Experience with Bright Horizons Crystal City

[Anonymous]

Centers

Clean and secure, although the Crystal City playground is horrible! Walk out before opening hours before Marie Bennett randomly goes out to pick up cigarette butts. Put a cam out in a tree and look how often anyone wipes down playground equipment, even when children have diaper leaks. For the money, you are essentially paying the extra for a caged, concrete area with cheap, synthetic equipment and padding.

Curriculum and Atmosphere

Looks great on paper, but I've randomly shown up to critique at times. Employees were playing parents against fellow employees who reported them for infractions. One very tall employee in the toddler room regularly had blow-outs with other women, once towering above a Panamanian employee in a very aggressive manner. It was common practice for a few employees to create false stories based on gossip ("She want you babby daddy, girl!" was what one mom told me a todder's teacher stated). Randomly show up a few times a month for lunch to ensure that the employees aren't eating all of the catered lunches that are supposed to be for the children.

Ask longterm employees you believe you can trust (maybe Raquel in the Infant room) if they can tell you how many times a child wandered off on walks unnoticed. Ask them if they know how many times someone who works in the building offices around the center has brought a child to the center who wandered out the back door past the break room and assistant director's offices. Ask the center if they mind showing you the digitized files of incidents, including employees who were physically rough with children. Ask the center how many times an infant, a baby, or a toddler was left on a changing table as an employee or even Marie Bennet has walked away to get something. While no child has ever fallen off a changing table that I know of, it's still a concern.

Don't lose sight of the fact that Bright Horizons is a for-profit business. They have shareholders. If profit isn't so important to BH, if parents and families really do come first, ask them if they mind putting together a parent support group with parent members only who take turns doing parent inspections. Ask them to stop using diluted bleach (do doctors' offices clean with bleach? No) and fork out money for peroxide to clean toys and tables after meals. Check to see where toys are made: for the price you pay, why should the few toys BH has be made by countries with no standards of care? Look how often puzzles with bright shiny paint are made in China. Ask how often area rugs are steam cleaned for sanitation. Ask them to allow a $90 mobicam installed in your child's classroom, so you can look at your child from your phone or computer (with downloaded software). Quiz your child to see if they know what the letter 'A' is if their curriculum says they are learning the letter 'A' that day. Ask that employees hired by BH have stable employment histories, periodic testing for TB and other conditions, termination policies if an employee regularly has problems with fellow employees (3x), etc.

In case you haven't caught on to BH CC and the large windows, consider a nanny cam on a diaper bag or thin digital recorder sewn into the underside of a bag. The teachers hold your child up in the window and warmly smile at parents while making nasty comments about lack of tips, parents who refuse to donate books to the classrooms, lack of gifts on teachers' day or Valentine's Day or Christmas, etc. I guarantee that you will at least hear a teacher comment that a particular parent just drove up, as the teacher scrambles to pick up that child and bounce them merrily on her knee. They'll dazzle you with little toddlers drinking from cups like grown ups and seated in tiny people furniture or group activities like Ring Around the Rosy.

BH could be a great place if they didn't have indicators of morale problems, also, such as extremely high turnovers. I would ask BH if they'd mind hosting a parents' town meeting where they agreed to discuss how many employes they've had in their brief time, as well as explain why their hiring practices couldn't screen out undesirables and keep the good employees.

After a couple years with the BH, I decided on going through a nanny service with background checks and employment references.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought they were very difficult to deal with pre-admissions. I got different answers regarding the waiting list from different people and they seemed very cold and "corporate". I got the distinct impression that they did not care about the child and only cared about money.

Could not be more true.

My child was there for two years, so I will vouch for this. They are a corporations with traded shares first and foremost, and a family solutions center secondly. They hire lead teachers with degrees and the majority else are barely HS graduates. That wouldn't be a big deal except that the curriculum they throw at you is implemented by the masses of teachers, one of whom wrote "Today we be carvin punkins" on my child's information sheet. I saved that, since that was what my $1800 bought me.

