Learning Garden - Kirkland

The infant classroom with teachers Olga & Irina is the very best. We felt supported, cared for, and comfortable with the care that our baby received there. They partnered with us from the start to create a nurturing environment for our baby, helping our family unit transition into having daycare as a part of our daily routine after my maternity leave ended. We felt immediately at ease with the experience level and insightfulness of Olga & Irina. At the end of the day, you want a place that reassures your worries and leaves you with peace of mind that your baby is in good hands. We felt that sense of trust with Olga & Irina and the Bright Horizons staff at Kirkland.

We sent our daughter here for backup care the Friday before Christmas and she had such a great time! Drop off and pick up was incredibly easy. The staff at the center were super nice both on the phone scheduling the session as well as in person. The meals from the report card looked really great. Our daughter also seemed to really love the activities! If we our schedules would let us do Bright Horizons at Kirkland for our daily childcare, I would send my daughter here in a heartbeat. Can’t wait for her to come back!

This is a review of our experience in this branch in September/October 2024. We enrolled in the Toddler (12 to 24 month) class. They have three Toddler classes and we were placed in one of them, with a 1:5 ratio. We stopped by the center a few days before the start date to be familiar with the staff and the environment. Our assigned teacher was absent on that day. She was also absent on our start date. She was absent two more days during our time there too. And we were only there for 6 days! Maybe accidental but pretty interesting record. For the days that the teacher was present: unfortunately, we found her the least caring and most indifferent in their job and to try to settle the new children into the environment. While we did observe other staff members trying their best effort at the job, we could not see this in the main teacher. There were three fairly new kids placed in one class, needing care and attention so they could adjust, and we observed how the teacher was not willing to do so. Few times, we saw children left out crying and unsettled. On two separate occasions, we found our daughter with scratches on her face. We understand that kids run around and hurt themselves. That was not surprising. What was surprising was the fact that none of the staff that we asked, could explain to us where and how it happened. That further confirmed to us that the level of care is not in par with what we were expecting. We did not think this was the right atmosphere and brought it up to the management. In return our concerns were dismissed, no action was taken, and we were told that “new kids will finally adjust”. We did not believe this was the best way to have the new kids adjust. We asked to change to another of the Toddler classes. They declined. We asked to move up to the Twos (24-36 month) class as our daughter was 23 months old at the time. They declined. We asked to have more teachers in the class during mornings. They declined. For the outdoor areas: Their outdoor space is pretty limited and small compared to other places that we have visited. For Toddlers under 2, they have even further reduced the space to a narrow turf corridor on the side of the building with no swings, slides, and etc. Maybe this is what they think is working for the children under 2, but we found our daughter clearly bored and unhappy in that small space. Ultimately, we decided to not continue with this center. We were hoping they could at least understand the situation and how bad the onboarding process has been and address the financial side of things. We were wrong. They did not show any flexibility and we decided to not waste any time and energy discussing matters with them. Paid ~4,500 for only 6 days of care that we received and decided to at least share our experience with everyone else in case it is helpful for other families.

At this point, we've had both of our 2 children go to Bright Horizons in Kirkland. Our daughter is actually about to "graduate" from the Pre-K class in less than 2 months. She started attending when she was about 6 weeks old! As a new mom who had to return to work fairly quick I was very scared and overwhelmed about leaving her somewhere at such a young age! After 15 minutes in the infant room, meeting the amazing staff who'd been there over 15 years--I couldn't have felt any better than I did, I quickly became excited for her to start and get to have interactions with these kind and loving ladies! I grabbed the last opening they had, right there, on the spot!! Our second child started young and is still there at 4 years old. And it wasn't just the infant room, each level or year they moved up the teachers were just as great, and positive and engaged--and not just the classroom teachers, but the entire support and administrative staff as well. To be honest, I often felt they were even more patient with them than myself... The easiest way for me to sum up our experience at this school would be by our kids, themselves--they love going, they get excited about going, they love learning there and sharing with us what they learn(I love that!!)even after all these years---they have never once dreaded going, or asked not to go! They often miss their friends and teachers on days they don't go and would ask "how many sleeps" until they get to see them again. At times we did visit other daycares and we never saw the same happiness or light in the kid's and teacher's eyes as we always saw at Bright Horizons. I'd go as far as to say, our family considers them family now. I honestly can't recommend them enough!

We recently started our 2 girls here, one in preschool and one in the infant room (previously at a different BH before Covid). So far we are so happy. The director, Rachel, is amazing. She is responsive, respectful and always present. All of the teachers and staff care so much about the children and have such a positive attitude. We also like that they are taking safety very seriously during Covid and that the screenings everyday are thorough. Our 3 y/o is learning so much since going back to preschool after being out for almost a year and we are so happy that she is able to be around her peers in a safe environment during the pandemic. Another thing we love about BH is how they give us feedback about our kids. At other daycares/preschools it always felt like our child wasn’t hitting certain milestones or doing what they expected her to be doing only to then hear from her doctor and other specialists that everything was on track and fine. At BH they don’t compare my child to how some other child is doing because children hit milestones at different times. I really love the positivity at BH and I know that if there was something wrong then I could trust their judgment and recommendations. I highly recommend the Kirkland center. The smiles on our girls faces when we pick them up and the excitement our 3 y/o has to go each morning makes our decision to send them here totally worth every penny.