Starbright Early Learning Center

My daughter has been at Starbright since she was 2 months old. I absolutely love the place. The tuition is reasonable, the faculties are very clean, and the staff is very caring and friendly. My husband and I have agreed that we want to keep our daughter at Starbright until she starts school. I highly recommend this center.

We have been going here for almost 5 years now. We have two toddlers and both started coming here full time since the first day the daycare would take them as babies. We had a foster child before that that we sent here. We have been full time the entire time. We have been in several classrooms as the kids have moved up and had several teachers.
I have never seen any teachers being mean or anything negative being displayed towards the children.
Some teachers are nicer than others and frankly, after ten minutes with these little monsters running around I would probably be curled up in the corner crying with my thumb in my mouth. Any concerns we have had over the years have been minor.
My only experience with other daycares has been three other daycares about 12 years ago when our young son was left at school and the daycare didn’t know where he was and forgot to pick him up. We removed him immediately. The other daycare was just dirty and the teachers didn’t seem to care at all about the kids. And the other daycare was basically just a big room where the kids were watched but there didn’t seem to be a lot of interaction.
At Starbright you get daily sheets of when the kids went the bathroom, how their mood was, how long they slept and other notes about what they did or if they need diapers or wipes or clothing. As the kids get older the information relayed to the parents on a daily basis becomes less as it should be.
There are parent teacher conferences and the kids are evaluated and scored based on their milestones they achieve so you know how your child is doing compared to other children.
The kids take naps during the day where they turn off the lights, play relaxing music and the kids sleep in their own little space. They also get outside time to play on the play equipment in a fenced in area.
Dr. Kim Borgatta always has an open door when I have to ask questions and she has been nothing but nice to us despite some things written on another review here.
They learn some Spanish, have a guy come in that plays music, sing songs, read books to the kids, do arts and crafts, teach them things, help potty train them, etc. They get breakfast, lunch, and snacks. The older toddlers just went to the pumpkin patch as a field trip.
They don’t just watch your kids to make sure they are safe. They interact with them and help them learn. And that has been my big thing when I have pushed to have our kids here. My wife has, at times, suggested other daycare places that were home based but I am dead set against it. I like the larger atmosphere with many teachers around where I know my children are not just being watched. And frankly there have been many stories of home based daycares where the owners neglect the kids and sometimes criminally. I am not worried about that happening here with so many people around.
The only things I don’t care for are the days that the daycare is closed. There is a week at Christmas where they are closed but you still have to pay for the week and there are also several other holidays that maybe the federal government gets off but most people, like me, still have to work. So on those days my wife or I have to use our vacation benefits to stay home with the kids. We could get a babysitter for those times but it is difficult to find somebody that we trust for such an intermittent time period. I am sure there are parents here that have a much more difficult time dealing with the days off than we do though.
I don’t really have any complaints about the place. I recommend that if you are the least bit interested then at least give it a shot.

Starbright was close to my office so stumbled upon them about five years ago. We have two sons. Our youngest went there for five years. Our oldest attended for four years, because he went on to grade school after completing kindergarten at Starbright, but he went back to Starbright for the summer camp program. Both kids were eager this year for summer to come quickly so they could go back to the day camps. Starbright has a whole variety of different kinds of programs, for infants all the way up to school age.
All the classrooms are large and decorated with the kids’ artwork, and big windows, and colorful things as far as the eye can see – many different activities to keep the kids engaged. They keep the kids very active. All the extra classes Starbright provides really surprised me, such as the dance class, the music class, the Spanish class. My kids especially enjoyed the music class. There’s a gentleman they call «Music Man Dave» who comes in every week and brings different instruments and sings different songs. My kids are still talking about how «Music Man Dave brought in that instrument and let us play with it.»
Cleanliness is a priority for me so I was pleased Starbright has a very strict policy compared to other centers I looked at. When the kids come into the classroom they have to take off their outside shoes and put on inside shoes, so they don’t bring in a bunch of dirt. Starbright has everything well organized, with little cubby holes as open lockers, so kids have their own little space to put their bag, jacket, any home toy they’re allowed to bring, and to store their inside shoes.
At some of the other centers we looked at, the coats were on the floor, shoes thrown around – just so much more chaotic. In one center, you couldn’t even walk into the classroom, because there was so much of the kids’ stuff in front of the door.
Twice a year they have parent-​teacher conferences when you sit down with the teacher and discuss how your child is doing in comparison to other kids – statewide, not just in classroom –and they evaluate your children compared to where other kids are at their age. We’ve never really had any issues with Starbright. Everyone was always so friendly and the teachers always took the time to talk about any problems the kids were having. They feel like an extended part of the family.

I have been at Starbright for over two years now and the experience has been fabulous! Everyone at the center is friendly, warm, and inviting. All of the staff know my child’s name as well as mine. I would recommend them in a heart beat.