You can't 'make' employees love or want to invest in your child, since so many of them come from places in D.C. that would break your heart. While their children are in third-rate daycares or with family members who don't provide the structured activities their mother is supposed to be giving your child, your 'stranger' child lives a molly-coddled life that most of these women can only dream of. The only individuals who can often afford benefits like healthcare are lead teachers, who have degrees. One employee from the toddlers room put it this way during an argument with a fellow employee "Why you be all up on me for doing my thing when no one be givin us nothin when we kids?"

[Anonymous]

Try Sparkles Crystal City. It's a new center, reasonably priced realitive to BH, great outdoor playground, technology nook, a great facility for my kids to grow. I've been impressed all around so far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought they were very difficult to deal with pre-admissions. I got different answers regarding the waiting list from different people and they seemed very cold and "corporate". I got the distinct impression that they did not care about the child and only cared about money.

Could not be more true.

My child was there for two years, so I will vouch for this. They are a corporations with traded shares first and foremost, and a family solutions center secondly. They hire lead teachers with degrees and the majority else are barely HS graduates. That wouldn't be a big deal except that the curriculum they throw at you is implemented by the masses of teachers, one of whom wrote "Today we be carvin punkins" on my child's information sheet. I saved that, since that was what my $1800 bought me.

You can't 'make' employees love or want to invest in your child, since so many of them come from places in D.C. that would break your heart. While their children are in third-rate daycares or with family members who don't provide the structured activities their mother is supposed to be giving your child, your 'stranger' child lives a molly-coddled life that most of these women can only dream of. The only individuals who can often afford benefits like healthcare are lead teachers, who have degrees. One employee from the toddlers room put it this way during an argument with a fellow employee "Why you be all up on me for doing my thing when no one be givin us nothin when we kids?"

Wow. I'm sorry that I can't take your review seriously, you really sound like an awful person. Who are you to judge these women? Come on. Give me a break. My son has been at BH Crystal City and we've been pleased - and yes, we've even forgiven occasional lapses of grammar from the teachers. I myself don't pretend to always speak and write perfectly, even after 8 years of post-grad education.

[Anonymous]

NP here, and, I was shocked to read some of these reviews and cannot believe our child is at the same place that these negative reviewers describe! Our child has been at BHCC for 2.5 years, and we couldn't be happier. He started in the infant room and is now in the 2s class. The facility is bright, cheerful, clean, and the staff that we have interacted with have been warm, nurturing, well trained, and highly articulate. I can only imagine that a disgruntled former employee is writing some of this garbage. The school is NAECYC certified, which is not common for this area, and takes it's staff and training very seriously. It's expensive, yes, but we think worth every cent. We have found the director and assistant director to be professional, courteous, and responsive to our concerns and suggestions. Yes, it is a corporate center and is run as such, but we don't care so long as our son receives loving and nuturing, consistent care. He is also thriving in the preschool more-academic areas. I hope that anyone interested in BHCC will visit and make your own opinions. It's a wonderful place, and we have been happy!

[Anonymous]

