Primrose School of North Phoenix

We had some of our most loved teachers at this school. We attended this school for over two years and for a long time I would have never considered removing my children. Unfortunately the last couple of weeks we attended were very unnerving especially when my son’s teacher was terminated alongside multiple staff members within a very short time frame. With the quite expensive price we paid, suddenly it felt like nothing was being delivered. No childcare center is perfect, but it’s sad when a center takes such a huge nosedive so quickly. There were always question marks, like why this center couldn’t keep a director, but it was overlooked because my children always felt safe and loved their teachers. However when I walk into my son’s class and the teacher in there has no idea who he is or where he belongs (because his was suddenly fired with no back up plan) or when grandma goes to pick them up and they can’t locate my son, we start to feel unsafe. I hope with the large exodus of students there was a somewhat awakening but given staff members are writing reviews to bring the rating back up I doubt that’s the case.

We’ve had a great experience here. They have an app that keeps you updated throughout the day with meals, activities, pictures, and videos, plus updates on bathroom breaks and daily routines. The teachers and office staff have amazing communication and are always helpful and responsive. They also do lots of fun events and activities for the children. It’s clear they really care about the kids and keeping parents involved.

The common theme in these reviews are as of the last few months have changed drastically. If you had asked me 6 months ago it would have been a 5 star school. My rather has been here over 2 years and i hadn't had one complaint until this year. There have been 4 directors in the last year that I can think of, as for teachers they are dwindling in numbers. Administration will say "it's for the betterment of the health and safety" that if all good until the actually health and safety is falling into management and they are dropping the ball. Due to being understaffed there have been 2 instances where my child was in a classroom sick and J was not notified because the director was in a classroom rather than upfront checking messages from teachers to call parents to pick up my sick child. Rather we were noticed from the teacher that they had asked Regina a couple hours ago to reach out. I was told teachers don't get fired they fire themselves, rather I believe it to be happy employees don't leave a happy job. There is no accountability from directors or admissions on why families and children are leaving rather than just blaming the teachers. The teacher who have left or been fired are teachers I knew were looking after my child's best interest rather than that of the business. Business comes before families and children here. Teachers can only be successful when they are set up successfully and unfortunately as a family from the beginning here at Primrose we have now left. You can't make every family happy but the teachers are who take interest in the children and the families and want to get to know the families are the ones that matter to families not always just about curriculum or business

Absolutely would not recommend. We are pulling our child with no notice and just taking the financial loss of paying for the last weeks without my child attending because we do not feel it is good for her to be there. Potty Training: I cannot express how sick I have been feeling with anxiety over this potty training disaster that really has been traumatizing for my child. When we started, we were told eventually hardcore no diaper potty training would come but we would be consulted every step of the way. Absolute lie. We got a message one day that my child's diaper had been taken away one morning after peeing on the potty with zero consulting us. Luckily we had lots of backup clothes. First off, the decision to potty train was made Thursday morning when us as a family physically could not and were not prepared to mimic that at home. This made it confusing for my child. Second, that is a parent's decision, not the school's. My child was not told why the diaper was being taken away in a manner that made sense and didn't know it was to feel when they went pee. They were scared. That weekend my daughter got the flu and was home. After this, they started getting sick regularly whenever we tried to bring them to school. They told me they didn't feel safe telling the teachers they had peed their pants and was actively trying to hold their poop at school. They are now scared of the potty. They also said kids at school were being mean about it and the teachers did nothing. To make it worse, when I picked them up, their pants were wet and no one had noticed and they had been too scared to tell their teacher. When I wrote a message about all this, teacher Mckayla replied saying my child hadn't said any of this to them and explained why my child had to be potty trained. And not a single word was about how traumatized my child got in a week of doing all this. It came across like she was justifying her actions and saying it was on my child for not saying something when any child who doesn't feel safe is not going to speak up. It is your job as teachers to read her cues and set the tone for the class and make it a positive experience. Parents are prioritized over kids. I have seen on many occasions, teacher McKayla stop to talk to me and even when a child asks for her help with something, she tells them to wait and does not follow up with them. She tells me the bad things that happened as if my child is not there. I have talked to other parents who said the exact same thing. Teacher McKayla turns her back on her students to talk to parents. Kids are called out and reprimanded in front of the class. I have watched teacher McKayla call kids out by name in front of the class. It hurts my child's feelings to be reprimanded in front of the class, and in that case it was for something they were mimicking another child doing. Child and human psychology 101 is never call them out like that. Say things like "everyone hands to yourself" or talk to them privately to not make them embarrassed. We were given wrong information every step of the way. We were told when we initially called that diapers and wipes were provided. Not true. We were not told they provided blankets. We were not told my child had to be fully potty trained to move up to the next class until we asked. It took 2 weeks of mentioning things almost every day for my child to be given plenty of water when outside. The first two weeks of school, their water was empty each time we picked them up. We commented and were told the teachers have no access to water outside (which is not true since the director said they should be going to get water). It took us speaking to the director multiple times for the, to actually have a full water outside.

we LOVE primrose!!! we have been at abc montessori, woodbridge, & found our "home" at primrose. we never worry about our daughter during the day because we know she is loved, learning, & having a blast with her friends. besides our daughter loving the school. we find it incredibly helpful not to have to worry about packing food & primrose rarely takes a holiday break (unless it's one of the major ones, which is totally expected). at the other places, we had to pack her meals/snacks & they followed the DVISD schedule & the kids always seemed to be on some sort of break or having a half day going home early. the team is awesome, they know us by name, always interact, they're transparent, we work as a team, they are professional but warm - it really feels like we are family, which us what you need when you're leaving your child in someone else's care. the community the primrose team is beautiful & they often give opportunities to meet other parents, etc so we have put down roots together over the years. hands down, primrose is THE ABSOLUTE BEST - if there is one thing we could change, we wish they went to 12th grade!! (oh, and we are VERY selective & have HIGH standards) 🏆💖🥇