Primrose School of Riverwoods

I am the mother of two young children who attend Primrose School of Riverwoods. They have both been enrolled since they were each 6 weeks old. My oldest is now 3 and my youngest is 1. I am a working mother who has maternity leave only up to 6 weeks after birth. Since my children were so young I was so scared to leave them in the care of someone else, but I had no choice. I researched and toured many different daycares and preschools. When I walked into Primrose of Riverwoods I knew immediately this is where my children should be. The staff at the front were so welcoming and made me feel so comfortable. When I entered the infant room it was so calm and so very clean. The teachers were warm and loving to the children who all were content. I also toured the older rooms to see if the children seemed as happy in there as they did in the infant room. Sure enough they were, it was what they call "circle time" and it was amazing how the children were so engaged in what their teacher was saying and doing. Primrose is not a "daycare" but a true preschool. My infant children actually learned sign language. They have their own curriculum and my oldest daughter who is now in Preschool is benefiting tremendously from this. I would recommend Primrose School of Riverwoods to any family looking for a family environment and a nurturing. caring staff. From the owners to the cook everyone is wonderful.

One word: NEGLECT. My biggest regret was to enroll, my then 16 mo old there! I thought based on their high prices and good facilities they were a reputable and good school for my toddler. Big mistake. We only stayed there for 1 week and then quit. Here are the issues I witnessed in only 5 days there: 1. First day, drop her off at 6:30am. When I went to pick her up at 5:30pm, she was wearing the same bib I had put on her at 6am!! If you have a teething toddler you know what I'm talking about. It was july and the bib was soaking wet and sour! Now, the bib itself is not that big of deal, but seeing my child with the same bib for almost 12h (and I had a bunch of clean ones in the diaper bag) made me wonder what other basic needs that she has that were not being met? Was she spending too much time with a dirty diaper? Was she thirsty or hungry for too long? Was she being comforted when she got hurt or scared? I couldn't know the answer to those questions. 2. The kids spend too much time outside with almost no shade at all. Like I said, it was a summer month, and there was not even 1 day that I went to pick up my daughter that she wasn't looking completely hot and exhausted from being under a 90degree July sun for way too much time! I mean read cheeks and sun burnt. Again, after the bib incident, how was I supposed to know that they were keeping my child hydrated?? 3. One day (of the 5 that we stayed there), as I'm in the parking lot observing things (my motherly instincts were not at ease with this place), I witnessed one of their employees (actually the lady that works in the kitchen but looks like she subs early in the morning as a "teacher") coming outside in the playground screaming bloody murder to a couple of 3 year old boys that (possibly for lack of proper supervision) had "escaped" their classrooms to the playground. I mean "trailer park" screaming and attitude. Very upsetting. 4. Our 5th and last day there, I (again) witnessed a toddler girl from my daughter's room "escaping" the classroom without the teacher even noticing. She was busy talking to parents and didn't notice that 1 of her 7 or 8 students went missing. I finally interrupted her conversation to let her know of what had happened. It was probably a good 5 minutes between the kid sneaking out and them finally finding her at the school office opening and closing drawers. I couldn't believe that in only 5 days there, and during the 5 or 10 minutes in the day that I was actually inside that school, I had witnessed so many disturbing and alarming situations. What else goes on inside this school while I'm at work that I'll never know of?? I could not bare the idea of letting my baby stay there!! I called and talked to the owner, but he completely dismissed me and show no interest in improving or addressing those issues.

Our 20 month-old child experienced three unfortunate incidents in less than 40 days of enrollment here. The worst of which was NEGLECT. He was left alone in his classroom (with the lights out) when I went to pick him up. The management and owners' response immediately following the situation was unacceptable. They did not offer an explanation, so I had to call (just before closing) and schedule a meeting the next day to discuss what happened. The meeting did little to reassure us that Primrose was aware of the seriousness of the matter, so we requested documentation. The management and owners did not provide us with an incident or accident report at the meeting. POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE - It took a week for management to produce a written report that detailed how our child was left unsupervised. Furthermore the written explanation provided did not match what was said in person. I filed a formal complaint with the Child Care Services Division of the Alabama Department of Human Resources, and the day care was placed on probation. After informing the management in writing that our son would not return following the incident of neglect and other unresolved issues, Primrose School still charged us (an active duty military family) for a full week's tuition in which our child did not attend. We have requested our tuition reimbursement several times, but the management and owners have not responded to our most recent request. Having worked in early intervention environments, Pre-K - 8 schools, and hospitals as a licensed, ASHA certified speech-language pathologist, I cannot recommend this day care which failed to meet our family's health, safety, supervision, and communication/customer service standards. Most importantly they failed to meet our ethical standards.