Wow!!! Some individuals make it seem like the BHCC center is the most incompetent, ghetto center on the planet. For previous comments, several dates, that you have typed comments on don't match up with the employees working at BHCC. Example Marie Bennet, Raquel and the tall person in toddler room, these individuals haven't worked in the center in almost a year. And yes I will agree that is a lot of changes that could be made at the center. But some of the comments are quite offensive, especially when you work with a child 8 hours a day 5 days a week. And to the individual that thinks that the employees have to many days off because of holidays or federal days off. Well sorry that it is a inconvient to you. I guess employees don't deserve a day off. First of all sometime we are treated like we are maids, and nannies (from day the of slavery) we are disrespected from families and adminstration, are wages don't reflect what the families pay. But in all we are still here. Majority of us have went to school and recieved our degrees and highly trained for what we do. I can't speak up on the employees that don't do there job , but guess what you have employess like that all over including where you work. So don't disespect us celebrate us, you are on the outside looking in not on the inside looking out, And you probably can't do what we do for a minute. I say thank you for all the families that love us and celebrate and for all you others I can't say, maybe one day you will learn to appreciate us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow!!! Some individuals make it seem like the BHCC center is the most incompetent, ghetto center on the planet. For previous comments, several dates, that you have typed comments on don't match up with the employees working at BHCC. Example Marie Bennett, Raquel and the tall person in toddler room, these individuals haven't worked in the center in almost a year. And yes I will agree that is a lot of changes that could be made at the center. But some of the comments are quite offensive, especially when you work with a child 8 hours a day 5 days a week. And to the individual that thinks that the employees have to many days off because of holidays or federal days off. Well sorry that it is a inconvenience to you. I guess employees don't deserve a day off. First of all sometime we are treated like we are maids, and nannies (from the days of slavery) we are disrespected from families and administration, are wages don't reflect what the families pay. But in all we are still here. Majority of us have went to school and received our degrees and highly trained for what we do. I can't speak up on the employees that don't do there job , but guess what you have employees like that all over including where you work. So don't disrespect us celebrate us, you are on the outside looking in not on the inside looking out, And you probably can't do what we do for a minute. I say thank you for all the families that love us and celebrate us and for all you others I can't say, maybe one day you will learn to appreciate us.

[Anonymous]

[te]

[Anonymous]

I worked for Bright Horizons and I can tell you that a good Pre-school is dependent upon the teachers and if the teachers are not happy it will transfer to the children. I feel that this organization has picked up on a very lucrative need in our culture and that is of course the need for "daycare". They do follow the licensing rules and keep the children safe however, they have very little knowledge of what is developmentally appropriate for the children. The site I worked at had about 20 full time teachers and only one of which had a degree in early childhood education. I have a Masters Degree in Education and I decided to work for Bright Horizons because of a possible career path. I soon realized that the philosophy of this organization is "bottom line". I was not a good fit for this company and I definitely would not send my child to any Bright Horizon school. It's really sad that most parents are taken in by the rhetoric, the "tours" and the glossy hype of this organization.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I worked for Bright Horizons and I can tell you that a good Pre-school is dependent upon the teachers and if the teachers are not happy it will transfer to the children. I feel that this organization has picked up on a very lucrative need in our culture and that is of course the need for "daycare". They do follow the licensing rules and keep the children safe however, they have very little knowledge of what is developmentally appropriate for the children. The site I worked at had about 20 full time teachers and only one of which had a degree in early childhood education. I have a Masters Degree in Education and I decided to work for Bright Horizons because of a possible career path. I soon realized that the philosophy of this organization is "bottom line". I was not a good fit for this company and I definitely would not send my child to any Bright Horizon school. It's really sad that most parents are taken in by the rhetoric, the "tours" and the glossy hype of this organization.

Were you a teacher at BH Crystal City? The subject of this thread? Do you know anything about that specific center to contribute to this discussion?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I worked for Bright Horizons and I can tell you that a good Pre-school is dependent upon the teachers and if the teachers are not happy it will transfer to the children. I feel that this organization has picked up on a very lucrative need in our culture and that is of course the need for "daycare". They do follow the licensing rules and keep the children safe however, they have very little knowledge of what is developmentally appropriate for the children. The site I worked at had about 20 full time teachers and only one of which had a degree in early childhood education. I have a Masters Degree in Education and I decided to work for Bright Horizons because of a possible career path. I soon realized that the philosophy of this organization is "bottom line". I was not a good fit for this company and I definitely would not send my child to any Bright Horizon school. It's really sad that most parents are taken in by the rhetoric, the "tours" and the glossy hype of this organization.

