Willow Bend Learning Center

This school has definitely exemplified high quality staff as well as learning for my two children that attend there. I have received nothing but praises of how well my kids have matured and grown from family back home that go months at a time seeing my children and they come back with something new everytime to showcase to the family of what they have learned in school. The staff are very in tune with matters if anything was to take place and effectively solving the problem head on first hand. I believe the entire school knows whom my children are even if they are not in their classrooms and i definitely appreciate the urgency on the behalf of willowbend learning center when it comes to my children. I feel now that i don’t have a care in the world with leaving my kids while i attend work. This is really important to me seeing as we have no family here and to be able to call the entire staff family Seau from home i can’t thank them enough. Definitely a school to consider.

My daughter is on the autism spectrum and I met with the staff SEVERAL times prior to enrolling my child. I did not take this decision lightly I wanted her happy! I followed up multiple times after enrolling her to make sure there weren’t any issues. Each time I was reassured and daily was sent home a letter about how well she was adjusting and enjoying it. Well, it was lies! I noticed a change in my non-​verbal child at the time I would drop her off at Beaty Early Childhood center. She previously enjoyed very much hopping out of the car and going into school but she began to have a meltdown at drop off. Visibly upset! I couldn’t figure it out. Well, shortly after that there was some suspicious things that I didn’t put together till hindsight. I came to pick her up one day and they had her separated from the other kids, she came home with her dress torn, she wasn’t her happy self. Well, the school finally, after many weeks of pacifying me saying she was doing great, told me I had two weeks to remove her from the school. That she wasn’t accepting discipline or able to adjust. Are you kidding me? They made no reasonable accommodations for a special needs child and never informed me of any issues. The teachers seemed to be paid at best minimum wage some to which barely spoke English. I am not saying it’s a bad establishment, but they are certainly are discriminating against children with special needs.
I asked if they had any records or if I could view the tapes and they got very uneasy. Just very strange to me.
But on a side positive note the meltdowns at drop off for school completely STOPPED after pulling her out of that nightmare! I am ashamed I forced her to attend this place for so long. How I wish she could come home and tell me what they did that made her dread it so much!

First of all, let me say that two of my children attended this school. The oldest was merely a student at their summer camps, the youngest went there from shortly after birth until he started kindergarten. The kids do learn, it is somewhat affordable, and is was close to our home. That’s the reason for the single star… but that’s it.
The staff is less than adequate. Only a couple of the original starting crew remain from when we first began. With the high turnover comes a lot of different personalities. Many of them seem very upset to be there, and are not very tolerant of children. We had three great teachers; Betty, Maria and Amy. Other than that, it was a battle.
The owner is not interested in the parent experience, at all. She is absolutely arrogant and rude… and tends to appoint herself as the person who will judge your parenting, both inside and outside of the facility. She also makes sure to let you know if you don’t hold her in a manner that she approves of. Once again, very arrogant.
Be careful on the pricing as well. It seems very affordable when you start, but you’ll soon notice that they plan functions for the children to attend during normal work hours. If you choose for your child to participate, there will be an additional charge. If you choose not to have your child participate, you must leave work ok the middle of the day to pick him/​her up. That’s right… they can stay in for an additional charge, or they can be picked up. That’s after you have paid for the standard week of care.
And dear lord, don’t ask Runu (owner) about her policies, as you will then have a target on your back. She will find any reason to lecture you, send your child home, or worse. And if you give notice that you’ll be removing your child in a period of time (as required), she will even call you in the middle of the day to come pickup your child or have the authorities notified if you can’t get there in time.
There are much better options out there. I recommend using one of them, and not committing to Willow Bend Learning Center. If the owner is that unstable during her everyday running of the business, who knows when that will become a bigger problem for you.