Beacon Center for Children356

I currently have children at Beacon and I am shocked to read the negative reviews. We are very happy with Beacon. The place is kind of shabby, but the people are rock solid. Our kids love them and so do we. We have been very involved with the school (field trips, parties, etc.) and all experiences have been positive. The toys are beat up and the bathroom leaves a lot to be desired, but those issues fade when you get to know the staff. I think they're just not big into material stuff. I assume they are putting the money toward teacher salaries and not toys, and happy teachers are more important, in my view. I talked with some other moms who have their kids there and we agree that it is "shabby chic."

It is hard to comprehend where the high cost of tuition is allocated. The facility is run down and teaching materials are dated. There is ONLY 1 bathroom for all the kids and teachers. This creates a lot of problems, not to mention can be very insanitary. This is also a big problem with newly trained kiddies that usually have to wait to use the facility. The teacher turnover is unacceptable. A few leave on a good note, but most leave suddenly with the only explanation from the director is a letter in you mailbox that reads that they have "abandon their position." What does this mean? If you are looking at Beacon, please ask the hard questions: When did the last few teachers leave and for what reasons? What are their credentials for hiring new teachers? And what are the qualifications of their current staff? And just for curiosity sake: how can they justify the tuition?

Not bad, not great review is pretty accurate. My son is in Beacon now; it's average at best. My wife freaked out because our two other top choice schools put us on a waitlist and now we are comitted to Beacon. Even coming from a different area of the country where daycares and preschools are not as insanely expensive as this one, it's definitely overpriced for what you get. The place really is not clean. The other places we applied at had bright rooms with new toys and equipment. I know it's hard to find someone willing to accept bottom-of-the-barrel pay, but so many teachers leave there, it makes you wonder about what it's like to actually have to work there.

My child attended Beacon Center for Children for her entire preschool years. I would have hated to send my child to another program. She learned how to be a good friend, her confidence was strengthened with all of their love and encouragement, they knew her charactor and planned accordingly, fun activities were always happening and my child looked forward to her days with her family at the Beacon Center. My husband and I owe a great deal to the teachers at the Beacon Center for helping us to raise a remarkable indidual! Would I say there is a down side to enrolling at the Beacon Center? No. there are, of course, policies and a time frame for tuition and other things to be due, but that makes a great deal of sense and it is written in their parent handbook. I highly recommend the program!

I would like to address some of the comments that appear here from "Not Bad, Not Great," as well as invite parents to visit our website and, more importantly, to come visit our program. I believe the tour - where parents can meet our teachers, see the children in action, and learn our philosophy - will speak for itself. The Beacon Center for Children has been providing a quality preschool program for the past 22 years. We are proud of our outstanding reputation. We strive to make our application and enrollment process simple and fair. We offer families a space to our program when it becomes available, be it July or January. We are a small program that depends on the tuition of parents 12 months of the year so when a space becomes available, we need to fill it at that time. Once enrolled, children start in one of our three classrooms. The children are grouped by age with the teachers considering the skills, maturity and interest of the children in their planning. We move children to the next group when there is availability, but most importantly, when a child is ready. We always include parents in our discussion of a change. Maintaining longevity among staff is a challenge in our field. We look for kind, creative, mature, loving, experienced teachers who genuinely want to work with children. The turnover rate in this field is high, but we are very proud to be able to say we have a strong base of teachers who have been with us from five to 14 years. I am sorry that the author of "Not Bad, Not Great" left our program unhappy. We try very hard to create a program that meets the needs of families, from the flexible schedules to the open communication between parent and school. Part of any well run "community" is the need to have policies and structure to be followed by everyone. The Beacon Center provides a loving, home-like environment for children to learn and grow to be kind, curious, and confident individuals. Please come visit and see us in action!

There are better choices for private preschools in Center City. Beacon is fine, and if you didn't get your child in anywhere else, I wouldn't worry about it. The facility is very outdated with old toys, ripped dress-up clothes, grungy carpets, and it's a hike up two flights of stairs - not a plus if you have a younger child you need to bring along to the drop off. Their full-time teachers are decent, but the part-time teachers leave very soon after arriving. In the one year my child was enrolled there, five different part-time teachers left; three of them with no explanation - they just stopped coming! I question Beacon's hiring practices. Beacon seems to play games with enrollment, as they did with us and several other families. They'll tell you that in order to secure a September spot, you have to pay for July and August. If you say no, they call around to the other families and eventually find one desperate enough to give in. When your child is ready to move up to the next age group, don't expect there to be any logic to how it happens (or doesn't). The parents who bug them the most and threaten to remove their kids seem to get preference over families who've been on the so-called waiting list to have their child moved up to the appropriate group. In our case, a new family was accepted and placed into the group before our child and others who had been waiting for for months; no rhyme or reason. The director is very bubbly and sunny, but will not give solid answers to anything. Bottom line: If your child falls within the younger end or middle of an age group and you can deal with the wishy-washy organization, your child will be fine there. If not, look elsewhere. It stinks when your child is stuck with kids much too young for their capabilities. Our child was bored stiff. We left there quite unhappy with the experience. For the money, it wasn't worth the hassle for our family.