PRIMROSE SCHOOL AT STANDLEY LAKE

We've been at Primrose since our daughter was 15 months old (she's now 5) and our son started at 6 months old. I can't say enough good things about this school, this staff, and the admins. The people here truly care about my children and it shows. So grateful for this amazing daycare!

FIVE STARS for Primrose School at Standley Lake!!! We adore the owner Stephanie Branscum who is a fantastic leader and dedicated to the child care industry. Big compliments to Director, Jamie and Assistant Director, Kendell who are consistently kind, friendly and organized :) a pleasure to work with. Thank you to all the teachers who participated in our Play-Ground Theatre, in-house field trip: Nadine, Amanda, Mary, Alyssa -You are a great team. The school is clean, filled with kids artwork and exudes positive energy. Parents considering this school need to know that Primrose School at Standley Lake offers extra enrichment programs for kids to enjoy!!! Highly Recommend.

We started the twins at Primrose March of '24 - They had just turned 2. At first, the school seemed really nice. They're very well organized, which is amazing. They're constantly putting on events for the kids. The teacher turn-over is nonexistent. I've heard such rave reviews about the school. I talked to other parents who were very happy with it. They helped potty-train both of my kids without any major incidence. But this January (so we were there just under a year) the kids started telling us how much they hated school. They didn't like their teachers. The other kids were mean to them (I was signing multiple incident reports about my kids being hit or bitten). My son was telling me he was never allowed to play with cars - his favorite thing. I was witnessing the other kids ripping toys out of my kids hands at pickup. We were stuck in the 2.5 year-olds room, because there was no space to move them into the preschool classroom - so they wouldn't start preschool until at least 3.5. I talked to the teachers and one teacher told me that they avoid taking the cars out because the kids fight over them. The interesting thing about Primrose is that they follow something they like to call "purposeful play." This means that the kids aren't allowed to really pick what they want to play with and explore. The teachers pick 2-3 activities that align with their curriculum and put them out in different parts of the room. My kids' primary teachers actually told me that when there was nothing out that excited my kids, they would wander the classroom listlessly and finally -settle- on an activity that didn't excite them. Art was also very controlled. Right before we enrolled my twins in this school, my daughter started drawing creative pictures like bugs and balloons. After being enrolled in this school, that creative spark seemed to die. She stopped drawing creatively. They told her exactly what to draw and how to do it. At home she started just coloring things in - filling in entire sticky notes or just using coloring books - but she wasn't interested in drawing pictures anymore. This is why the classrooms are so immaculate and clean. The kids are not actually allowed to play. They cannot play with what brings them joy. There is no running at school - its actually one of their 5-or-so primary school rules - to use your walking feet. They try to keep the kids from getting too excited or rambunctious. You know - kid-like. I started touring alternative schools, and multiple schools told me that if the kids are still hitting or biting beyond 2.5, then there is probably something wrong with the classroom. I get it. The Primrose kids are being forced to conform to a box that children shouldn't fit into. I should have known that would be the case before starting when I heard about the uniforms at age 4, but I just shrugged it off knowing that everyone said it was such a good school. We have now been enrolled at a new school for 2 months. My kids actually ask to go to the new school each morning. They never want to go back to Primrose. They are allowed to run around and play and explore. They spend so much more time outside. I can see how much happier they are - and its kind of translated into them being better behaved at home. They're just happier. Fewer melt downs. And the icing on the cake: my daughter has started drawing the most amazing pictures - bugs, people wheels, rainbows, birds, trampolines. They're such beautiful, intricate pictures that it's obvious to me she had it in her this whole time. It's not like she ramped up to this new art. It was a sudden and dramatic change to her drawing the most amazing people. And I fully believe this is because of the environment she is in. She is now in an environment that has allowed that creative spark to thrive. Primrose is not and will never be a place for creativity. It is a fully-defined curriculum. I feel angry at myself for ever enrolling my kids at Primrose. I feel sad for the families we left behind. Primrose keeps the kids in a box. A beautiful box, but a box nonetheless.

The Primrose environment and curriculum provides just enough structure to gently and naturally build smart, compassionate, and respectful kids while also letting them be kids who play and explore! The staff has been so loving and nurturing, as well. Our kiddo loves going to school, and that alone speaks volumes!

Our daughters started at Primrose in the infant room and attended Primrose until they started kindergarten. Everyone at Primrose School at Standley Lake was amazing! It was hard to leave my babies, but I always knew they were in good hands with Ms. Amanda and Ms. Koleen. Ms. Allie and Ms. Ashlynn showed our daughters so much kindness and support during their formative toddler years. Both of our daughters flourished academically, socially, and emotionally with Ms. Denise and Ms. Mary. They were both very well prepared for kindergarten thanks to them. Ms. Cindy was always a comforting presence for our girls. Stephanie and Ms. Jamie were supportive and helpful throughout our journey as Primrose parents. Now that our children are in elementary school, they often talk about the good times at Primrose and want to continue to visit. Primrose was like a second family for us, and we will always be grateful for the kindness, support, fun, and education that they provided for our children.