[b[i]]As a parent, I appreciate when individuals speak the truth, regardless of how unpleasant it is to hear.[/i]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP here, and, I was shocked to read some of these reviews and cannot believe our child is at the same place that these negative reviewers describe! Our child has been at BHCC for 2.5 years, and we couldn't be happier. He started in the infant room and is now in the 2s class. The facility is bright, cheerful, clean, and the staff that we have interacted with have been warm, nurturing, well trained, and highly articulate. I can only imagine that a disgruntled former employee is writing some of this garbage. The school is NAECYC certified, which is not common for this area, and takes it's staff and training very seriously. It's expensive, yes, but we think worth every cent. We have found the director and assistant director to be professional, courteous, and responsive to our concerns and suggestions. Yes, it is a corporate center and is run as such, but we don't care so long as our son receives loving and nuturing, consistent care. He is also thriving in the preschool more-academic areas. I hope that anyone interested in BHCC will visit and make your own opinions. It's a wonderful place, and we have been happy!

[b]As a parent whose two children used to attend, I'm not certain why any parent would react to negative reviews this way. Who even cares if you don't like the opinions expressed about BH - this post is for parents who want ALL feedback on experiences. If BH is such a magical place, and if the Director and Assistant Director are such professional and caring individuals, then how do you explain the turnover of dozens and dozens of employees over its first few years? If it's such a wonderful place, why would you assume criticism had to be written by an employee? In a way, that thought concerns me more than the thought of a potential disgruntled parent given the high turnover and an incident where a terminated teacher did not go quietly. A disgruntled BH parent is not likely to go postal. And I'm also familiar with the two's classroom, so I suggest you take a look at the roaches in the closet, the fact that lot of women there made $8.50 per hour with some bringing in $5,400 monthly for BH, the stories about children wandering off unnoticed during walks (while teachers gossiped), staff members Danelia's had to report, how "nasty" some of the gossip was, etc. For any parent to gloss over what could be improved about BH is unimaginable.

Also, I found it interesting that your son is in the Two's room, yet his daily 'work' was from the Preschoolers' classroom? It's very different, as you know. Less task direction from teachers, larger group, more detailed storybooks, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone had any experience or heard of any experiences with Bright Horizons in Crystal City?

Although BHCC has its strong points, my honest advice would be to consider a nanny cam or thin digital recorder in a backpack compartment to clear up whether you 'won' one of the many quick-turnover staff members who either have problems within themselves or problems with management's corporate responsibility-over-parents (but with a Norman Bates politeness as managers). In my experience, much of it unfortunate, those butting heads with management directly are worn down as they are made to feel they are to look the other way on safety plan improvements, better environmental practices, hardline approaches to ensuring zero cigarette butts on playgrounds (i.e., going to city meetings, installing cameras, coordinating with law enforcement, etc.), zero tolerance policy on employees counseled regarding lack of supervision incidents or hard-handling of children (yelling, grabbing by the arm, name-calling,, etc). There was one assistant teacher who was rumored to have had her baby once removed from her home by Maryland social services. This may be false -- my source was a lead teacher who went to work for Headstart who turned out to be the root of a lot of BS stories about people. Her favorite was trying to turn parents against other lead teachers by using assistant teachers to spread stories that came from her. She turned teachers against parents. One was a pregnant woman that she left fake notes for that were supposed to be from a dad-parent, notes stating he would like to purchase breast milk for his 3 year old daughter. The pregnant teacher tripped over things trying to avoid this parent until she finally quit. The parents were told that the teacher spread rumors about them. There are more incidents, a lot of drama -- best thing is to call a parents' meeting and ask for HR to provide a number count of all the employees who quit or were fired since the center opened about five years ago. Compare the number with the some 24 or so teachers they might have there at a given time. It's alarming. Request that a site for parents that logs every incident and accident be made available to them.

