Briarwood Child Academy is an exceptional daycare!! The teachers go through trainings yearly and all seem to love what they do! They are always smiling and very welcoming and take great care of the kids. For infants and toddlers, they use an app called Daily Connect so I can see what is going on with my child in real time and I can also communicate with the teachers on it. I feel at peace dropping my child off here! read more

Briarwood has been a godsend to this single mom who works a full time job. They are fully accredited and provide nutritionally balanced breakfasts, snacks, & lunches, for a very reasonable price when you shop around. I have 2 kids, one started in the infants room and has moved up to toddler. My oldest started in preschool and now is in the after school program. All of my experiences have met or exceeded expectations. They have a solid leadership group that is committed to providing more than just a babysitting service. There is an educational curriculum at all age groups, and extracurricular activities including music class, sport camps, computer time, culinary skills, a large indoor gross motor room, a splash park outside, and use of the Wide World of Indoor Sports during the long cold winters. They have a nurse on staff who visits both campuses, and the staff is very communicative about any of those unavoidable outbreaks of common kid illnesses. In addition, when my oldest was experiencing some behavioral challenges, the teachers and administration all worked with me to develop a plan that best suited my child's needs. Can't say enough about this place. Pop in for a tour. Tell them Jenn D sent you. read more

Our daughter Layla loves this place! We, as parents, are very pleased as well. The toddler teachers are truly awesome! The owner & vice president are really great as well. We visited a lot of day cares/academies prior to signing up and are very happy, that we chose Briarwood Child Academy! read more

I cannot say enough about what a great place Briarwood was for our kids. The teachers, the director, and all the staff are kind, loving, patient, skilled, creative and super-accommodating. We had a previous daycare that treated our daughter very poorly, and the result was she was untrusting of teachers and acting out. When I came to Briarwood, I had a long talk about her situation with Miss Kelly, the director, and instantly knew that things would be much better here. Her teacher at Briarwood was so loving and gentle that she won her over right away, and turned her whole life around. (Wonderful Miss Ashley, who has since gone back to teaching elementary school.) Our daughter went from a kid who hated school and didn't trust authority to one who is a cooperative, eager learner who looks forward to school and loves her teachers. Our son was struggling with potty training at home, but when he moved into preschool, Miss Kayla expertly got him going right away, and acted as if it were no work at all! Her art projects are unbelievable, too. Our son just loved her! Both my kids LOVED the monthly, themes learning in depth about a different country, an author, a musician and an artist each month. My 3-year-old is still obsessed with Zimbabwe and wants to visit it. The teachers all were great, and they maintain a good balance of free play, structured activity and academics for each age level. Among the many things I love about Briarwood is that they are fantastic and efficient with communication. The kids' art and work came home daily along with plenty of info about what they were working on. Monthly newsletters, email weekly or whenever anything came up. And they make things easy on parents -- you can sign up to have your tuition paid by EFT, so there's no remembering checks every week. Before COVID, lunch and snacks were even included! Never any hassles about when you needed to pick up a kid early or drop off late. I've used daycares that act as though you are lucky they let you use their services, and you'd better adjust to their rules or you can take your business elsewhere. Briarwood isn't like that; they understand that working parents need flexibility, and they handle everything that comes up with grace and kindness. This is not a place where you will be bombarded with notes about every negative thing your kid may have done through the day. They'll tell you what you need to know, but they also understand that kids are developing people, and they are your partner in helping them develop. The facility is awesome. They have an indoor gym (called the gross motor room, and it still makes me laugh to hear my kids say that), TONS of room and large, airy classrooms that are well-lit, well-maintained and stocked with great stuff. In the summer, the waterplay areas are top-notch. The playgrounds are good, too. I would also say the teachers here are more experienced, have less turnover and are just overall much happier than at the other daycares we're been in. It makes a big difference when the staff is happy. The environment is relaxed, peaceful and conducive to learning, and the kids are more comfortable and happier. I am not exaggerating when I say that our experience at Briarwood changed our whole family's life. They gave our kids the love and understanding they'd been missing at their previous daycare, as well as a calmer, more supportive atmosphere. They replaced the constant anxiety we felt with our previous daycare with a sense of peace, since we knew our kids were being treated well and were learning and developing. We left only because we don't live in North Smithfield, and when our daughter started kindergarten, there was no transportation from her school two towns away. It broke our hearts, because we just loved everything about Briarwood. We all miss it! read more

