Bright Beginnings Early Childhood Program

Reviews 3

TA

Taruna Garg

We enrolled our son in Bright Beginnings (BB) two years ago after being disappointed with the care he was receiving at a well-known, local area day care franchise. One of the main factors that attracted us to this center was the warmth we saw in the classroom teacher. From the first day we brought him in, he seemed right at home, thanks to his fantastic teacher. Even though I had reserved three days for his transition, I needed only that one morning. Since then, weve been very pleased with the level of care hes received and would enthusiastically recommend this center to friends and family. There are several aspects about BB that seem unique from other places in which we had our son (we had him in two other centers due to work related moves). First and foremost, our sons teachers, with few exceptions, have been incredible. The one thing weve learned all too well these past few years is that no matter how fantastic a day cares reputation, the single most important thing for a happy child (and a happier you) is having warm and loving teachers who enjoy what they do. Although most centers will not allow you to spend a lot of time getting to know its teachers, you can often get a sense of the teachers personality by asking some direct questions during the visit and observing their interactions with other children. Our son went through four classrooms in this center as he grew and we have loved each of his teachers. They treated him and us like family. The one major drawback, however, is that there was quite a bit of teacher turnover, which was incredibly frustrating. We addressed our discontent with the director and she explained that turnover is an unfortunate reality in this business, due to a variety of factors --- including wage issues, scheduling, stress, etc. Although there seems to be some truth to this explanation (we saw similar turnover at other centers), it is unfortunate and frustrating that exceptional teachers are simply allowed to leave with little to no apparent effort to keep them. On a few occasions, we even contemplated leaving after losing some of our most cherished teachers. What kept us back, however, was the directors ability to find equally well-qualified replacements to the teachers who left. Another unique aspect about this center is the variety of extracurricular activities offered, many of which are free of charge. Since we both work full time, we loved having the option of enrolling our son in gymnastics, music and dance classes. The only possible way to do all those activities outside of school would be to jam pack his weekends, which we were unwilling to do. In addition, the center also offers Spanish and yoga classes for free. There are also a variety of fun activities in which parents are invited to participate such as a harvest festival during Halloween where kids dress up in costumes, a magic show and ice cream socials. During the summer, they set up sprinklers for the kids, which is an all around blast for everyone. Parent participation has allowed us to form wonderful relationships with other students families in his class. This center is especially unique for its diversity -- both among its students and teachers. We have seen children from a variety of backgrounds in every classroom. The center tries to embrace that diversity by planning activities to allow children to learn more about each others backgrounds, language and food. Overall, our experience at BB has been incredibly positive. Its worth noting that even though we paid several hundred dollars less in monthly tuition than our sons previous center, we received a higher quality of care with a much greater variety of activities. We would therefore recommend this center without hesitation to anyone looking for a high quality, reasonably priced (relatively) option in the Stamford area.

AL

Alva Hasan

My son started with Bright Beginnings when the doors opened back in 2011 when he was 1 years old (he actually started in the directors "Ridhita Gupta" home in anticipation of the opening of the new facility). He was among the first children to start attending the school and he stayed enrolled at the school for four years (as he recently graduated and has now entered Kindergarten). From day one we were met with open arms by Ridhita and I have witnessed & experienced the growth and improvements made at the school since it opened back in 2011 (i.e., offering of third party children gym, dance and music offerings; introduction of the ordered lunch service with a local pizzeria; school snack & yoga being included in the tuition costs for your child; annual book fair; and organized visits to the school by the local firemen, policeman, & book-mobile; and the introduction of a summer camp feature that started this past summer). The environment is still bright and new and I have observed the directors reinvestment in the facility year over year (i.e., new playground equipment and new educational toys in the classrooms). Although, due to various reasons, we had experienced relatively high turnover at the school (particularly over the last year), it seems that the teachers (that we had in my sons class) left due to personal-relocation reasons & frankly in some cases some teachers were simply just presented with a better job opportunity which I think is a testament to the quality of some of the teachers that are hired. With that said, there is still one particular (great) teacher who was there when my son started and she is still working at the school and it was great that (through passing in the hall) she has seen my son literally grow up at the school & it was reassuring for me (and my son) to see at least one familiar (teacher) face at the school over the past four years. Through it all, we were fortunate to have had some great educators at this school for my son and if we ever had a concern (which we did from time to time), Ridhita (and the teachers) were very receptive and compassionate to address it immediately. I absolutely love the security cameras that are in every room and the school has a complete open door policy and will let you stop in and view the camera in your childs room if you want to observe how your child is doing (this was very helpful for me over the years for those mornings, especially during the younger years, when morning drop-off was a little "clingy" with my son). I also love the parent-teacher conferences that we had which are actually fairly detailed (and I believe started when my son was two years old). I think the school has a lot to offer and is competitive with other local programs, you just have to be an advocate for your child if you have any concerns/issues (as in just about any situation).

MI

Michael Benjamin

My two younger sons attended Bright Beginnings since 2013. They "graduated" to kindergarten last month. My other son (the oldest) went to Bright Horizons until kindergarten. In comparison, both programs were very good. Bright Horizons prepared my oldest quite well for kindergarten. Bright Beginnings did the same for my younger ones. Considering that Bright Horizons is a long-established, large, international corporation, and Bright Beginnings is relatively new and local, I consider that quite an impressive achievement for Bright Beginnings. They caught up to speed quickly and I never noticed any cutting of corners. They just worked hard and built a solid company. In my interactions with management (owner: Ridhita, her husband and front-office), I found them to always be polite, helpful, caring and professional. In terms of the facility itself, it was always clean, there are various common play areas both inside and outside, and theres plenty of parking (in a parking lot safely away from the street). Rush hour gets a bit tight, but theres always space to park. In reading some of the negative reviews posted here I cannot relate to them. After 2 years of attending Bright Beginnings on a daily basis, I never observed a focus on greed over childcare. Saying that director Ridhita Gupta "cares only about the money" (Mary Schmitt) and "... is insane! She speaks to people as if they were animals" (Kesha p), is not consistent with my experience. Not even remotely. My children are my life. Nothing is more important. If I felt that any of the charges against the director or her staff were true, or there were any deficiencies in the facility, I could have quickly and easily gone back to Bright Horizons, right up the street. In terms of the charges about the high turnover among teachers and low pay for staff, this may be true. But its not a problem unique to Bright Beginnings. From talking to staff and teachers in multiple unrelated day care centers over nearly five years, Ive found that the daycare industry in general is notorious for low pay and high turnover. The revolving door at Bright Horizons was incredible. From the time my older son started to the time he finished two years later, all teachers and staff from when he arrived were gone, except one. And there were five directors during that period. Pointing the finger at Bright Beginnings for an industry-wide problem is not fair or useful in the selection process. Bottom line: I would recommend Bright Beginnings to any parent.

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