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I was so thrilled to have enrolled my son at Buckle my shoe - My husband had a few concerns - I called Buckle My Shoe to ask for advice - (my son was due to enroll in September 2011). My husband was concerned about the 3 day program for our 10 month old son - He wanted me to talk to them about the difference between a 2 day program versus a 3 day program. A simple request seeing as we were already excited, and enrolled - a little nervous that our only son, who turns 1 in September would be attending classes at their establishment.
Sadly our excitement and vision was shattered with the insulting and offensive reception I received on the other end of the phone. My request was shut down - I was told that the person that received my call was busy "on the other line", that I had "called at an inconvenient time", that I had "no idea what I was talking about...3 days was fine", ... Someone would call me" back by the end of the week - (keeping in mind I was calling on Tuesday morning), and then candidly asked, what exactly did my husband know about child care?. I could go on with this berating and offensive list of insults.
When I asked if there was somebody else that would not be so rude to me - the offensive call taker told me that she was the only person - and the other person that was above her was the owner - and I could try emailing her - but she checks the directors emails". "So that would be a waste of time". Im completely speechless - I feel completely bullied - and upset that these were the so called capable hands that I was about to entrust my son to. I have since withdrawn my application - and have received notice from the school (via a phone call to my husband) that "there will be no refund of your deposit"" - I will of course be taking any and all necessary actions to get the 3800.00 dollars refunded, this was entrusted to the school in good faith. We in no way provoked any of this abusive behavior - I would vehemently suggest looking deeper into having anybody attend this school. We were genuinely excited about this opportunity and are now greatly saddened by what we experienced.
I am also seriously disappointed by my experience with Buckle My Shoe, and here is my story:
When you apply to Buckle My Shoe the ever so smiling head teacher, Linda, and the other equally smiling, impossibly enthusiastic teachers make you feel so very welcome. Then they fill your head with just how excellent and superior Buckle My Shoe is, because they use the Reggio Emilio Technique, that they are expensive because they hire only the best of the best, etc... The truth however is more sinister...
Buckle My Shoe claims to adhere to the highest standards of education, but many teachers have trouble spelling basic words. For instance, 'bibs' was spelled 'bibes' and 'Dr Seuss' was 'Dr Seuse.'
I pulled my child out after one year, so let me tell you about the infant classroom. The head of the class, Miss Debra, does absolutely nothing, barely interacts with the children and rarely enters their class room. Even though she introduces herself as the head of the infant class, you will learn that you are paying her to sit all day by the front door eating non-stop. Which is probably for the best since her level of education is such that she cannot string together one grammatically correct sentence. I'm not kidding when I say that at times the woman spoke 'street.' Isn't the whole point of 'street' that you learn it on the street, not from teachers in high paying schools such as Buckle My Shoe?! Oh and she's been there for 25 years, so is not likely to be going anywhere soon. And of course you, the parent, are paying high prices to keep her (and probably her union) happy.
The teachers, sweet as they are, seem to have trouble retaining even the most basic information. I frequently wondered why my child had diaper rash after a day at school, only to learn that the teachers were never applying the diaper rash cream that I had supplied. I repeatedly reminded them that every diaper change needed to be accompanied by a generous application of diaper rash cream, yet it NEVER happened. Each day my child would come home with a red butt. I would apply generous amounts of cream, only to send her to Buckle My Shoe the next day for another round of painfully red butt. It was frustrating.
When my child's birthday came around, I threw a party and invited the other kids in the class. No one showed up. Weeks later I bumped into another parent who told me that no one had showed up to her child's birthday party either. It turned out that the teachers had forgotten to distribute our invitations to the other parents! Did they apologize when I confronted them. No. They just blamed one another.
And here's the worst part. Don't bother complaining to the smiling head teacher about anything, as you will quickly learn that you, the paying parent, are the enemy. I shuddered as I watched that sugary smile vanish, only to be replaced by a wall of callous, sociopathic hatred and hard eyes. I was traumatized for days by the transformation from sweet to cold in that woman's face, when I had informed her about all the spelling errors. Her response was "It's just one spelling mistake. Don't be so nasty." Unfortunately I only had photographic evidence of one spelling error (it hadn't occurred to me to photograph prior ones). I did mention that there had been more than one spelling mistake, but she wasn't interested, and was dead set on defending her staff against me, the paying enemy.
After that, I was no longer treated to the sugary smile when I dropped off and collected my child.
Remember you, the parent are paying top dollar for this level of service.
Here's another rub. Once your child is in the school, if you wish to stay a second year Buckle My Shoe expects you to renew your contract in January, knowing full well that other schools start accepting applications later in the year. Speaking with other parents I found that many renewed even though they would rather have the opportunity to wait and try to get into another less expensive school. Of course, no working parent wants to lose their spot in Buckle My Shoe only to later discover that other schools are fully booked, so they sign out of fear. Very clever Buckle My Shoe.
And finally, if, after reading this, you still wish to enroll your kid at Buckle My Shoe, be sure to read the contract. You will get a refund under NO, and I mean NO circumstances. If you suddenly have to move for work, if someone dies (maybe even if you die), your money is theirs from the January of the year your child is due to start. And we all know that a lot can happen between January and September! Perhaps, if like other schools they demanded renewals in April or May, that would be more realistic, albeit less lucrative for Buckle My Shoe.
Finally, note that their contract is efficiently worded to ensure they get your money and don't really have to give you anything in return. Read it! It's all about your obligations, and mentions nothing about their responsibilities to you and your child.