ABC Great Beginnings - Riverdale — Local services in Riverdale

Let me first preface this by saying that Angela Ford is incredible and this review does not reflect her at all. She empathized with my situation and was helpful in officially dropping my kids from the school. Ms. Cozy was sweet and my kids absolutely loved her. She was always kind to me and patient with my children. The rest of the staff I was not impressed with at all. I had my 5 year old twins on a yearlong wait list to get in to the Riverdale Bravo Arts Academy. After about 6 months I had to drop my kids from the program. My son has a disability that is not uncommon for kids. I had a meeting with the directors on a bi monthly (at minimum) bases to help teach them how to work with my son and to explain why he is the way he is. The teachers called me nearly daily if they needed help and I was happy to talk them through it. I made it clear in the very beginning that I wanted to be a support and team player regarding my kids. The information provided to the director in the meetings was supposed to go down the line to the teachers that worked with my son on a daily basis. It took a month! Leaving the teachers like Ms. Cozy without the information I provided or the necessary resources they needed. I even found a specialist who was willing to come into the school to help teach/train the teachers in the classroom. They never exercised that resource. As a result my son now is not only dealing with his own disability but he also confused and hurt by the experience. He never used negative self-talk until the last couple of months at Bravo. He was told that he was a “little Brat” by a teacher. He repeats it several times a day now and I am still trying to help him cope with the residual impact that statement has on him. My daughter wasn’t allowed to use the bathroom when she asked. It’s been over a month and we are still dealing with health issues as a result. They have both told me that they were smacked and yelled at while attending Bravo. That teachers would roll their eyes and not even address the questions my children would ask. Even if they are exaggerating or making it up what is causing the emotional distress to make a child say that about their school? As a parent it is my job to believe them and advocate for them. So I pulled them out and found a better solution for my family. In short if you have a child with a disability or a learning disability (Anxiety, Depression, on the Autism spectrum, ADD or ADHD etc.) no matter how minor or severe this is not the school/daycare to go to. As I was told many times by staff members “We just aren’t equipped”. Or if you have kids who ask a lot of questions like mine do, don’t take them to Bravo. They won’t be allowed the space a freedom to be curious and grow. A light was put out inside my twins as a result of this facility. Now I pick my kids up from their new school and they are excited that they weren’t yelled at and that they were allowed to go to the bathroom. Two things that a 5 year old should always take for granted and never have to be grateful for. Those are as basic needs just like breathing! Over all don’t enroll your kids at Bravo. If you have already, pull them out! I was paying top dollar because I want my kids to have the best. The “Best” Bravo is not! They advertise the Montessori Method, sign language and promotion of the arts. I’ve never seen the follow through or benefits of it. You can find another facility that will love, teach, respect and advocate for your child without the ridiculous charges, potential Emotional and physical abuse and...

Bravo seemed like a great daycare from the website and first initial meeting with the staff. But once my kids were enrolled it went down hill from the first day. First my kids with sever food allergies had their lunches brought from home withheld from them even though I had checked prior that to bringing it wouldn't be an issue. Not only did my kids not get fed for 8 hours I was not notified of this or told at pick up. I found put when their lunchboxes were heavy at pick up and I checked. We were charged 3 times for days our kids weren't there with plenty of notice for them. Then at pick up the kids were always in a different room than drop off. Pick up was a which door is my kid behind. The teachers with my kids at pick up couldn't even tell me my kids name let alone how they did that day. My son came home with a deep bite mark and no one at the school could tell me when he got bit or if it was his brother or another student. I asked to review the classroom footage and their camera had been down for over s month at the time of this incident. The camera was fixed after I requested footage of the incident but nothing done until after something happened. Any time I wanted to speak with a teacher they all had to gather and speak to each other to make sure everyone was on same page before telling me what happened to my son. When the owner Angie got involved she attacked my husband and I saying that we are the problem not our son who was getting bit with no one noticing. She then implied my husband's and I safety with our childrens allergies and safety was to much and that they cannot satisfy us. She was right! Her facility is all about the money and not for the care of children. The classrooms are over full and the teachers do not stay.. i never knew who was with my child and when.. BRAVO WAS A NIGHTMARE EXPERIENCE! The front desk was rude also if you had any issues or if you wanted information on something she never knew what was going on. The teachers we dropped our children off with were nice and welcoming and the kitchen staff were super nice and tried everything they could. Angie and front desk were horrible and have no business dealing with children or parents.

My boys have care at a facility that can provide food and education for them without them needing to be singled out. And it is cheaper. I don't have to provide their activities either unlike your so called care.. And your right I chose not to re talk to the teacher who lied because I was to upset and everyone else already gathered around to get a fake story straight. You provide cover stories for neglect and abuse. You have cameras to protect yourself and staff not the children. And just because you tried one time to fix an issue doesn't mean everything else for that family is a pass because you did 1 thing. And that 1 thing still didn't protect my children because you have to many teachers around the one class that know nothing about the children and their needs. My kids STILL have breakouts on their skin from your facility's carelessness that the drs. Are trying to heal because your staff cares so much about safety. And when brought to attention you attack the parents for wanting their children safe because you don't care. And when you don't care your staff doesn't care. And it is the children and families that suffer. It doesn't matter why a parent brings a child to a care facility. When that child is there they should be...

I enrolled my daughter in the hope that it would be long-term care since my son attended previously when it was Bravo, and he loved it. However, it turned out to be a big mistake. After a couple of weeks, during drop-off, I found out that one of my daughter's teachers is male, which nobody mentioned during the tour of the facility. I went to the front desk and asked the lady there if male caregivers are involved in the diaper-changing process. She said they are, just like everyone else.

Then, I spoke with the director, Marianne, and requested that only females change my daughter's diaper. I explained to her that I have nothing against male caregivers; it is just my personal religious preference. I told her he could continue taking care of her, except for diaper changes. Marianne explained that this wouldn't be possible because if he is the only one available and a diaper needs to be changed, he will do so based on company policies. I understood the rules and decided to unenroll my daughter. She told me to fill out the form at the desk, which I did two weeks earlier, specifying her last day as the 31st of May. check my paper; you will see it's handwritten there, and I told the front desk lady several times.

On the morning of Friday, the 31st, when my husband was dropping her off, he couldn't because she was already unenrolled from the system. He explained to them that it was her last day. They, including the director and the front desk lady, argued with him, saying they had filled her spot because I signed the paper two weeks ago. When I signed the paper, I told them her last day would be the 31st. So, they unenrolled her on the day we had already paid for, which is ridiculous on the daycare's side. My husband had no choice but to re-enroll her and told the we will give a new end date, as he couldn't argue with them because he was already late for work. They argued again, saying they had already filled her spot. After back and forth, they finally let my daughter be dropped off.

When I noticed that Procare had wiped out her information, I called Marianne. She said they unenrolled our daughter, and my husband extended it. I asked why they unenrolled my son as well, who was attending summer camp. She said the system did it automatically. She also told me that I have to inform them as soon as I know the new unenrollment date for my daughter and mentioned again that they had filled her spot. I didn't explain to her why my husband re-enrolled her because he just wanted to drop her off for that one day. Why waste my time again. So, basically, they never checked my out-process form. As I understand it, if I specified the 31st, she should have been unenrolled by end of that day, which was already paid for. They stressed out my husband, were rude, and did not even apologize for the mistake. They don't see any mistakes on their side. It was managed and handled poorly. So guess what I am unenrolling my son through this review, since you don’t follow your own un enrollment policy. Otherwise, I have no complaints towards the teachers. By the way, all the reviews here are astroturfing, which doesn't...