Very disappointed. Steer clear.
I toured last week and was quoted the price for a January/ February start. I called and was told a price increase had been finalized four days after I visited and I would have to pay a $20-30 higher price for care in January. I explained that I had been quoted a lower price last week and they did not care, but held with the new higher price. I explained in full how we had shopped around and that they had before this change had a competitive price despite the maximum ratios at Heritage. I double checked that they were in no way interested in working with us on the pricing after changing the offered prices on us within a week with no notice. This is extremely unprofessional of them, and shows that it is very much a bulk operation with impersonal care taken in the process of offering, "care," for children and business interactions for parents.
While at the facility I expressed concern that the childrens' bedding was stacked all together in two of the rooms. The director did not seem to think this a cause for hygiene concern.
I asked the director about potty supervision in the preschool room and she turned it around and expressed concern that my child might not be able to potty and wash his hands with cursory or no supervision. This seemed odd to me considering that this age group has just learned to use the toilet, and does normally still require reinforcement and supervision of correct hand washing and toilet use behaviors. While I visited, children using the toilet were ignored during use, and teachers were occupied with other children. I was shown the outdoor facilities, and the director explained that children would use the bathroom as needed outside. With the maximum 15:1 ratio allowed, and one teacher. It was very clear that if the children used the toilet outside they would not be supervised while the teacher was watching the other 14 children on the playground. Although this ratio is allowed, I would definitely be concerned to have my child completely unsupervised in a bathroom outside, while his/ her teacher is occupied with observing 14 other children.
The Director said they had also sent out information to all of their parents that the price had gone up. I would not be especially thrilled to have a surprise increase if my child was already attending, and am in this way glad that I did not sign my child up already. They had absolutely no concerns about how this was done. The director apologized, but said they would do nothing about the situation they had caused.
I described how the ratio was 7:1 or less at Spanish Schoolhouse for about the same price; $663 at Plano ISD staff preschool including hot lunch;$660 for St. Mary's in Sherman with a 1:5.5 ratio; $808 for a private preschool program at The Goddard School with a 1:10 ratio; and there Heritage sat... charging about $800 for a 1:15 ratio... I explained that this surprise change made them no longer competitive locally for teachers who often receive a 10% discount at many preschools. The director said she would relay this to the owner. I made sure she understood how dissatisfied I was with their conduct, I thanked her for calling to clarify, and asked that she also relay my intention of giving extremely poor online reviews for wasting my time, and putting me in the position of having to make a last minute decision about childcare when we had deliberated and shopped for a month.
I am uncertain of the legalities concerning such an abrupt price change, but do not appreciate that my time was wasted in considering the facility as I was comparing what they had to offer at the quoted price and now it is not a fair comparison as it is one of the higher priced I viewed for private preschools with the highest ratio allowable.
This is the bulk discount store of preschools - I would hate for them to treat my child with such apathy as they responded to my concerns with. To quote Tom Hanks in You've Got Mail:
"It's not personal, it's business."
Thank you, Heritage for making it amply clear BEFORE I signed my child up that he would be treated as simply another cog in the wheel, another needle in a haystack... as it was so resoundingly communicated to me through the director's tepid, "sorry," that it is another dollar and another day at the, "learning center."
Please parents, be wise to what they are about at Heritage before your child has to learn the hard way what it's like to be "discounted" as one of the many in a school where they keep the ratios as high as possible, and the prices the same. As far as I can discern, they are counting on busy parents not having time to research and find that while the price may be similar to another private preschool, the classes are kept as large as possible to maximize profits.
I will soon be relaying this information to the BBB, FTC (for my price change concerns), and Texas DFPS local Child Care Licensing Agency to address my hygiene concerns.
