Comments on: BeanTree Learning Day Care Center – Ashburn, Virginia

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 11:59:38 +0000

Teachers are great, however the directors are a joke. None of them even have education degrees! Their communication with each other is rare, as I have gotten different answers from different directors. They don’t seem interested in the well being of students and staff, but more so in receiving tuition money.

Report this review

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 00:56:19 +0000

My child is very happy at Bean Tree in Chantilly. But I do not get the sense that the owner puts enough effort into creating more than a very superficial sense of community that includes parents, children, teachers, and staff. For example, the owner often sends emails through a manager rather than to parents directly. These emails are usually about staffing changes, and rarely about what is happening at the school. So Bean Tree is very hierarchical and rather conventional in that sense.

The curriculum is also not clearly defined. We are told that our child is going to “technology class” and “music,” but what is never explained–and what is not explained on the website–is what the methodology is and what their techniques are and how their techniques and approaches tie into an overarching philosophy outside of simply “stimulating creativity.” It seems to me that many schools value and promote creativity. Bean Tree’s value add is the amount of space, but I have not seen how a “campus-based” environment affects development, so I guess I just have to take their word for it.

Our child is very happy and seems to be doing well at Bean Tree. However, Bean Tree has only been in business for a few years, so it is very hard to evaluate how Bean Tree kids actually fare later on.

Many studies have shown a positive correlation between parental engagement and academic achievement. But the parental engagement piece–creating that real sense of community–has a lot to be desired at Bean Tree. I do not think Bean Tree can afford to rest on its laurels simply because it has the nicest facilities.

Tactically, I would suggest that the owner send messages to parents directly, rather than through someone else. Sending the messages through someone else seems very aloof and inappropriate. Bean Tree should also produce a monthly newsletter containing a statement from the owner, inspiring stories about parents, kids, teachers and staff, suggested reading and media lists, and other information that engenders a sense of community. It could be one page or a hundred pages. I do not think length really matters. What matters is a genuine and wholehearted effort to engage everyone who is invested at Bean Tree in an open dialogue. Bean Tree should also create a much more engaging presence on social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, to share information found around the web that would be interesting to parents and to publish its own content. The school could also offer events in the evenings during which parents can learn about a particular educational or parenting topic.

There is a lot that Bean Tree can do to create a sense of community. I hope that some of these things will be done before my child moves on to K-12.

OVERALL School Rating: 3
Health and Safety: 5
Environments: 5
Teaching Staff: 4
Teacher/Child Ratios: 4
Curriculum: 3

Report this review

By: Love it!

Love it! — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 23:53:37 +0000

this center is…great! I have a seven month old there and we couldn’t be more happy. The teachers are so loving and detail oriented. I could not imagine having my baby elsewhere. The directors know and love each child and everyone is warm and inviting. I also don’t know what people are talking about when they say negative things. I must say that unhappy people tend to voice their opinions more often…

OVERALL School Rating: 5
Health and Safety: 5
Environments: 4
Teaching Staff: 5
Teacher/Child Ratios: 5
Curriculum: 4

Report this review

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 17:56:07 +0000

this center is …Great… We looked everywhere and I was not comfortable leaving our children. I tried Beantree. I dropped my daughter off for just part of the day (I stay home) and I rushed back to get her…. She told me she was not done yet and wanted to stay longer! She LOVES IT. We go to Ashburn location… it is not close to our home but would not change! LOVE IT! LOVE IT! LOVE IT! Not sure what these other folks are talking about. Every parent I have met loves it…. It is pricey but worth it! We are starting our son their too!

OVERALL School Rating: 5
Health and Safety: 5
Environments: 5
Teaching Staff: 5
Teacher/Child Ratios: 5
Curriculum: 5

Report this review

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 15:59:49 +0000

Bean Tree is not the place for any parent who loves their child. The directors are all show. They do not have the child’s best interest at heart only dollar signs. Parents are only told what the teachers and directors want them to know. Behind the closed doors it is a different world while the parents are at work. Teachers are told not to talk to parents in a negative way or to make the remarks in a “sandwich” approach. Say something good something negative then something good again but do not upset the parents to loose their tuition The teachers are under qualified and all the educated, loving, caring teachers who do put the children first have been fired or used their better judgment and left. Over all the owner, directors and shareholders are only interested in their profit margin not the care and education of young children. There are many other daycares/preschools in the area that do put the children first!

