Bright Horizons At Crystal City

Both of my kids went to Bright Horizons Crystal City, my son was in the Kinder Prep Program and my daughter was in the Toddler Class, and they absolutely loved it! From the start, we were really impressed with the staff, the leadership, and how welcoming the whole place felt. My kids were excited to go every day, which says a lot! The teachers were amazing and created such a positive and caring environment. You can tell they genuinely care about the kids and love what they do. A special thank you to Rica, Jayla, Marilyn, April, Michele, and, of course, Holly (Executive Director), my kids still talk about you and ask about you, even though we've moved. Leaving was tough, and the only reason we stopped going was because we relocated. We are so thankful for the time we had there and would highly recommend Bright Horizons Crystal City to any family looking for a great daycare and preschool experience.

I have two children at the center (going on almost 6 years now!) and have been very happy with the care they receive. To be sure, a few years back, the center experienced a lot of turnover under different leadership. But the current leadership is much more stable, professional, and responsive. The teachers my children have had have been terrific - very engaged, caring, and fun. In my opinion, the Bright Horizons’ care philosophy and curriculum is top notch. In addition to receiving a great early education, my children have been taught inclusivity and kindness - things that are very important to our family. The pandemic has been tough for the staff and families alike, but I know the staff is doing everything they can to keep our children safe. Nothing is 100 percent foolproof, but I feel my children are as safe as they can be outside the home when they are at Bright Horizons.

Disclaimer: My wife and I only used this location once for our two-year-old daughter as back up when our nanny called in sick. Experiencing it once, we had a great experience as did our daughter. The check in and out experience was efficient, friendly, and secure. The space is large with big classrooms full of art and a playground in the back with secure fences around it. They sent us a report with photos of how our daughter did during the day including them painting a photo and what food they gave our daughter. Our daughter LOVED her time when she usually doesn't love daycare centers. The staff were empathetic, responsible, and friendly!

I had high hopes for this location judging them off appearance… they are supposed to open up at 7:30am we arrived at 7:40am to ring the door bell knock on the door and call the front office while never leaving the entry way By 7:50 am some woman was standing at the door looking rather unpleasant. Didn’t say excuse me or indicate she was going to open the door for us. So when she did push the door open she said good morning. Me already being upset at no signs of life around to greet us at an appropriate time I simply dryly smiled and asked her does their doorbell work because me and my child have been waiting out there for ten minutes knocking and calling the phone her response was “oh I don’t know anything about that I just got here” she says this as she’s walking away from me! Continues to say but she’s here let me go get her. So the CENTER DIRECTOR MARQUITA WILLIAMS swiftly approaches us saying “good morning how are you? How do you pronounce your child’s name?” I said morning told her how to pronounce my child’s name and proceeded to tell her the same story I just told whomever was frowning standing at the door waiting for my child to move so she could open the door.. so I say to Marquita I’m not too happy she asks why or something to the likes of and I told her about the door bell the knocking and phone calling she says to me that she indeed try to pick up the phone points to the front desk phone but by time she got to the call it hung up I explained to her how she couldn’t of picked up that phone because me and my child never left the entry way and never saw anyone attempt to pick up the phone (which by the way doesn’t make sense because if she did try to pick up that specific phone she would if saw us and let us in) so after I tell her we never moved from in front of the door proving that she was lying about it she strongly says to me almost close to yelling “are you going to be ok with leaving your child here today?” I was truly flabbergasted by this abrupt cut off and disregard for my time and displeasure. I ended up leaving my child there because it was already paid for with back up care and I had to get to work being that I’m late due to them… Marquita never apologized to me. That center was EMPTY. Only 4 children for the day. my child’s pictures didn’t represent happiness like they’ve had at another location we utilize only pro is the snapshot the teacher provided was more detailed probably because they had to be in a infant room. Those kids weren’t my child’s age nor did I see any other toddlers. I wouldn’t be surprised if Marquita responds to this review but I did report her to the regional manager whom handled the situation in the best manner.. WONT BE COMING BACK TO THIS LOCATION

We used Bright Horizons at Crystal City for two weeks as part of our work's back-up care program. The staff was very accommodating, patient, and took great care of our children. Our children enjoyed their time there and were sad when their visits were over. Would recommend this facility to anyone!