SMOKE AND MIRRORS DAYCARE; Terrible daycare! The only thing that this place has going for it, is the splash pad in the back and the gross motor skills room for the kids. My son was there from three months to three years old, so I didn't feel comfortable pulling him since that's all he knew, Fortunately at one point we couldn't afford it and had to pull him and it was the best thing we did. The girls there have absolutely no training with children, except for the head teacher, which they are barely with. Towards the end of his last year, They put him on a three strike policy, multiple times. On the third strike he would be kicked out. Since I had no back up plan and I am a full time working mom, I did anything I could to keep him there. Which meant sending him to the Providence Center, and I knew in my heart, was not right for him. Those children that attend there have deep emotional issues; which my son is just a typical three-year-old who is a little rambunctious and needed more one-on-one attention and redirection. Long story short the girls there have zero training with children and should be in no means in charge of these kids, their prices are totally outrageous , you are pretty much paying high school/college girls to watch your children during the day with no training. Last but not least, the daycare was not clean, it would smell of dirty diapers every time I would pick up my son up at the end of the day, I never saw them wiping down the tables or the toys. Wait no, I take that back,there were a couple of times my son came home with bleach stains on his clothing. So I'm assuming they were cleaning the rooms down b4 the kids were picked up and not keeping them away from the chemicals afterwards. Not to mention my son was sick multiple, multiple times while he was there. One time he had to be hospitalized. Needless to say, he is now attending a great daycare in the woonsocket area and is doing GREAT! The teachers there couldn't understand why he was sent to the Providence Center.They enjoy his company and said his behavior is nothing but a typical 3 year old who just needs a little redirecting from TRAINED staff! I am a first time mom, so all this was new to me and I thought was normal for a daycare facility this large. I wish I knew what I know now, I would have never allowed him to attend there, let alone let them take thousands of dollars of my hard earned money! PARENTS BEWARE! read more

Our toddler has been enrolled part time for three months now and loves it. The facility is large, including an indoor gym play area as well as a nice outdoor playground. The classrooms are roomy and well organized. They have toddler-sized toilets and lowered sinks to make teaching hygiene skill easier. Each student has a cubby in the hallway for their jackets and change of clothes as well as a folder in their classroom that will contain their art projects or communications from the staff. The teachers are so friendly and clearly enjoy working with kids. They serve meals from the restaurant next door but are also happy to give them any food you send from home instead. There is a free online service they use to provide updates throughout the day which usually describe when they were changed, when they ate, how much, and sometimes even pictures or a short description of their day. They are also active on Facebook with general news and pictures that help parents feel more connected. The director recently changed from Kim to Kelly, and I'm not sure if that impacts some of the older negative reviews on here. Kelly and another gentlemen run this daycare and seem to be very organized, communicative (via email usually weekly), and flexible. At this time I don't have anything negative to say about the facility or staff at Briarwood and would wholeheartedly recommend enrolling your toddler here. read more

We moved my daughter to Briarwood Child Academy a little over a year ago. It was the best decision we could have made for her. She went from being extremely shy with a distaste for going to "school" to a child who is excited every day to go see her friends and teachers. She has improved both academically and socially. Her teachers as well as the other staff at Briarwood have always made themselves available to discuss any concerns I have had or to answer my questions. Even when we moved away from North Smithfield, we kept our daughter at Briarwood. I just can't imagine moving her away from somewhere that we love so much. read more