OVERALL School Rating: 1
Health and Safety: 1
Environments: 1
Teaching Staff: 1
Teacher/Child Ratios: 1
Curriculum: 1

Report this review

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 13:41:46 +0000

We’ve had one child in BeanTree for over 3 years and another child for a year. We’re at the Ashburn school and love everything about it. We feel very comfortable that our children are in an extremely safe, caring, and educational environment. Our kids have had issues from time to time and found the staff to be fair, balanced, and proactive in how they handle difficult situations. Additionally, all kids are different and we’ve experienced and seen the school go the extra distance to make accommodations. If you are financially able and want your child in a place where you can have peace of mind – Beantree is the place.

OVERALL School Rating: 5
Health and Safety: 5
Environments: 5
Teaching Staff: 5
Teacher/Child Ratios: 5
Curriculum: 5

Report this review

By: Parent

Parent — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 01:56:39 +0000

Overated. The teachers are young and inexperienced, not able to handle young children, and have difficulty hearing feedback, getting requests from or constructive critism from parents. By the way, all children have special needs of some kind – again – immature teachers.

The owner is very unplesant to deal with and unable to admit flaws in the school and teachers. The tactic employed is to blame the children and the parents for the inadequacies.

Recommend looking further before buying this package. A pretty building with a colorful interior does not a good school make.

OVERALL School Rating: 1
Health and Safety: 1
Environments: 1
Teaching Staff: 1
Teacher/Child Ratios: 1
Curriculum: 1

Report this review

By: Disappointed

Disappointed — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 01:47:05 +0000

All children have needs and a pretty building with fun activities does not a school make. Bean Tree is working themselves right out of being a well rounded daycare and school. Its a shame that owners, directors or even teachers might think that children with special needs wouldn’t do well in their environment. The colorful rooms and over-the-top activities are designed to attract the attention of children and stimulate their minds and creative sides. This is exactly what all children need, especially those with special needs. It’s also a mistake for an educational facility or daycare to “decide” that children with special needs would be better served elsewhere. And by the way, all children have special needs, some just have more than others. The truth is that the owner of this business has forgotten that its a business and that parents are clients. When parents approach a school because they are concerned about chaos in the classrooms, teachers that cannot handle day to day activities for small children, too much sugar and carbohydrates in the food, and ultimately the safety of the children, they should be grateful for the notification. Instead many parents are met with a request to remove their child – and this has happened more than a few times – read the reviews. You can bet its not because a child has special needs…its because the facility doesn’t want to be exposed as being incompetent.

OVERALL School Rating: 1
Health and Safety: 1
Environments: 1
Teaching Staff: 1
Teacher/Child Ratios: 1
Curriculum: 1

Report this review

By: Parent

Parent — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 01:29:16 +0000

The upsides are its an exciting and fun environment for children, colorful rooms, music, dancing; computers, Spanish, and basically caring and nurturing teachers. The staff is friendly and the teachers are all certified. Everything is included, food, diapers, ect. , which is convenient. The early and late hours are appealing and the 30 minute transitions from class to class works well for many children.

The downsides are very high fees; uniforms are required at an extra cost, the teachers are young and possess very little real world teaching experience or training young children. Not enough attention is paid to children and life skills are not modeled to the students. They arent teaching self control, manners, and constructive behavior. They dont offer cutting edge programs, specially trained educators, or programs to teach children life skills, and for the price we thought they should offer more. The children seem to run the classrooms and the teachers, not the other way around. Children are given a little too much independence and can get into some precarious situations. Changing from room to room can be a downside, it depends on the child. Food resembles school cafeteria food and there are no alternatives unless your child has a food allergy. The teachers/directors are not open to input from parents, they really only want to hear praise, and shy away from the rest or become quickly offended. It sounds like some parents are treated differently than others and that is a shame since consistency is such a cornerstone in education and childcare. We say do your homework, ask many questions, and be willing to look beneath the surface. We had high expectations and when we voiced our repeated concerns, like some other parents have said here, we were dealt with pretty aggressively by the owner and in fact, we were accused of being the problem. Even though they try to be pleasant (smiling faces at all times) there is little beneath the surface of thier program and its worth doing your research. We eventually moved our child to another school because dealing with them became too difficult.

OVERALL School Rating: 1
Health and Safety: 1
Environments: 3
Teaching Staff: 1
Teacher/Child Ratios: 1
Curriculum: 1

Report this review

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:27:00 +0000

this center is …
a great place to be. Our staff and directors do the best they can to help children of all needs. However, if the directors feel it is better for a special needs child not to continue at Beantree, then its probably better for that child. I say this only because Ive been there almost 5 years. The directors care sincerely about the children—I know this because I work there–im a teacher myself. There isnt any center ive worked at where the directors care as much about the children.

OVERALL School Rating: 1
Health and Safety: 1
Environments: 1
Teaching Staff: 1
Teacher/Child Ratios: 1
Curriculum: 1

Report this review