The Early Education Center (I/T Center)

The first red flag for me was on the virtual orientation where the director took up almost 20 minutes lecturing us parents on how we need to be active participants in our children’s education. It was patronizing and very presumptuous of the director to think that we weren’t already active in our children’s learning. Another red flag was the process that requires new students to wait at the back gate and was not allowed to show up earlier than 9am or later than that. This was the rule for their first two days. It made my daughter feel like even more of an outsider at her new school. A major concern for me is that there are several entrances at the perimeter gate around the school property. All of the gates are padlocked except for two. The two gates that stay unlocked are not monitored and do not require access codes to open. There are no photos of the teachers and staff posted anywhere and they do not wear name tags. For new families, it’s difficult to know who’s a teacher, staff, parent, or rando who just walked off the street. The play structures are all small and great for kids 2 and younger but not for kids who are older than that. They need a more permanent playground, especially since the kids spend a lot of time outdoors. I know the school recently moved to this location so they’re still settling in, but I hope they make improvements soon. **UPDATE** The week after my review was posted, the school director (Maria) cornered my husband one day when he was picking up our daughter. Maria pulled them into her office and questioned him about my review (which he knew nothing about) and told him that I was violating a school policy. He reacted very poorly and, coincidentally, the Seagull's CEO was onsite and within earshot so she got involved, too. FYI: The federal Consumer Review Fairness Act of 2016 (CRFA) makes it illegal for businesses to use standard "gag clauses" in consumer form contracts that ban or punish negative reviews. Under the CRFA, a company generally cannot use contract fine print to bar you from reviewing them, impose a fee or penalty for a bad review, or force you to give up ownership of your review content. I was very angry at how the situation was handled. Why didn't Maria send us an email and request a meeting? At the same time, I was not surprised by the poor communication. She was never in her office in the mornings when I dropped off my daughter, and she wasn't there in the afternoons either. The entire situation was extremely unsettling. It was only after my husband and I each sent emails to Maria when she replied by telling (not asking) us to meet with her and the CEO. At the meeting, the CEO questioned me on why I didn't follow the complaints protocol laid out in their policy handbook. I told them that the protocol did not provide the proper channels to express my concerns. I asked them directly if they were penalizing me for my review or asking me to remove it, to which the CEO immediately said no. However, they said that my husband's inappropriate behavior definitely violated their policy on parent-teacher conflicts. They released us from the contract with a refund. The date on the check was from the previous day which told me that they had made the decision very quickly. Although the entire experience was stressful, I also felt very relieved. Even though the school "encourages" parents to be involved with the kids' education, we received very little updates from our daughter's teacher. There were no daily updates or communications on activities, which we were used to from her former daycares and preschool. Instead, photos and updates were sent via the Seesaw app only every other day at 9pm. My first impression of the director, Maria, was that she was very anxious and stressed out. Nothing about her said "leadership" or "seasoned educator." She proved my intuition correct when I saw that she had looked at my LinkedIn profile the day before our final meeting. My kids have been at 4 other daycares and I've never had a teacher stalk me on social media in this manner.

We are very happy with our experience at Seagull Schools. The teachers foster a welcoming environment by inviting parents into the classroom for drop-off and pickup. Being able to see our son’s work and connect daily has been great, and it's helped created a network among the families. A special thank you to Ms. Sharmaine, Ms. Stefani, and Mr. Shane in the Manukai 1 classroom for their phenomenal dedication and kindness. The end-of-year presentation was a testament to how much each child has grown under their care. Most importantly, our son loves his school, his teachers, and his friends. Hearing his joyful stories at the end of the day says it all.

This is not a pre-school built around values that align with supporting their community of families. We were in Manukai 1 with Ms. Sharmaine and it was not a positive experience. I wouldn't recommend Seagull to anyone, especially not this specific class or teacher. I should've noticed the first red flag when I came to drop my son off for his orientation day, which was from 9am-12pm. I arrived at 8:45am to walk around the campus a bit, say hi to the kids and teachers and simply observe. Ms. Sharmaine greeted us with a sigh and a glance at the clock. She begrudgingly took him in on his first day while telling me that being 15 minutes early was not okay, and I should arrive at 9am for the next 3 days, no earlier, no later, and walking around the campus together until 9am was not ok either. My mother was with me that day and commented on how odd that was. Second red flag was when I began to notice that most of the parents dropping off their kids were fathers. It eventually started to make sense bc after a few weeks I started to notice why mothers, such as myself, may not feel comfortable dropping their children off. For starters, parents are not encouraged to come in to the classroom when dropping off kids.Teachers, at least the teachers I have experience with, Ms. Sharmaine, Ms Stephanie, and Ms Jaelyn were not friendly. The teachers will make a visible attempt to shame you if you walk in with your child and help them put their bag and water bottle away. When I was first unaware of the rule and would help my son into the class in the morning, it took me a while to realize that that was why I was treated so poorly. I would walk in and the teachers would get silent, they'd look at one another disapprovingly, and I was shocked to see that one rolled her eyes at me, it all felt very childish and unprofessional. Eventually I was finally told that parents are supposed to leave their kids at the glass door and walk away. From that day forward, I also became one of the mothers who passed the morning drop-off task to the father. I'd like to note that the few times I was in the class helping my son get settled in, I was able to overhear teachers speaking to students, and it was not friendly. They consistently spoke in a rushed and rude manner, not at all how I'd expect preschool staff to engage with toddlers that age. When I reached out to the interim "director" about my concerns, I was dismissed and guided to speak to Ms Sharmaine directly (who was on vacation at the time). Seagulls policies are equivalent to a public middle school. If you are walking into the class with your toddler at 9am you are late. Have that happen a few times and they will scold you and send you home regardless of the day being paid for by you. Maybe they will be lenient if you're a govt service member. I noticed that a day I was called out for being late (arriving at 9:01am) by the time I got down to my car, a parent in the same class with Ms Sharmaine, a father in a military uniform, was barely getting out of his car with his daughter to walk her up to the class. The teachers have their preferences on parents and they become clear overtime. Seagull also has many outdated Covid policies that they have yet to update. It seems like they aren't updating them out of convenience. For an example, they have a Sandbox near the Manukai 1 class. It has been boarded up since covid. A staff member told us that they only have 2 years left at this location so they'd rather not put in the effort to clear it up for the kids. If there is a fellow mother reading this review while considering Seagull, I'd recommend saving yourself time and stress and passing on this school. When considering a school, esp when it's for a toddler-aged child, a community of supportive teachers and staff is extremely important. It helps to instill a sense of peace when leaving your children in their hands day after day. This school did not foster that sense of peace with me. I'm a fellow mother who spent two months with my 3yo in their system.

Seagull Schools is great. All my kids went there for pre-schooling. The caregivers are actual teachers. They are not just babysitting your kids. They have lesson plans and they teach them the ABCs and the123s. They also teach them friendships and manner. One good thing here is the open space and proximity to short field trip. They bring the kids every week to the city hall and count the church clock strike. They bring the kids to the Library and learn about quiet and how to borrow books. They bring the kids to trick-or--treat at the Fasi Municipal Building and collect way too much candies. They bring them to the state capitol and look at the legislation in session. I don't think the Cole Academy, Queen Emma, Star of the Sea, or Kaimaaina Kids would do so many of this kind of field trips of sort.