Don't do it, please find another place. They are ok at best and your kid deserves better, it's in a plaza with a gym so the parking is horrendous, the security is poor as everyone allows piggybacking and there's not always an employee near the entrance to notice, and the gross motor room has a dangerous 2-story slide meant for older kids that I've seen kids sneak past the foam barricade to get to. We started sending our son after a trusted recommendation; they've since removed their child from attendance and have apologized profusely to us. I'd say I'm surprised to see the positive reviews but I'm not, there was a big hoopla about the great prizes you could win if you posted a positive review on Yelp in October and November, even with email reminders. We were given a tour and weren't entirely sold on the place, the teachers dressed like teenagers and did not inspire confidence and the rooms seemed so small, but again we had a trusted recommendation. Our son joined the toddler program. I quickly noticed he was moved from toddler rooms frequently as I'd have to hunt in other classrooms for him at pickup; I did not like the inconsistent teacher/room relationship but this is how they balance the child/teacher ratio - bouncing. They send home a daily sheet for your child, usually, however you cant rely on it we learned. You'll notice it's often a form that's been filled out once and photo copied with names hand written later. I noticed it was inaccurate at times; one time for the lunch it was handwritten that my son ate the snack brought from home - except we did not send him with a snack so who's form did we have? Speaking of food, my son is a picky eater. We supplemented his last daycares menu with snacks but were quickly told not to because he ate fine, despite always being very hungry at pickup. I should've paid more attention there. The meals arent really nutritious, more like what an Uncle might serve. Our son moved into the preschool program. At first we were happy, he suddenly seemed to enjoy going everyday and we actually saw the teachers teaching, not just supervising. A teacher talked to us about his communication, he's behind there, and encouraged us to get speech therapy; wow she notices and cares we think. A teacher says our son hardly eats anything they give him so we start sending snacks, that go unused so we dont believe they were offered. We notice the gross motor room change, it's slammed pack with preschoolers and very chaotic. Turns out they put all the preschoolers together while reducing the number of teachers (as the law allows) whereas toddlers was done in smaller groups of kids. My son was not prepared for this and found it too loud and too active for his comfort, reacting poorly to provocation and an occasional biting problem became regular. The incident reports are poorly done, lacking detail sometimes lacking entire sections. The teachers would tell us a whole story at pickup and it was disappointing that those details werent documented. Just recently we were verbally told that he reacted to being kicked by another child but we were not given an injury report to sign because biting was more severe. We were concerned parents, we started reading books to him about biting and even supplied the school with copies as they had no such literature, we talked to him about it at length, and we did not have a biting problem with him at home or with friends/family. We told the teachers please call us if he's having a bad day, we'd rather pick him up early than have a problem persist; never called. We suggested picking him up before gross motor time to avoid the situation but teachers advised against it, that he'd adjust in time. We asked several times if this repeat behavior was severe enough to have him "disenrolled" and every time told that we'd be advised well ahead of time and we werent near that happening (as recently as last week we were told). What a relief, our second child is due in 2 weeks and who'd want disenrollment sprang on them then right? Except that's what they did today, he did have another incident today. Just like that, no notice or warning, not even a hint from a teacher that the problem was actually severe or action was imminent. I think that's what bothered me the most. Until the emotional reaction subsided and I thought about how we've already started the search to find him a new preschool anyways, they just upped the timeline. We do know we're better off not sending our son there, the flags were obvious. read more

My daughter has gone to Briarwood for 2 years..I can honestly say I love this daycare..The teachers and staff are amazing..They always keep me informed on everything my daughter is doing throughout the day on daily connect..I enjoy the fact that they always do so much..Thank you Briarwood read more

Our son has gone to Briarwood since he was 3 months old. He is now in pre-school and has excelled in so many areas. He is going to be more than prepared for kindergarten and it is because the friendly and dedicated staff that has worked with my son every step of the way. I receive progress reports which I love, because I know exactly what milestones my son should be hitting and if he is. Their daily connect gives you such a peace of mind for the infants and toddlers because you can go on and check to see what your child is doing throughout the day. And I can not say it enough the staff is INCREDIBLE. They have loved my son like he is their own. I would 100% recommend this daycare for your little one. read more

My 3 year old and 15 month old go to Briarwood and we all love it! The skills they are able to learn here are things we wouldn't be able to teach them at home. My 15 month old is more than happy to go to his Infant room in the morning and play with the other babies. They work on letters and colors and shapes, adorable art projects, as well as music and movement, and he has developed so much and learned so much thanks to the many teachers working with him there. My 3 year old learns so much in the preschool class as well! He has learned things like sign language, yoga, Spanish, authors, countries, and I really like how each week and each month has a different theme that the lessons are based on so parents can follow along at home. On top of that they reinforce the basics of letters, numbers, counting, music, reading, etc, and again, they do the best art projects! I also really like how for both kids play and outdoor activity is built into every day. They have really great outdoor play areas for different age groups, a splash park for summer, and a large indoor gross motor/play room for bad weather. On top of all that the meals that are included are healthy and well rounded and suitable for even the younger babies. And all of the teachers that I have met there are so nice, and so patient. I was also very impressed that even just after a month of going teachers I had never seen knew my sons' names and would greet them in the halls as we would come in or out. You can tell the teachers there really care about the kids. We have been nothing but happy with Briarwood for both my infant and preschooler! read more