Updating my review as the director decided to comment once again and try to make me look stupid. NOT ONCE in my original comment did I say these children were pre schoolers, I SAID that I was LOOKING for a pre school, since you do advertise that you have one on your site
…but apparently I am wrong.
I will also repeat that the children did NOT speak to ANY teacher before running up to the dog, and the owner of the pitbull and I actually had a conversation about it after it happened.
Kim B. you were not there and your teachers are not being honest with you.
Thanks for the many responses though, just shows I don’t need to take my bad review down any time soon.
Observers were interviewed? All of the people there, not many aside from the child care teachers and kids, looked as horrified as I felt.
If your teachers DID give the children permission to pet a dog that would be one thing, but the boy I saw did not go up and pet a dog, he ran up and practically wrestled the dog (pitbull)…wrapped his arms around the dogs neck and tried to pull the dog to the ground… teachers stood FAR away and did nothing. As I LEFT the park the same boy ran up to a lady wearing a baby in a front pack and did the same thing to her large black lab… as teachers stood back and did nothing.
I will NOT take down my review and I do regret NOT calling the center, I actually sat in my car that was parked right next to one of the two vans from your center, phone in hand, but didn’t think I could be professional about it as I was too upset with what I had witnessed.
In hope that your teachers at least received some training on the subject of what to do when they encounter pets at the park.

I feel it necessary to again correct the assumptions made by the director of this school. It was over 5 years ago that I had my child attempted a day at this school. I have not taken this personally. I have stated facts and have the documentation to back them up. I am uncertain how I was combative when my only interaction with the director (other than when I dropped him off), was over the phone, and if trying to point out misconceptions to someone who has know my son for less than 2 hours is rude, then I guess I am. Again, anyone who wants to see the email exchange, I can forward it to you as proof.
The director at Starbright was told about the situation with my son. She was told not only about his physical deformities, but also about his tantrums. At the time she stated they could handle it. She commented that my son was too traumatized. That is true. He was traumatized by the lack of direction at the previous day care and further harmed by being kicked out of this school. (The first day there he made the teachers cry when he asked if he was going to be kicked out.) My son’s issues were serious yes, however, having known my child I knew that his tantrums had only been happening the last week, and were an exception to his behavior. Starbright’s director wouldn’t listen to this and didn’t care.
Let me set the record straight to say that my son, has received NO special help that this director seemed to think was required immediately. He went to another childcare center and in less than 1 week had stopped the tantrums. The other center provided a caring but firm direction for him. They took the time to help. Since that time he has an occasional time of not listening, (as every other child there has done), but none of the throwing things he used to. This is just what I would expect from a quality childcare center. .
My son started 4^th grade today. He is top of his class in academics, and has no need for all the professional help Starbrights director recommended. Please look at reviews from other sites. There are other complaints. Especially in regards to younger children.
I am happy my son is is not at this school. His current center is great. They took the time to understand the situation and helped work with me to resolve it.
All the director at Starbright did was kick him out after two hours, personally attack me to my husband and make statement about me and my family without even taking the time to know us. This director complained that while in her office my child (4 yo at the time) would not stop talking. Instead of taking the time to talk with him to explain what he was doing was wrong, she expected him to sit there quietly. She commented to me that she was trying to do her work and he wouldn’t «Shut up». I was shocked to hear this from a ‘professional’ childcare. I have my personal opinion of her, but feel it inappropriate to voice them in such a public forum. I have stated facts, and have her own written words to back it up.
Starbright’s director was right about one thing. It was a great decision for my son to not be at her school. I have found a better one for him to be at. And am grateful that we found this out so early in his stay there. This reduced the amount of trauma for my child and allowed us to all move on.
Please consider another center! Your kids deserve better.
In regards to the directors comments. I simply asked her how after two hours she was an expert on my son. We did not have to go any special ‘help’ that she recommended. All we needed was a quality day care that actually spent time paying attention to the kids and had them follow the rules.

I would HIGHLY recommend Starbright to anyone. My son went there for almost 2 years and sadly we moved and had to change schools. My son still ask to go back to his «old school». Sarah and Alicia alway greeted him in the morning and made us feel at ease. One of the best preschools hands down!

Starbright is fantastic! My wife went to Starbright when she was very young for several years and she has turned into the most amazing beautiful woman. She is now studying for her post-​masters education and speaking at international conventions with the Society of Forestry. Dr. Kim Borgatta ran the Early Learning Center then and she is still there now. When I drive past I’m just thankful for people like her who care so much for the development of our children. When we have children they’re going to Starbright!
Addendum:
This review is a legitimate review and was flagged by a terrible person who flagged all 17 legitimate positive reviews, thus filtering them, and then left a negative review, lying that she and her son were a customer, when they are truly not and have no direct experience with Starbright. Please unfilter the 17 reviews that were all filtered because of this one terrible person on July 11^th.

The Starbright Early Learning Center is an excellent place to bring your child. We’ve had our daughter enrolled for about 5 months and are very happy with the staff in the infant room. They provide very loving care of our daughter and always accommodate our wishes. She is always in a great mood when we pick her up and we always know she has been well taken care of. The woman that started this child care center has advanced degrees in early childhood education and has put a lot of thought into the philosophy of the center. The business manager has also been great to deal with. I did a lot of research to find a child care center in the Everett area and this was the only place I felt comfortable enrolling my daughter.