Bertha Alyce Center

Both of my kids have been attending since they were infants and we love it. From day one, we’ve felt part of such a welcoming community. The all-school family Shabbats are incredibly special and something we always look forward to. The teachers are the best - nurturing, attentive, and invested in each child’s growth and happiness. We have so much peace of mind knowing our kids are loved and supported every day. The playground is what my kids love, especially the infinity bike track. One of the things we appreciate most is the enrichment opportunities available during the school day. The JCC staff picks them up for gymnastics, dance, and swim classes during the week, which we’ve signed our little ones up for. It’s been such a convenient and wonderful experience for our family.

The Bertha Alyce has truly entered an exciting new chapter under its new administration. The leadership team has brought a renewed sense of vision, stability, and intentionality that is evident throughout the school community. Communication feels thoughtful and transparent, and there is a clear commitment to creating a warm, nurturing, and high-quality Jewish educational environment for both students and families. Over the past year, the school thoughtfully navigated a period of staff transition, which ultimately created an opportunity to welcome an outstanding group of new educators. These teachers are enthusiastic, dedicated, and deeply invested in their students' growth and well-being. Their fresh perspectives, strong classroom practices, and genuine care for the children have elevated the overall learning experience. It is clear that Bertha Alyce is focused on continuous improvement, and the result is a school that feels energized, supportive, and well-positioned for long-term success.

We're honored to call BAS home. It's a warm, thoughtful school that routinely demonstrates genuine expertise in early childhood development. The teachers care. The admin team works tirelessly to improve the facilities and opportunities for the kids. The kids themselves fall in love with the building, the teachers, and the program; and they grow so much over the few years they're at BAS. It's amazing to watch. Even the parents find new friends. So many come together to ensure a joyful place for kids to learn and play. Highly recommended.

1. Class teachers are 80% late to work. While BAS charges 10% for an early drop-off/late pick-up, in 80% of cases, teachers are not on time to care for the child. New parents are left to wait or wander the hallway to find someone else to look after the child. 2. BAS is inattentive to parents' requests for customer service improvement. One of the parent's requests was made to challenge the current working hours from 7:30 AM-5:30 PM to 7 AM-6 PM, like most schools are already doing past COVID. Unfortunately, BAS management outright rejected this initiative claiming, "All parents are happy with the current schedule". We have proposed a survey to justify their claim, which was also dismissed. The new school year schedule came up with the same working hours. 3. BAS uses very archaic software to communicate with the parents. Therefore, parents are unaware of daily activities and how the child is feeling/doing. Occasionally, I counted 1-2 times a week. You would get a photo of a kiddo or an activity they had. BAS has no plans to change the software nor hold personnel accountable for not providing parents with information. 4. The main teacher also leaves before we pick up our child (4:30-5:30 PM window), and we never had a chance to learn how the day was, etc. Also, it seems that the care provider stays with the kids after the primary teacher leaves and is just taking kids to the Gym without water bottles…where kids are running around and playing, and caregivers are unattentive, chatting with each other. Our kid is always thirsty when we pick him up from the Gym, and his water bottle is back in the class. How long were they there? Multiple reminders didn't produce a change. 5. The food. You are asked to provide food and snack for your child. While this is good, it seems to be suboptimal for the premium daycare/school options. We have had experience with food delivery or food-provided options at the daycare, which was great. Kids have peer pressure to try different options and deliver a tasting pallet other than being sent with the same food from home. A small group of parents "asked" BAS to consider alternative options for food, which was also dismissed. 6. The hygiene. My 2.5-year-old son is still learning how to wash his hands. It appears they rather use sanitizer instead of washing their hands. As a result, kids don't learn enough about how to wash their hands. Another instance is that teachers/care providers won't clean kids' faces – it is often to pick up a child with dried-up food from lunch & snack time. 7. We forgot to provide a sleeping mat for a kid one week, and no one contacted us about it. Only on day 3 of the week we ran into it at home, questioning how comfortable our kid was during nap time. 8. When picking up, also made only wondering around to find kids, as the school is quite large, you can easily spend 10-15 mins running from one side of the building to another, checking the outside area, Gym, classroom, or sometimes they merge several classes and then you would never guess where they are. This is critical when you need to pick up another kid from a different school or plan extra activities after. 9. One day my wife went to pick a little one, and the sign was stating that their class is outdoors. The door behind got shut when she went outdoors, and the kids/teachers were not there. She spent 15 mins outside trying to get out until someone heard her yelling/screaming. She tried to call reception, but no one picked up… 10. Support during the potty training. We have received inferior support. The kid was put back in diapers after the incidents. Sometimes they would claim he does not have spare underwear but will put him in a diaper and put the underwear on top…One of the teachers stated she wouldn't do anything related to the potty training. Continue in comments

School? This is a unaccredited institution. This is a daycare.