I love Briarwood!! I have 2 children that go to the North Smithfield facility and they both love it. My oldest started in Infants and has moved up now into the Preschool class. It is obvious that she is happy and enriched by being a part of Briareood. My youngest is still in infants and greets her teachers each morning with a giant smile and a lunge into their arms, which tells me everything I need to know about how well cared for she is. read more

My daughter has been going to Briarwood for quite some time, the staff from admin. To teachers are absolutely amazing, it's a warm welcoming environment for both parents and children, my daughter looks forward to going to school each and every day, academic wise I've seen such and amazing progress with my little toddler, she's actually being transitioned into preschool and the teachers have made such and easier process on myself. To all the girls at Briarwood (pound hill rd. North Smithfield) keep up the awesome work!!! read more

Briarwood Child Academy goes above and beyond for my family. I have enrolled in other childcare centers and everywhere else would just do the bare minimum to get by but charge top notch rates. Briarwood Child Academy is always doing extra special little perks and they are so accommodating. It is so nice not having to deal with a cooperate run center. Briarwood really cares about it's families because the owner and director see them daily and build strong relationships with each of them which is essential in child development. read more

My children have been at Briarwood for close to 2 years & 11 months respectively so I've seen enough to create an accurate depiction of this facility. I'll start with the good (there isn't much good); however some of the teachers are wonderful! They truly care about their students & put their heart into what they do. This is when they stay long enough to make an impact on your child's life. The turnover is insane! In the 2+ years my children were at Briarwood we saw a minimum of 15-20 teachers & 2-3 Directors come & go. This is detrimental to a child as too much change is never a good thing at this age. They cannot "keep" staff as they treat them terribly. The unfortunate part is that management & ownership do not value their employees, hence the turnover. They offer them minimum wage & make them pay for ALL of their supplies out of pocket with no reimbursement. One teacher went without a clock in her room for months! Unacceptable b/c a lot of these women are taking courses in college, are moms themselves & do not make much money. Daily Connect is another positive, when it is utilized. It is an app that connects you to your child's day so long as they update it. They will notify you when your child eats sleep, is doing a project etc. Ownership is laughable & incompetent at best. It is apparent they don't care for the staff or the children and this is simply a money maker. This isn't a Dunkin Donuts! You are making money off of the most important part of a parents' life, their child/children! They put nothing into it, yet continue to open more facilities & ask parents to refer friends. Parents continuously get "re-registration" fees every year, despite our children already being enrolled. We also see an increase in tuition but have nothing to show for it. We paid over $2200 a month for 2 children! They paint the walls once in a while & that about sums it up. One owner is there from time to time, dipping (gross) into a cup & sipping coffee while actively dodging parents & not even saying hello to the children. The other owner claims she is part owner when it is convenient & denies any part in the facility when it isn't. For example, I voiced some concern after WITNESSING one teacher pointing & screaming at my 2.5 year old for coloring off the page & onto the table. I sent an email to her laying out what I witnessed and how upset I & my child (I watched him shaking while she screamed at him) were to which she replied with "I am not the owner but I'll let him know". Not one bit of concern from her of how HER teacher reprimanded, embarrassed & verbally assaulted my child! She passed the buck, but when she's looking for money somehow she is a part owner. She is never there but when she does appear, she shakes things up & not for the good of the children. When my child was repeatedly getting bit by other kids (4-6 bite marks a month), I asked for a meeting with her, she reluctantly replied she would meet with me. The day before she changed the day & time to which I made myself available (I work full time & had to move around a lot of meetings), then the day came & she NEVER SHOWED UP! Instead she sent the other owner, whom once again, sat there sipping coffee & staring at the ceiling while I spoke. Another example of their inability to do what's right for my child is when we gave our 2 week notice that both my children would be leaving. The very next school day, she came in & chose to move my child to another toddler room? WHY would you move my child in his last 2 weeks when he's established such a wonderful connection with his teacher, was actively potty training etc? There was clearly a target on our back. The vast majority of parents & children who started with my child/children have left & for the same reasons we did. After giving them close to $40,000 in 2 years their response to us leaving was "ok, sign a termination paper". They took their money out of our account every Thursday for the following week, our children were clean, well mannered & lovable but we didn't matter anymore b/c we'd no longer be padding their bank account. I will say, their teachers were sad & put together adorable "going-away" projects and we already miss them! Cleanliness is another bone of contention here. Majority of daycares & schools are running rampant with germs which I completely understand; however, never in my life have I seen or heard of the amount of lice outbreaks, RSV, flu & scabies! They went weeks-months with no nurse! They had a nurse proxy on file who was never there but they skirted the issue with the state knowing they'd shut them down. They finally got a nurse months later. I feel this is what allowed these illnesses to keep circulating. Rather than hire a company to come in & clean the facility they asked the teachers to clean their rooms with Lysol & sometimes, bleach?! This doesn't kill lice! Once again, they put nothing into this facility & aside from the teachers it's terrible. Look elsewhere please! read more

