Our family was with Kiddie Academy Bothell for years, and our daughter truly grew up there as part…read moreof the community. Unfortunately, over the past few months, we experienced several concerning issues that caused her distress and ultimately led us to make the very difficult decision to move her to a new school. We noticed a decline in care and communication beginning earlier this year around summertime. One of our daughter's teachers made comments such as "She doesn't like me," which felt inappropriate and insensitive given her age and emotional development.
On multiple occasions, we witnessed emotional responses dismissed instead of acknowledged by teachers, for example, telling children not to cry or using a toy remote to "change" their mood instead of helping them process their feelings. There were also moments of unnecessarily harsh discipline. During one pickup, my daughter ran happily toward me and was immediately scolded by a teacher in front of the class. The tone felt punitive and unkind for a 3-year-old.
We also had ongoing hygiene concerns. Our daughter frequently came home uncomfortable from sitting in soiled diapers, and even after being potty trained, she wasn't always properly cleaned. This led to severe irritation and discomfort, something that is avoidable in a childcare setting. When we brought these concerns to staff, the responses were heard, but later on the issues would arise again.
We later learned that other families had also withdrawn for similar reasons, citing concerns about the disorganized environment, absence of structure, and insufficiently defined teaching curriculum, all of which created emotional stress and overwhelm for the students. To make matters worse, Kiddie Academy refused to refund our $1,000 deposit for the fall term, even though our daughter began the new school year and met their own enrollment criteria before we made the decision to withdraw her due to these ongoing issues.
We've since moved our daughter to Birch Tree, and the difference has been night and day. The staff there are attentive, communicative, and genuinely caring. Questions and concerns are addressed immediately, and their follow-through is clear and consistent. They also provide a developmentally appropriate, well-structured curriculum with systems in place that foster a calm environment and significantly reduce the behavioral challenges many families had previously experienced at Kiddie Academy Bothell. For the first time in a long time our daughter is truly thriving. She is happy, supported, and excited to go to school every day. We're deeply disappointed by how things ended at Kiddie Academy Bothell. What was once a positive experience declined into something that felt indifferent and disorganized, and the lack of care ultimately cost them the trust of our family.