[Anonymous]

There are a few great teachers there, but make sure you are getting what you pay for. Your child deserves it. Blind trust and minimizing complaints, concerns, incidents, etc. is what you may or may not deserve the consequences of, but a child NEVER deserves to powerlessly suffer the shortcomings/vices of your thought processes for. If you buy that you are getting the (*genuine*) happy BHCC staff package, then it helps YOU get through your days and nights. Keep in mind that the big warm welcomes and goodbyes your child receives is what YOU want to believe the majority of underpaid staff feel about your child throughout 480 minutes of their day, despite their own struggles with lower hierarchical needs like decent housing, quality childcare within their means, unaffordability of healthy foods for their families, etc. Don't take the word of those currently working there, especially since they sign forms agreeing not to badmouth the BH Corporation for 2 years after they leave BH of their own free will or whether fired. The BHCC HAS had a history of extremely high staff turnovers since the center opened roughly a half dozen years ago, a lot of incidents of having lost toddlers on walks, and for what you pay in money you should consider tiny nanny cams and or audio. The person who said that only a horrible person would do something like that is placing misguided adult loyalty codes above the need to ensure that the children aren't dwindling their private college funds away for subpar structured learning programs in reality. The Elmer's Glue for arts and crafts time is no different elsewhere, and neither are the minimum childhood education credits (and understanding of children) required of staff elsewhere. Maybe you need those "Today we chased bubbles for motor skills development", I don't know. I will say that all centers have their core program aimed at development, and all structured and unstructured play and lesson times assist children. And the food menu? A lot of apples are served, but for what you pay, they could afford at least some fruits and veggies that are organic if they are part of the USDA's dirty dozen list with high pesticide levels. The menu even looks chic and better than the hotdogs at some centers, like quiche or tomato bisque, or cheese cubes and kiwi for snack times. Yet your child receives exactly what is scooped onto his/her plate by equally hungry staff who can't afford to eat out daily, and can often only afford to live off foods highly processed, cheap carb, GMO, hormone-injected cow's milk, etc. outside the center. Yes, the center is in an upscale location with door locks and the minimalist decor gives it a clean appearance. This location has its roach problems, in all seriousness. And door locks? Staff regularly hold the doors open behind them for anyone decently dressed, as you can't believe that every staff member recognizes the hundreds of parents when they spend most of their time in their classrooms. What all of this leads to is this: if you wouldn't buy a car based only on its nice appearance and brief time around the 'nice' car, but would instead look under the hood and test a car before trusting your life and entering a contract payment based on this, why would you do this with a profit-based center you entrust your children to? I have worked for Kindercare, Creme de la Creme, Goddard, Primrose, etc. over two decades and they really aren't much different from BH when it comes down to it, better in some ways. Creme has lobby tv's where you can see into the classrooms and centers, even. Some locations even have classroom cams parents can log into.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I worked for Bright Horizons and I can tell you that a good Pre-school is dependent upon the teachers and if the teachers are not happy it will transfer to the children. I feel that this organization has picked up on a very lucrative need in our culture and that is of course the need for "daycare". They do follow the licensing rules and keep the children safe however, they have very little knowledge of what is developmentally appropriate for the children. The site I worked at had about 20 full time teachers and only one of which had a degree in early childhood education. I have a Masters Degree in Education and I decided to work for Bright Horizons because of a possible career path. I soon realized that the philosophy of this organization is "bottom line". I was not a good fit for this company and I definitely would not send my child to any Bright Horizon school. It's really sad that most parents are taken in by the rhetoric, the "tours" and the glossy hype of this organization.

[b[i]]As a parent, I appreciate when individuals speak the truth, regardless of how unpleasant it is to hear.[/i]

Thank you for this. I also worked in a BH, CCBH, but one in the city. I agree with everything that the PP said about the company. They are focsed on the bottom line and know very little about developmentaly appropraite practice. But they sure do but on a good show and really have some pretty brochures!