Do your child a favor and stay far away. We should have left when one of their teachers physically and verbally assaulted my child. We were convinced to stay by their owner and it was a mistake. After being told by her teacher that she was one of the children that she did not have to worry about, she was transferred to a new class with a teacher who I can only assume is not able to do her job. All of the friends she had in class were put in one class and she was put in another.This is when we were told that she had become such a problem they abandoned her and kicked her out within 2 weeks. This was after we were given a phone number to call by the director for children who are acting out and to help them cope. Turns out it was for children that have been diagnosed with Mental Disorders. Excuse me! They do not know how to handle children. They go through directors like toilet paper and the director they have now is in over her head. I have spoken with former staff members since and they have told me how bad the school actually was and that we are lucky to no longer be there. Keep your kids away. read more

My children have been attending Briarwood since they were toddlers. Now that they are in school we still attend during school vacations. All of my children have developed close bonds with the teachers they have had through the years. As a parent that makes you feel so much better when dropping off your children with smiles and having your kids excited to go to daycare. If ever they are having an off day the teachers are always understanding and willing to spend some extra time with them. As a full time working mom having meals included is a godsend not having to pack breakfast or lunch I can spend more time with my kids in the morning not having to run around. They enjoy going, I love the center and I always recommend Briarwood Child Academy to my friends and family for high quality daycare. read more

I'm confused by the positive reviews on here, as it does not appear to be the same facility my children attended until recently. Since the ownership change last fall (2013) Briarwood has gone straight downhill. They are unable to hold onto qualified staff for any length of time. Out two chlidren went through at least 12 teachers in the 11 months they were there. There were a few really great teachers when we started there, but they have all moved on. There is zero communication between the administration and the parents. Each time a teacher was fired or laid off (more times than I can count) we would find out weeks after the fact through the grapevine, with no heads up from the director or owners. We voiced our concern and were told that they're working on an email list for things like this... someone they figured out how to email our weekly invoices right away though. The ratio of teacher to students is run as tight as possible, one would assume to save money. It is run so tightly that random office staff will be found occupying space in the classrooms (not teaching or engaged with the students mind you, just there) to meet the teacher to student ratio. Most every qualified educator who was engaging and great with the kids has moved on at this point. When we finally pulled the plug and left, the staff was comprised of overwhelmingly inexperienced teachers who visibly struggled with the children, they were overpaid babysitters more than anything else. If this is what we wanted, there are many less expensive options. If you want a pre-school and educational environment for your children, there are much better options in the area with long term staff, who are engaging and able to educate. Our children have been at their new school for less than a month and are happier than they ever were at Briarwood, and so are the parents! Seriously, as one parent to another, don't do it to yourself. Keep looking! read more

Briarwood is such an inviting place. Our son is almost 3 and has been going there for 2 years. I can't say thank you enough to the teachers he's had in both the infant and toddler room. When he first started in the infant room he would cry at drop off, which is obviously hard for a parent. It made it easier when I saw them embracing and snuggling him. He also has asthma and they are very attentive to his needs. He used to need a nebulizer and they were well educated on how to use it and noted if they did use it on his daily sheet. I also love their curriculum. My son came home and I overheard him saying his numbers in Spanish and that wasn't something we had gone over. They have music, culinary, and gym class weekly. The director is also amazing. You walk in the door and she greets each adult and child by name. She is also in the classrooms on a daily basis and not just in the office. Overall we're had a great experience! read more