Bright Horizons at Wallingford

Reviews

• AK

  Anna Kotyk

  Aug 28, 2024
  5.0
  Awesome teachers at the kprep!
• AL

  Alison Lubert

  Jun 29, 2023
  1.0
  We had a very mixed experience at The Exploration Academy, now Bright Horizons operated by the same management and team. I feel compelled to warn parents this is NOT the place for young children who are not quite ready for a highly structured, academic-focused schedule and environment. I’m now giving this a 1-star because it’s clear someone attempted to remove my original review (including the details shared below) posted months ago, which I think is very concerning. I’d also like to note that before my original review was removed, I received two messages from other families saying they had the same experience. We had a positive experience with both our boys in the younger classes (from 2020-2022), but once our oldest reached young preschool, it became clear the teachers were not equipped to support our 3yo, who is a high energy, creative, distractible, emotional guy. Their approach to dealing with his behavior was to send home a laundry list of things he did wrong that week (which multiple specialists called out as highly inappropriate and a major red flag) and made it VERY difficult to connect directly with teachers throughout that time. Communication went unanswered, including from specialists who were trying to support us and the school. Every week for months I received nothing but negative reports with a box checked that read "Shows No Empathy". It's as if they wanted me to believe he was a sociopath -- which anyone who knows him knows could not be farther from the truth. The experience was debilitating to me as a mom. I was constantly in tears. And it led to anxiety and very difficult behavior with him. Yes, he is a lot to handle at times, but I wholeheartedly believe Exploration Academy made it much, much worse. Fortunately we moved and found a wonderful preschool where he loves to go, with teachers who love and support him. He's transformed into a sweet, thoughtful and affectionate (and yes, still high energy, still distractable and sometimes reactive) boy. But he is happy, is making friends, and is enjoying life -- which was not the case during that time at TEA. He has been there for six months, and we have not once received a call from school about his behavior. Rather, we regularly hear about his strengths and areas we are working on. I wouldn't be surprised if we discover one day that he has ADHD (he does show some signs, but a recent assessment found him within normal or above average developmentally). Regardless, that is NO EXCUSE for the way he and we (his family) were treated when he was only 3 years old. Our younger son has a very different (more mellow) personality and had a wonderful experience in Tea Party, and would likely have had a different experience in the older classes (though I would have never allowed him to be in those classes based on the experience we had with our eldest). As we all know, children have very different personalities and needs, and some children need more time, freedom and flexibility than others -- and I would expect a school like Exploration Academy to understand and deliver that. Please be careful and consider your child's personality and needs, and the experience you want them to have in preschool, particularly when they reach 3-4 years old.

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