Bright Horizons Children's Center at The Water Garden

Reviews

• PB

  Patrick Burns

  Jun 20, 2026
  5.0
  Our daughter had a terrific preschool experience at Bright Horizons Children's Center at The Water Garden.  She attended there from July 2017 through August 2020 (from age 2 1/2 to age 5 1/2) and benefited from it tremendously.  She just finished elementary school, which has given us sufficient perspective on the difference Bright Horizons made. After graduating from Bright Horizons in the fall of 2020, her kindergarten teachers identified her as one of the most advanced among about 50 kids in her grade.  The "K-Prep" curriculum taught to BH kids in their last year of preschool helps them learn kindergarten skills a year early, giving them a head start in elementary school. Six years later (Spring 2026), she is still performing strongly, and will head into Middle School as a confident, kind and industrious student. Some of the strengths of attending Bright Horizons Children's Center at The Water Garden are: * Excellent, caring staff and attentive, fair-minded management: Selena and Kristen have our utmost gratitude for their blend of professionalism and warmth. * Emotional well-being, talking chairs: Our daughter learned a lot about regulating her emotions from methods taught by Bright Horizons.  She loved the "talking chairs" used at our center, which teaches how to talk through disagreements with peers * Diet and health education: One unexpected, lasting benefit of attending the Bright Horizons Children's Center at The Water Garden was the time spent on dietary education.  The staff held periodic sessions teaching the kids to make some of their own (healthy) snacks, like veggie wraps and cut fruit. * Compared to the other Bright Horizons centers in Santa Monica, this site is smaller and has less outdoor space for play.  That said, the staff made the most of the lesser space, bringing in outside sports instructors and getting kids outside. * Meaningful community among parents: The smaller size allowed families to feel a more intimate sense of community, where we gathered to celebrate holidays. This feedback is a few years overdue, but our family wants very much to sing the praises of the staff at the Bright Horizons Children's Center at The Water Garden, and express our thanks for all the lasting benefits of their work.
• MS

  Michael Sherman

  Jul 14, 2021
  5.0
  Couldn't ask for a better experience for our children than with the amazing team at the Bright Horizons Watergarden. Our 4 year old was on the verge of graduating to Kindergarten when we moved, and our baby was a few months in. Both started at 3 months old. It was always a great experience, and we felt that our children were always taken care if in a fantastic way. Additionally, our son learned so much to prepare him for school. We didn't realize just how much until we moved and put him into another 'high end' childcare center for the summer, only to realize he was the only one who was writing basic sentences (or even his name) and reading simple books. The care and education were worth every penny, and we wish there was another Bright Horizons in our vicinity now to send the kids to. Couldn't recommend them more.

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