Childtime of Irvine, CA

Reviews 3

HE

Helen Woo

Smiles and laughter, I am ALL for it. After all, I speak publicly about staying positive and keeping a positive attitude. Unfortunately, here is where I have to start educating my child at his early age of FIVE, that in this world, WOLVES exist in SHEEPs clothing. My son had the absolute best teacher who helped my son and his classmates excel tremendously in all areas, academically and socially. The discovery started when this good teacher stopped showing up to school one day. We, the parents, and the CHILDREN were concerned and were not given notice or reason why the teacher was gone. The children were sad and hurt that the teacher left so unexpectedly and without even so much as a "goodbye". But the teacher had no choice. This message is about the horrific and careless way that the director, Leslie H., and the district manager, Lynn N., have been and are running this school. They smile at us frequently when greeted, but yet they have no compassion for the children or the parents. I question their ethics and how they run the school. We started off the school year with the best teacher for our 4 - 5 year olds with Ms. Deena. Our children excelled tremendously. Our children LOVED and respected their teacher. Our children were well-behaved but also knew how to have fun in their classroom. Our children were safe and under the best care with their teacher. It was obvious to the parents that our children grew significantly throughout the school year under the care and education program of Ms. Deena in the junior kindergarten class. Because the director would not give the parents or the children any information on the departure of Ms. Deena, we had to do our own investigation. If we wanted answers, we had no choice but to seek them ourselves, for the sake of all the parents and the children. We all needed closure that was not given to us by the school. We asked and asked, but we were given nothing. Hence, the investigation began. The fact is, the director interrogated our children in private without telling the parents. And when a parent requested information regarding the situation, the district manager, Lynn N., insisted that we gave our rights away when we enrolled the children to Childtime. Furthermore, she firmly if not rudely said, "Ask your children, if you want to know." Through my research, I realized that the director interrogated the children privately to find a pretext to wrongfully terminate the teacher. I do NOT say this loosely. I have investigated, I have asked questions, and I have researched facts. There was an existing complaint against another teacher. The complaint also stated that the "director" was ignoring the concerns that her child was constantly hurt (bruised and cut) and not "watched" by the other teachers during the after school hours. The director ignored the parents many complaints time and time again. In the complaint, I found more specific details stating clearly to me that the school tried to cover up this complaint by firing one of their best teachers, our childrens teacher, Ms. Deena. Our children spent most of the school year with their teacher. All students have excelled in school, and they have all grown to love and respect their teacher significantly. The children have feelings. They miss their teacher. The children need closure. The children received no empathy from the school (the directors). The children received no love or care from the school.The children are left with NO answers; they are left in limbo. They think that their teacher abandoned them. As I said in the beginning, yes, there are smiles given when greeted at Childtime. But do they ACTUALLY care for the children? Can you the parents feel safe and at ease leaving your children at a school that seems to have NO empathy for your little ones? I am so disappointed with Childtime in Irvine, CA. What started out to be the greatest experience and growth for my child, ended as the worst emotional experience for my child. Childtime, get your act together. Pick directors that CARE for our children.

WH

Whitney Youngren

My son attended Childtime from October of 2012 to May of 2014. When we enrolled the school had a completely different culture than when we pulled him from the program. The school lacks transparency on countless issues, but the most disturbing was when my sons teacher was dismissed. The parents were given no information about the teachers dismissal and were only notified once a fellow parent demanded an explanation. When probed for an answer the assistant direct said that it was for the well-being of the children, but would not elaborate. The director, Leslie, provided only slightly more insight by stating that the corporate legal department was involved. The situation was made worse when it was discovered that school officials had taken the 4 & 5 year old children into a private location one at a time and interviewed them one-on-one without notifying the parents. Despite questioning the children, the school refuses to tell the parents the content of those interviews. When the matter was taken to Lynn, the district manager, I was told that when I signed my enrollment paperwork I agreed that my child could be interviewed without my knowledge. She further told me that if I wanted to know the nature of the conversation that I should ask my five year old. I find it hard to believe that in any childcare situation it is acceptable to take a child into a room by himself with an adult and not tell the parent what transpired in the room. To this day we have no explanation from the school as to what caused the dismissal of this teacher less than 6 weeks from the program end. We just know that it was apparently serious enough to warrant immediate dismissal and interrogation of all the students. IF I DO NOT UPDATE THIS SUBMISSION YOU SHOULD ASSUME THAT WE STILL HAVE NO EXPLANATION. Additionally, there were several instances in which my son was injured at Childtime and no one had any information on how it happened. In fact, on one occasion I found a muddy and bloody shoe print on the side of my sons head when I picked him up. He said that it had happened before lunch (I was picking him up at 4pm), but when I approached the "teacher" in charge at the time (a woman who I did not know because she was not his assigned teacher) she did not have any idea that he had been hurt. On another occasion I arrived to find that my son had a bloody nose and the teacher in charge (yet again a different person than the assigned teacher) once again had no idea how it had happened or that he was even hurt. At best this place is poorly managed by inexperienced staff and it is an unsafe environment. Dont be fooled by the illusion of a smiling face greeting you at the door.

A

Anonymous User

Five stars in academic, social, moral and physical development... Putting our child in Childtime is one of the best decisions we ever made. Our family loves this school. Ms. Trish, the directress, is very passionate about the kids. She always looks out for the childrens best interest and makes sure that the parents are well-informed and involved in activities. Very family-oriented, Childtime has been part of our family. Our child attended the kindergarten program last year, and is now more advanced than the rest of the kids in his 1st grade class. You cant beat the low student - teacher ratio in Childtime... The children get more individualized attention and personalized learning. Ms. Deena, the kindergarten teacher, is the greatest! Her impeccable teaching abilities enable the kids to maximize learning while having fun! Under her guidance, kindergarten kids will learn how to read, add and subtract, spell, do problem solving, enhance reasoning skills, and at the same time develop creativity, artistic, and performing abilities. She goes far and beyond to make the learning process enjoyable. Our child has developed exponentially during his stay at Childtime. Kudos to all the teachers and staff who continue to make Childtime every childs second home.

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