Infant room at National Science Foundation Bright Horizons
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Anonymous
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I am a Bright Horizons NSF parent, and I’d like to share why I believe that BH management is dangerously irresponsible.
Through the last two years, our Center had an incompetent Director, who did nothing as the Center collapsed into chaos (that’s not an exaggeration). A lot of what happened was her own fault, BUT SHE HAD SUPERVISORS. WHERE WERE THEY DURING THE LAST TWO YEARS?? *Where were these managers when our children were being rough-handled by their own caregivers?? *Where were these managers when our Center filed virtually no required paperwork with the state and county?? *Where were these managers when our Center director would come to work drunk?? *Where were these managers when our Center violated a litany of safety regulations on a daily basis?? Bright Horizons managers neglected their duty to supervise our Center, and this had a detrimental effect on our children’s education and safety. Right now, there seems to be an endless parade of BH Regional Directors, etc. who have been stationed at our Center since this whole mess began – all of whom give us comfy reassurances that they care about us and that safety is their top priority – but where were these people when our children really needed them?? Clearly, there’s a problem with how BH is run. The layers of upper management seem to have no clue what’s going on inside their own Centers, and as long as the profits keep rolling in, they don’t seem to care. That might work fine if the Center is run well, but if it’s not, it leads to a disaster… quickly. What happened at NSF can easily happen to any Bright Horizons Center, given what I’ve seen of their management. All of this is a shame, because as several other posters noted, many of the teachers at NSF are very talented. They have been shortchanged by BH management as much as our children have been. We trust daycare companies with our children’s lives and wellbeing, but based on my first-hand experience, Bright Horizons has violated that trust, and their neglectful administrative oversight put our children at serious risk. |
Anonymous
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Where were the parents?
Did they actually file complaints with the regional managers - or did they just complain to each other in the hallways? Did they call licesning each time the director showed up drunk - or did they just gossip about it? My experience is that most parents don't do too much because they don't want to lose their child care option ... |
Anonymous
That’s kind of harsh, but I see your point. I for one wish I had been less naive and HAD complained to licensing. As a new parent, it never even crossed my mind. I believe it was eventually a parent’s complaint to licensing that caused this to be brought into the open. FWIW, I did raise an issue with the regional manager once and was completely blown off. Looking back now, that was dangerous warning sign. I wish I had gone above her head to someone else, but who knows if that would have made a difference either. My feeling was that the managers were all friends with each other, so parent concerns went nowhere. Again, I wish I had been more forceful, but I was afraid of my kid being mistreated as a result of raising too much of a fuss. Yes, I know I was an idiot for thinking that, but like I said, we were new parents and just didn’t know any better. Your point is well taken. I hope parents at other daycares follow your advice at the first sign of trouble. |
Anonymous
How long have you worked for Bright Horizons? |
Anonymous
Actually I had the same thoughts as the poster who complained that allegedly for 2 years all of this very serious stuff was going on. Where. were. the. parents. And again, this has nothing to do w/BH management in general, it has to do w/the persons employed at that particular center. Throwing the baby out w/the bathwater much? I'm not trying to be a jerk but...my child was at a terrible center (not BH). We pulled him, spent a ton of money to get interim care. And yes, at the first sign of trouble, I called the VA dept of licensing and complained, and the inspector and I established a phone relationship to keep updated about the status of my complaint. It seemed like common sense to me. I mean obviously I also talked to the director and the teachers, but they are going to look out for their number 1 - themselves and their center. My son is now thriving at a BH center, and no....I don't work for them (lest that be assumed). |
Anonymous
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I am the 11:36 Poster:
I know it’s easy to bash daycare parents, but many parents at NSF WERE on top of things, and this all still happened. Simply saying that you believe parents gossiped instead of taking action is an unfair characterization of what happened. Much of the bad stuff happened without parents knowledge… for the most part, kids in daycare can’t talk to you about their day, so they can’t say “Mommy, my teacher screamed at me a lot” or “I don’t like it when my teacher grabs me roughly.” As I’ve learned from speaking with the licensing inspectors, for many violations, BH took an “internal report” (meaning that they put a note in a teacher’s personnel file), but never notified Licensing or the child’s parents of even very serious events. Heaven only knows how many times BH didn’t even bother with an internal report. Given that most parents at our Center work full-time, we can’t be there most of the day. That’s why all parents with kids in daycare must rely on a competent and professional management staff to ensure day-to-day safety standards. I’m not saying that parents have no responsibility to keep an eye on things, but there are many instances in which even the most diligent parents simply can’t know what’s going on. That, unfortunately, is the nature of daycares in general. In our case, Bright Horizons management was actively covering up some very serious violations. I’m sure there are many good BH Centers out there, but I stand by my earlier statement that BH corporate operations has seriously let us down. |
Anonymous
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"Where were the parents?
