Bright Horizons at West Seattle

I’m an actual parent of a child that goes to this school. She is in the Twos 2 classroom. The day care is institutionalized, in that it feels like an actual elementary school, which I think is great for preparing them for kindergarten. The curriculum is not rigidly structured and forced upon the kids, which I feel is important because let’s face it, they are still only 2 years old. The teachers are better than any other day care I’ve toured in Seattle and very forthcoming with information about your child. You can walk by and view your child from the large windows lining the street or wait for the daily email they send, which includes an update of what your child worked on for the day and photos of them «in action». The food is exceptional and extremely well-​balanced, and some of the produce and the milk are organic. Lunch and snacks are included in the tuition. The tuition is the *highest* I found in the city, at about $ 100 – 400 more per month than downtown locations and $ 800 more than most of the West Seattle locations, which all have 6-​month to 1-​year waiting lists for two year olds! The location is great for commuting parents; the W Seattle Bridge is a ½ mile away. To address the reviewers from the apartments — while I did witness a teacher snapping at an older kid (not my daughter’s class), it kind of worried me, but I go by the fact that my daughter is the same happy, functional kid when she is picked up as she is when she is dropped off and she is excited to go to school.

I have to chime in as well, though again from an outside perspective. I was unsurprised to see the other two 1-​star reviews, as I came to Unilocal to log the same complaint. My child goes to a preschool that values empathy and respectful communication. I walk by Bright Horizons every day and have had to endure the awful «care givers» berate, yell and quite clearly do as little as possible to make the kids there feel like valued human beings. Its’ shocking, like I’m in a Wal-​Mart in Middle America watching someone relate to their child in a way that would be shocking to see in Seattle.
My hope is that the folks who run this place take these comments seriously, get the people off the bus who need to do other things in life, and bring in people who know how to take care of kids. This kind of behavior by their hired people is completely unacceptable.

I live right above this daycare and the way they treat these poor kids is disgusting! I have a kid around the same age and I know how frustrating they can be but it is completely uncalled for for these kids to be treated the way they are. There is one lady in particular that has long red hair and let’s just say if she treated my kid how she treats those I would probably slap her! Bright Horizons isn’t a cheap place and I would expect them to have competent people who understand what all goes into working with kids but I guess they missed that memo!

I am sick of hearing these teachers yell at the playground. I would never send a child to coexist in this type of environment.

I’m not sure if I am too quick to jump on and review since I technically am not enrolled yet at Bright Horizons but I thought I would share my experience.
My husband and I are expecting our first child in late May and we had recently relocated to W Seattle.
We were researching daycare and naturally, Bright Horizons surfaced as an option. I looked at Unilocal naturally but there was only one review that was almost a year old. This made me nervous as I didn’t feel that was a strong outing.
So I contacted BH myself to setup an appointment to check out the daycare as well as to find out pricing (as they won’t tell you over the phone) and it varies based on location.
I discovered that this location is fairly new (a little over a year and a half old) and it’s in a convenient location for us.
There is ample parking out front for dropoff/​pickup which is limited to 30 mins or so in the mornings/​evenings to help keep folks moving. I find this to be extremely helpful when you think of trying to battle parking and weather while trying to juggle babies and diaper bags.
The building itself is secure and you either have a code as a parent or you are buzzed in by reception. I learned the hard way that if you come before 8am though that no one is at reception and so you either hang outside or sneak in behind someone dropping off their kid (which is not what I would recommend).
The daycare is broken into several ‘rooms’ based on the child’s age and they have different schedules and activities based on that. The «Teachers» in each room get more kids as the kids get older to where the max is one ‘teacher’ to ten children.
They do feed your child a few times a day and unless you state so, they will give them what they give everyone. There is a menu which you can see what is being served and if you have any reservations, etc.
I do like that the smaller kids are held and have cribs to sleep in vs. having swings where they would not be able to be ‘comforted’.
They have playgrounds outside for the older kids and they do seem to encourage outdoor time each day even with bad weather so rain gear was evident in the kids bins.
We decided to go with BH and be on their ‘waiting’ list for the summer/​fall after the visit. The fees aren’t cheap and you don’t really get a ‘break’ once the children get older but I will say that I do believe you get what you pay for.
I did like that there is no real ‘dropoff’ time or pickup for penalty. There is a open window so if you are running late you don’t have to worry about being charged $ 1 a minute or whatever fees it is that some daycares charge.
They also are only closed a few times a year that most places would be closed (Memorial, 4^th July, Xmas, etc). I find this to be extremely helpful as I have a coworker who goes to a nearby daycare and they are closed the last two weeks of December. That’s not very convenient nor would you be able to get off work that long in a row.
So technically I haven’t used their service fully yet but I wanted to share the experience and insight that we saw while touring the campus. I think it’s a great daycare if you can afford it financially as it’s not cheap but I think you’ll be happier picking up your child from a clean and secure daycare where the children seem happy. And most of all, it was clean and the children always seemed to be learning and doing activities.

My almost two-​year-​old niece attends Bright Horizons five days a week. My sister is so happy with the experience that she is constantly bragging to friends, coworkers, and family about all the neat things her daughter is doing! I have done a few pick-​ups and I am very impressed as well. Here are some of the highlights:
*Extremely clean, BRIGHT facility. My niece was in a different childcare setting previously and it was always smelly and pretty dark inside. You can tell that Bright Horizons prides itself on keeping everything very clean.
*High quality furniture, toys, and other materials. Your kids won’t be playing with the same broken crap everyday — even in the few times I have been there, I have seen new materials being introduced to the classrooms.
*Care and education is age and developmentally appropriate — Because the children are in classrooms with peers their own age and teachers trained for that age, no project or activity is restricted to «big kids» and older one’s aren’t left to fend for themselves while babies are being cared for (the case at my niece’s previous school).
*Lovely, open communication. The teacher always talks to me about how my niece’s day went as well as giving me a written report of her eating, napping, and toileting routine. On top of that, her parents receive a daily email with photos and highlights of the days educational activities.
*Outdoor time is maximized! It would be easy for the teachers at Bright Horizon’s to keep the kids inside if the weather wasn’t ideal, but they make a point to get outside for as long as possible every day. The parents are encouraged to bring rain gear for their kids as well as extra clothing — even in the great Seattle snow storm of last week, children got a chance to spend time outside!
*Location! For all those West Seattle Families with parents working outside of the neighborhood, Bright Horizon’s is located close to the West Seattle Bridge so you don’t have to go out of your way to drop your kiddos off in the morning or pick them up in the evening.
*Emphasis on understanding cultural differences. In a time of globalization this is sooo important! Bright Horizons has a two day per week SPANISH teacher who reads books, sings songs, and leads art projects in Spanish!
*Health meals/​snacks provided. Each day the children get wholesome breakfasts, lunches, and two snacks prepared for them by the school’s chef. The chef works hard to plan her menu around the availability of organic produce. She also introduces new, tasty foods to the kids!
I am so happy that my sister and brother-​in-​law decided to make the move to Bright Horizons. I used to feel like I had to rush to pick my niece up from her old school because she wasn’t getting the care she deserved. Now, I have to tell myself to wait to go get her so that she doesn’t feel like she is missing out on the fun at school!!!