Primrose School of Virginia Beach South

Wonderful school and great staff. My daughter loves the school and I love the curriculum and educational opportunities offered to he children. A++.

I have waited to write this review until now because I really wanted to collect my thoughts and make sure that I was able to express myself clearly so that no other parents have to go through what I did at Primrose of Virginia Beach South.
On 9÷24÷2014 I pulled my son out of Primrose of Virginia Beach South after having a meeting with the owners, Mr. and Mrs. Stryker, to express my concerns regarding the director, Mrs. Arenas, of the school and her inappropriate communication style, nasty attitude and lack of professionalism. When my mother and I arrived for the meeting with the owners they had a general demeanor of annoyance that this meeting was even going to be taking place and constantly reminded me that they only had 15 minutes. Then, when the meeting started, Mrs. Stryker’s first words to me were that she did not know why we were having this meeting and that it was not going to do any good since Mrs. Arenas was not present. That she was just going to have to tell her what I said. (I’m sorry but is that not her job? I read the handbook and followed the proper chain of command as it is stated in writing.) Mr. Stryker at one point interceded to tell me that when he was a CEO of a company if an employee from the bottom came to complain to him about one of their bosses that he would send them back down and tell them to talk to their boss. This left me overly confused as I am pretty sure I am not on their payroll and that I had already expressed to them not once, not twice but three times that I had tried to make things work with Mrs. Arenas, but it is very difficult to have a positive relationship with someone who once told me that «it did not seem like I cared about my son.» And who constantly made my son out to look like a horrible child who was tackling, biting, hitting, throwing, pulling, etc. And someone who calls children «perpetrators.»
Now, I am not saying that my son did not do those things, in fact he was sent home the week before for biting a child and breaking skin which is when Mrs. Arenas and I had another incident where she told me that she «had let this go on long enough», but riddle me this if my son had been such a horrible child then why had they not called a meeting with me? And why did they allow my son to stay enrolled but let two other students dis-​enroll because of him? Not once was I asked to have a meeting with the teachers, the director or the owners. At home, my son is an only child and he does not do the things that they say he did at school, likely because it is just him and I.
However, I called this meeting to discuss my concerns about the director but the owner kept trying to turn it into their meeting to discuss my son. I explained to them, that I would be happy to have a meeting about my son, but that since I only have 15 minutes that I wanted to discuss the director. It was very clear during this meeting that it was going nowhere fast. Mr. Stryker was clenching his hands so tight and shaking that I was a little afraid of him. He even mumbled «sure he does» under his breath, when I said that my son did not do these things at home. I have no reason in this world to lie. NONE. I want my son to be a good man who is kind and loving and if he has a problem then I want to help fix it.
I am happy to say that my son is now at Rainbow Station and has been for a little over a month. In that time he has not had one single incident report. In fact the director came to me and said that she was not sure that she had the right child because everything that I told her that Primrose said about him. The difference between Rainbow Station and Primrose is night and day. I love Rainbow Station and so does my son. He does not want to leave at the end of the day as opposed to at Primrose he was running to get out. He is also happy when I drop him off at school now, whereas when I dropped him at Primrose he was always very upset and clinging to his safety blanket.
Which leads me to another issue, Primrose is severely understaffed which I think is the root cause of why my son was having issues. Former employees (6 employees left a few weeks before I pulled my son out), have told me how at times there would be 1 teacher to 16 toddlers because one of the teachers would have to run out to grab something. Now, I do not know this for fact but I do know that at times when I dropped my son off that there were more than 8 kids and only one teacher, which is beyond the ratio allowed by law.
I was beyond shocked at how the owners responded to me. From an outward glance they always seemed nice and kind, but I was very wrong about them. I thought meeting with them would help to make things better but I immediately pulled my son from the school as they are horrible people, worse than the director.
I know they will try to make excuses for why this post is on the internet and twist the story but anyone is welcome to contact me at any time day or night.

I am so ecstatic that Primrose Schools is finally here in Virginia Beach! My family and I have been waiting for Primrose of Virginia Beach South to open since we saw the «coming soon» sign. Let me tell you about the reasons I LOVE this school!
1) It is a actual school. It’s not a day care where when I drop my child off I know he’s going to be coloring and napping all day. This facility runs as a school and children as young as 1 and a half have a circle time and daily schedule! It’s fantastic
2) The curriculum. I have been to several other schools and seen some of their «curriculum.» Some of it has been amazing and others barely age or developmentally appropriate. Here the curriculum is done by specialists in the education field! I love it! I know that when my child is at school he’s getting the best education possible. I know that every activity has a purpose and helps him reach the next step of his development. They take something as simple as their physical education program (YES PARENTS THEY ACTUALLY HAVE A P.E. PROGRAM EVERYDAY!) and makes it applicable to fine tuning his fine/​gross motor skills or even their music class (YES THEY HAVE A MUSIC CLASS TOO NO EXTRA CHARGE!) helps with following directions while having a blast! They even give you CD’s to listen too with your child! Did I mention they are also bilingual! My son is now in their early preschool program and learning sign language but next year when he turns three he’ll start learning Spanish! These are all IN the daily curriculum!
3) The staff. I LOVE Ms. Thieman! She is superb! My son never wants to leave! Because of my busy work schedule I always have to drop of my child early and even at 7am the staff at the front and the classroom are always smiling. And I love that the owners of the school are there too! It’s like for the first time EVER it’s not just a place to have my child at but in a way it’s my school too! They are so friendly and really do follow through with their ‘partnering with parents’ mantra. I get regular emails, updates, newsletters, and they even send me pictures of my son during the day (on occasion, after all my son’s class is nearly full). I really couldn’t ask for a better home away from home for my son.
4) The Facility. It is so clean and well kept. Their is not a lot of clutter or mess even in my son’s bathroom area which 8 children use EVERYDAY! I also love that they feed my child! EVERYTHING IS INCLUDED! BREAKFAST, AM SNACK, LUNCH, PM SNACK, AND EVEN A LATE SNACK! I didn’t have to buy him a backpack or any sort of school supplies because they supply it all!!!
I know that this is where my son will be from here until they kick us out! Primrose I’m so glad to have you in my families lives!