Did they actually file complaints with the regional managers - or did they just complain to each other in the hallways? Did they call licesning each time the director showed up drunk - or did they just gossip about it?" As a parent whose child was a subject of a recent licensing report at NSF, I find this statement really kind of offensive. I didn't KNOW that the teachers were humiliating my son. Because the center manager was not doing her job, no one told me about the psychological damage being done. I asked my son every day "how was school today" and he always said ok, or something to that effect. He never said "my teacher grabbed me, dragged me across the room, and humiliated me. Then my friends teased me all afternoon." You can bet your ass I would've reported it if I had known. But he was embarassed, and ashamed. Because of what his teacher did, he was ashamed. Sometimes, sadly, that's the nature of abuse - even if the victim is capable of expressing it, he or she doesn't want to for some reason. It was the job of the center to tell me about that, and they failed, miserably. So don't you try to turn this around and say that the parents fell down on the job here. The center, including it's local, regional, and national management has the responsibility for running a safe and healthy daycare. They did not meet their responsibility. The fault is 100%, theirs. Also, FWIW, I know of at least two parents who had serious concerns with the way issues surrounding their children were handled. When the parents did not receive the type of response they expected from the center director, they did raise it up the chain quite vocally. So it's not accurate to insinuate that parents neglected to report things because they were concerned about losing daycare. |
Anonymous
Meh, maybe you would have complained to the Director a bit but report to licesning - I think its a 90/10 split in favor of 90 % just grumbling about it. Look at what you wrote in your last paragraph - sure the parents complained to mgmt, who did nothing, so the parents did nothing. Yeah, It can be a pain to complain to licesning. It can also be a bigger pain to lose your daycare arrangement. Licensing will look into the complaint fairly quickly. They also make sure the center is complying with guidelines for those that don't concern the complain so if a parent really wants something done and mgmt isn't responsive, this is the way to go. I worked in a center (not BH) and put my child in a center so it's been about 10 yrs of experience with them - and its the very rare parent - even when there is a serious injury or other problem who will take the trouble to actually report it to licensing and go through with the complain. So I find your holier than thou attitude quite ridiculous. |
Anonymous
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"Meh, maybe you would have complained to the Director a bit but report to licesning - I think its a 90/10 split in favor of 90 % just grumbling about it."
Given that you don't know me, my child, my family situation, or my previous relationship with this company, I find it hard to understand how you can second guess my response. I've had some experience with licensing in the past, I absolutely would've reported this if I had known. I can't speak to other parents actions, and as I'm not super close with them, I haven't discussed the details of the incidents involving their children at great depth - so I can not tell you to whom (whether it was internal management or licensing) they reported their concerns. I just don't understand why you are blaming the parents for not knowing that their children were mistreated. I also don't understand why you are calling my attitude "holier than thou" or "ridiculous". My son was harmed by this center. As soon as I found out about it, I called licensing to discuss it with the investigator. There is nothing ridiculous about a center violating even the most basic safety standards, let alone some of the more serious violations committed by this center. It is the job of the center director, and the teachers, to self report incidents about which there is no way a parent could be aware. Why are you defending them so much and insulting the parents who have already had their children harmed by this center? I'm not saying parents shouldn't also report violations if they become aware of them - it's everyone's responsiblity to keep children safe and centers honest. So if parents know, and do not act, perhaps some blame can lay there. But isn't it the basic job of the center to take care of and ensure the safety of our children? And if a teacher fails to do that, isn't the whole purpose of management to be watching over, and make sure that everyone is following the rules and requirements? Why shouldn't we hold management to that standard? Why should we expect or allow them to provide us with less? |
Anonymous
| Unfortunately, Licensing has revoked BH's license to do business at the NSF, which led to the Board of Directors of BCCC firing BH and a new vendor has been picked and papers has been signed. The process of transitioning will take place soon, and Dec 14, it will be a complete takeover. A complete overhaul will be healthy for everyone. And the teachers? So we will see. |
Anonymous
| How will this be bad for the teachers? If you are assuming they are going to be fired that is probably a very bad assumption. |
Anonymous
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Personally, I'm hoping that the new company comes in, looks at the teachers that are there, does a good thorough review, and does what they can to keep the good teachers (which are many, if not most of the teachers). The kids in the center need some continuity, and most of the teachers are really caring and loving people, who do a good job taking care of the kids.
Hopefully getting new management in there will help everyone - kids, parents, and the many good teachers teachers who, in my experience, have not been well served by the poor management at the center. |
Anonymous
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Yes it is
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Anonymous
As a former NSF CDC parent, I am thrilled by this decision. Thanks for posting an update. |
Anonymous
Unfortunately? |