Bright Horizons at Garner

Reviews

• BY

  Beverly Yip

  Aug 12, 2022
  5.0
  We LOVE Bright Horizons and their staff! They are incredibly organized and efficient, yet make the time to be kind and friendly with our children and us parents! We felt like family within days of starting! Our son started in the young preschool class and ended in the older preschool. He enjoyed his time there alot and loved each and every one of his teachers. We greatly recommend this center for early education for little ones. Thank you Ms Theresa, Ms Sherlyn, Ms Tai, Ms Kathy, Ms Carrie, Ms Gaby, Ms Sundas, Ms Lorena and everyone else for a such a great experience!!
• IM

  Israel Madera

  Apr 15, 2022
  5.0
  We're in the middle of spring cleaning when we discovered a bunch of art supplies neither of my children use. As we were getting it ready for donation, my daughter suggested we donate it to Garner where she and her brother both spent many formidable years. With that suggestion, we started to go down memory lane and it hit me - that we have life long friends that we met at Garner. Not just the parents but the children do as well. The children learned about Hawaiian luau at Garner and formed a deep appreciation for ALL cultures. My daughter was introduced to martial arts via a demo at Garner by Alameda Martial Arts. Not only did she start martial arts but my son and I eventually got our 2nd degree black belts at the same studio. The more we talked about Garner the more we realized that it was more than just a day care center for us - it was a community that was created and has maintained. I cannot think of a better place to send your children to than Garner in Alameda. Today we stopped by and donated the art supply and it was as if we never left. They welcomed us with open arms and Ms. Agnes reminisced about Skyler and her art skills. It was an absolute joy to stop by and give back to the day care center that helped form both of my children, who are now off to college. On behalf of the Madera family, THANK YOU for everything.
• DR

  Divya Rajput

  Mar 3, 2022
  5.0
  We moved to the US from India in 2019 and decided to enroll our daughter for Preschool at Bright horizons at Garner. Initially, we were skeptical because it was a really big move for her plus it was during the pandemic and we're not sure how she will do in the school in a completely different environment. But the teachers and staff at Bright horizons are so supportive and they made her so comfortable that it never felt like a transition. They have taken excellent measures for kid's health and safety during covid. There is a very systematic process for covid screening. Their app is great, we love that we get all the updates (and photos) everyday from school about daily activities. The classrooms and playgrounds are very spacious and well maintained. The teachers and administrative staff are very friendly and involved with our daughter's growth. Also, I love that the breakfast, lunch and evening snacks are included and she likes the food there. She likes her school so much that she often asks us to go to school on weekends :-D and that's the reason we decided to enroll our daughter for Kindergarten next year.
• JC

  Jonathan Cox

  Oct 23, 2016
  5.0
  Friendly, great staff. My daughter loves it here.
• DY

  danyl. love. 2 yoyo

  May 6, 2014
  1.0
  My experience has only been at this location, I have not been back to Bright Horizons since. This school is nice, newly remodeled and has front door security. My first impression was great, the staff was friendly. My son (2 years old) went to this school for 9 months, the last 3 months we had some major issues that ultumatly led to me removing him permanently from this preschool, I will NEVER go back. This school was a bit pricy compared to the other 2 schools we looked at but I thought it would be worth the difference. I can say now that there was no difference in quality. It started with a teacher who would complain about changing his diapers even though we were paying the full service tuition that covers potty training. This teacher told me she was nearly vomiting when changing his poopy diapers, though it is apart of her job I let her pass on this, I don't enjoy changing poopy diapers either. Then she started to complain about blowing his nose when he would catch common colds, which are all too often in preschool, she complained in front of other parents that were picking up their children, I felt that was done in bad taste, it would have been better to pull us aside and let us know in private, but that was not the worst. My husband and I would often pick him up from school and he would have a runny nose (sometimes dry mucus on his nose) and a poopy diaper. She complained he would always have a bowel movement right when she was getting of work, I guess she started to leave him dirty so she can get out on time. About a month later, I walked in the class and the teacher told me he kicked her when he was sitting on the potty and she hit him on the leg in a blocking motion, (at leasts thats how she told the story) I thought nothing of this until days later when my son (now almost 3 years old) told me the story on his own account. I did not bring it up, he did. He told me that she slapped his leg, then he proceeded to show me with a hard smack on the leg. I was shocked; my son is very bright and very well spoken so I understood him well and could take his word for it. He told this story over and over again for several months, it stuck with him, and I believe it affected him. I took this information to the facility Director after my son told me this story days after it happened. Had I known better I would have taken it to the authorities right away, instead I tried to let the Director do her job and deal with the issue. The Director (Theresa) set up a meeting to talk about the incident, at least that was what I expected. When we met and I spoke with her about what happened she never apologized for what took place or informed me of any changes or actions taken against the teacher. She showed no concern for my son at all, at this moment I felt like I was the only one who cared for my sons well being, and she is a facility Director at a Child Care Facility, not good. She tried to turn the situation around and blame my child for his part, the proceeded to make judgements about my parenting. Long story short, she did nothing but cover for the teacher and her actions with the mistreatment of my child. I trusted these people to care for my precious child and they mistreated him and made him feel the way a child should never have to feel. Basically from my experience the teachers did what was easiest for them and not for the well being of the children, my son required a bit of work because he was already 2 years old and still resisting potty training, they did not like that, more work for them. The bigger issue was that the Director thought it was more important to cover for her staff member rather then address a rightfully concerned parent with care and urgency. We left and never looked back, the school he goes to now is less expensive and the teachers there really care about the children, they are loving, patient, and kind. Lesson learned;Just because a school looks good from the outside does not mean it is a good place.