Bright Horizons Family Center at Oak Hill

Many early childhood education providers market themselves and being highly capable and the «best» in the care of children. We often hear of many instances where the staff and teachers of other providers fail to deliver the quality that they so often market and represent. When it comes to the care of our child, the best and highest quality care is of the utmost importance. Taking time to understand that their are differences in what providers actually deliver is important to know. Knowing this, Bright Horizons was our number one selection.
I have found that the Administration team and Staff at Bright Horizons Oak Hill to be extremely warm, welcoming and professional. They go out of their way to have visibility and access and are always available to answer all questions. The overall communication in all aspects from Bright Horizons has been exceptional. Teachers are friendly and I always get a feeling that they genuinely take a honest interest in the care of our child, much of which you would see from a family member. I have found that the curriculum is very good and engages our child in new learning in many aspects. In addition, I really appreciate the online access to lesson plans so that I can monitor the instruction and weekly activities.
If you care about creating a quality impact at an early age for your child, Bright Horizons Oak Hill should be a key consideration in your selection. Our children will face many challenges as they develop and grow, and giving them every advantage possible will serve them well long term. Also, other providers will often market their lower costs as an advantage to entice one into enrolling in their program, but rarely can they match the quality and level of services that we have experienced. You do get what you pay for and its difficult to imagine compromising on a program when it comes to the care of a child.

My daughter is in one of the Toddler rooms and has a great time everyday. Her teachers Exie and Nikki are always upbeat and smiling, and are always happy to see the kids. They provide a fun environment and activities like learning about dinosaurs and having dance parties, while teaching the kids important skills like learning new words and following instructions. You can see how patient and kind-​hearted they are when comforting a crying kid or cleaning up another mess. We previously had Nita and Shelley for her infant teachers, and they were also wonderful to us. Very communicative about her day and how she was developing. They also had good advice when I would ask what to do at home when she wouldn’t eat dinner or would throw a tantrum. I was always amazed at how well they could manage taking care of 8 babies at a time.

Our son has been in the Toddler 1 room at Bright Horizons for about six months now. I have to say, I don’t know where we would be without this place. His teacher, Exie, is hands down the kindest, most compassionate and caring child care provider we have ever seen. She truly loves the kids, and it shows every day. We don’t worry about the care our son is receiving each day, or the attention he is getting. It’s tough dropping him off each morning, but we have so much peace of mind knowing the care he is receiving is coming from great people. Vera is wonderful as well. Any concern brought to her attention is received openly and addressed immediately. The entire facility just seems to be full of people who care about children. That means a great deal to us!

A further update on this center:
1. I was called today and told that my child fell and was bleeding and I should come immediately. Staff was unable to provide an explanation as to exactly what was wrong (should I call a Dr and get an appointment scheduled while driving to the center?). Once I arrived in the classroom my child appeared fine and the teacher had no clue why I was called. Only while I was standing in the center did the staff call to say they called the wrong parents. «Sorry!»
2. Teacher turnover continues — the latest teacher to change was only in place for 2 weeks.
Thankfully, our notice to withdraw has been submitted so our time here is coming to an end (though I have not received a response to our notice — rather typical of communication there). I don’t doubt that the teachers have the children’s best interest at heart, but the administration is disorganized and communicates information poorly.
I would only recommend this center after a complete change of the front office staff and local BH regional management.

Soooo my daughter has been here for about 3 years, so she has been in every classroom except babies. I had an issue with the director in the past, but it’s since been resolved. I’ve also noticed a little bit higher turnover in the past maybe 10 – 12 months, but the turnover here is NOTHING like turnover at other schools. Bright horizons is a really good school. I have never worried about my daughter and I have always trusted them with her. I didn’t feel that way about her last school. I will say that BH is the most expensive school I have found in all of Austin, which is a main reason for 4 out of 5 stars, but they seem to have a few things figured out… Where others don’t. They are never chaotic or crazy, you can always find an admin, the curriculum is wonderful, the classes don’t bounce around where you can’t find them at pick up and drop off (SERIOUS ISSUE WITH SOME OTHER SCHOOLS), the food is nutritious and the kids like it, the teachers are sweet… There are a lot of great things to be said about BH. They are slightly more expensive than primrose (although primrose just raised their rates to be competitive) but primrose can’t figure out their wait list to save their business… But if you’re okay with going to a school on the other side of town while waiting indefinitely for a spot, primrose has you covered… I digress. Back to BH, they really do have a great school and my 4 year old is writing, partially reading, and doing math — Which I attribute to their hard work and curriculum. My daughter gets homework, which she enjoys. They also told me they felt she was advanced with her addition, so they would give her a new lesson to work on and monitor her. Super cute. Nothing is ever perfect, but my daughter is safe, well nurtured, educated, nourished, and well taken care of. I do not worry about her at all throughout the day and she loves BH and her friends. We are a happy family with BH.

I was considering taking my child to this daycare. I’m so glad I didn’t, I have a friend that works there and informed me to stay clear of it. Her daughter is in there and just caught hand, foot and mouth disease. When she saw that another student had it, they said that it’s ok for that child to be at school, as long as no fever they won’t turn them away. So that clearly means ALL the other babies will be getting it. Please DO NOT take your precious babies to this facility. If it wasn’t for her, I would of taken my child there. Thank goodness she is resigning due to the lack of cleanliness and positivity.

DO NOT TAKE YOUR BABIES TO THIS HORRIBLE PLACE. My husband and I were considering putting our son in this daycare. We scheduled a tour and brought along our 14 month old son. On our tour, we allowed our son to crawl around and play with the daycare toys while we visited each of the classrooms. We observed not one baby in the daycare had a smile on their face, except for our son. The teachers were depressing too. The ambiance of the daycare was gloomy, and to top it off, 3 days later our son was diagnosed with hand, foot and mouth disease. We notified the daycare immediately so they could take precautionary steps to ensure another child didn’t get it. The director was extremely defensive and denied that our son couldn’t have possible gotten the virus from her facility.
Her defensive attitude was unprofessional and concerning. The director showed zero sympathy and suggested that our son could have gotten the virus from anywhere. She was more concerned about her reputation then about the children. After my conversation with the director, I understood why no one at the daycare had a smile on their face.
This place is not a place I would ever take my child to!!!
Sincerely,
Caleb’s mommy

Our 3 year old has pretty much tried every single daycare in the area. We feel that bight horizons is probably the best in the area. The teacher turnover rate is not as high as others. Management is very well orginized. This center is pricier than other daycares because they don’t give sibling discount and they don’t give discount when you take your kids out of school for vacations. However, we’d rather pay more to have some peace of mind knowing our kids are being taken care of.