they had a private playground

We ended up at a Bright Horizons. Our second favorite place was $300 cheaper a month but closed an hour earlier and we would have to pack lunch. For us, the extra $300 was worth it due to commutes, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bright Horizon's are typically accredited and they compensate their teachers very well. They also do not skimp on things like cleaning. The cheaper centers are often not accredited not could they be (you do have to be open for a year to seek NAEYC accrediation) and many pay their teachers minimum wage with no benefits. Also, rent in this area is a real factor in operational costs.

No BH does not pay staff well.

They do not treat their staff well either. One of my kids was at a BH for a few months and the teachers had some truly hair raising things to say about how management treated them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:BH is like Starbucks. You are paying for a good latte. Not amazing but good. And it’s consistent. You know what you are getting. You don’t have to worry or think too much. That’s what you are paying for. You could get a less expensive latte somewhere else but you’d have to do more work to find it.

This is a good analogy!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's like asking why some people are willing to pay $12-a-pint for Jeni's Ice Cream versus $3-a-pint for your standard Mayfield Ice Cream.

Quality.

Just keep telling yourself that.

Bright Horizons kept centers on task during the pandemic. But I heard nothing but misery from in-home or small daycares who suddenly disappeared into the ether because either owner/operator didn't want to risk it, or they suddenly moved, or they just couldn't afford to keep operating with the new Covid restrictions.

What you're paying for with accreditation, and yes - corporate backing, is continuity and better quality overall.

Aren't some of the locations at federal agencies still closed?