Bilingual Child Care & Education Center Inc

TL;DR: Bilingual Childcare and Education Center once provided strong care, but leadership and staffing changes and the mishandling of a serious safety incident destroyed our trust. The owner’s defensive, retaliatory stance makes it unsafe to raise concerns. My son attended BCEC from 4 months to just over 4.5 years. For the first 3.5 years the center offered personable leadership, long tenured teachers, and engaging classrooms. It really felt like a village. Unfortunately, over the last year, I saw a big change as many experienced staff left, teacher turnover increased, fewer teachers were truly bilingual, and communication deteriorated. Classroom activities no longer included engaging projects, but rather just worksheets and coloring, with children expected to sit for long periods. Without a strong director, the owner, Leah, became more involved. The owner’s tone in communications is defensive and intimidating. Parents routinely are afraid to bring up basic concerns or questions for fear of the owner retaliating. Most seriously, my son was subjected to abuse for several months. I reported it in October, but the administration did not act until multiple parents escalated the issue; the staff member was later removed. Afterward teachers changed without notice, no trauma informed support was provided, and within two months several children, including our son, were placed on behavior plans despite no prior reports. I believe these problems reflect staffing and training failures, not the children. Since leaving BCEC, our son’s current teachers have given him excellent feedback and he’s doing much better. He has undergone a routine therapy evaluation after the abuse incident, as well as a required public-school evaluation, neither of which found behavior issues beyond a trauma response. I am saddened to write this review since we had such a positive experience at the center for the first several years. I hope changes can be made to bring it back to the quality it once was.

Our child started at Roseville location at 9 months old, we moved and then transferred to Mahtomedi. Both locations we have loved our teachers and staff- they make it feel like a family. We feel that our child is well taken care of while she is being exposed to another language and other cultures too. We love the outdoor area at both locations and I also like that they have a dedicated lunch room/ indoor play area. The teachers go above and beyond- we are so thankful for their work and care.

I would give BCEC 10 stars if I could! My daughter has attended the Roseville location for 1 year and it has been an incredible experience. She LOVES all her teachers and they truly love her back. The professionalism, communication, and attention to detail is all top notch. I would highly recommend BCEC if you’re looking for a quality Spanish immersion program.

Our experience at BCEC has been wonderful! Our son started at 6 months old almost two years ago. The entire BCEC team—teachers and admin—go out of their way to show him love and care throughout the day. Our Spanish is limited, but it’s amazing to watch him develop both languages at an early age and we can easily communicate with teachers through their BrightWheel app. The full camera access during the day allows us to see him in his element and gives us talking points for the car ride home. As an educator myself, I have been impressed with not only the curricular activities they implement, but also the age-appropriate structures and routines they have in place. We recommend BCEC for families looking for great care, a community feel, and a bilingual experience.

We've had kids enrolled at BCEC for two years now, and every aspect of our experience at the center has been superb. When we drop off our kids at BCEC, we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are loved and well cared for. Both of our kids positively light up during drop off; they simply love school and the environment that the staff at BCEC has fostered. Our future kids will absolutely attend BCEC as well, and we couldn't be happier about that!