Rochester Childfirst Network Reviews

After many years of wanting and waiting, our sweet boy Charlie arrived into this world on December 20, 2010. He was a beautiful, joyous baby who met all his milestones in his first year. Around 18 months we become concerned about Charlie s language skills and his high level of anxiety. Charlie was evaluated and started therapy. Although he added many words in his vocabulary, he still wasn t really communicating with us, and was so anxious that leaving the house became nearly impossible.

Although we knew it was coming, we weren t really prepared when Charlie received his autism diagnosis at 27 months old. His team recommended he start a five day a week program, so we decided to tour some programs. At first, none of the schools seemed to fit. Then, someone suggested RCN and all that changed.

The minute we walked in we were greeted with so much warmth and love. One of the first things I noticed was how relaxed Charlie was. The teachers came over to him, asked his name and included him in the class activities. The children too were welcoming. That night we signed Charlie up!

Gradually, Charlie did more than just settle in; he blossomed. When I dropped him off, his classmates would run up and hug him. When I picked him up, he was smiling and happy. He gained the nickname Char-Star from one of his teachers and it couldn't have been more true. This boy who had refused to leave the house was now a confident and happy guy who joined in soccer lessons and Little League. This fall, on his first day of Kindergarten, Charlie bravely got on that big bus by himself without looking back, on his way to his next big adventure.
.
RCN is more than just a preschool to us; they are family. Each person at RCN contributed to Charlie's success, from Wendy at the front desk to his teachers and therapists. They taught us to have confidence in our guy, but most importantly they taught us all to have fun together.

Thank you, RCN, for all your love. We are forever grateful!

This place is no good. For the kids, parents, and staff. Its extremely unorganized. Staff can be mean to parents and kids in the classroom. The directors and administrators are horrible with communicating with other staff and parents. The adminstrators are incredibly unorganized messing up payments with parents, staff schedules, etc. They treat the staff like they dont matter when in reality, the teachers are the ones who are keeping RCN in one piece. They really need a new coordinator who has organizational skills and has experience in teaching to be able to try to make RCN a better place.

The RCN was the perfect place for our son to go to summer camp. After a rocky year in Kindergarten, he needed a place that would support his social and emotional development. His summer in Ms. Tamra's group was 100% positive. We are so thankful for Tamra and the RCN!

Beautiful building very well maintained. All staff are very nice and polite and well trained.

This is not a place you'd want to work. This is NOT where you'd want to send your children.

I was there for about 6 months. Throughout the entire period, I worked with a lead teacher, Caitlin, who was not only unprofessional, rude and passive aggressive the majority of the time, but one who followed the rules at her convenience. In fact, she dropped a child and attempted to cover it up by lying on the incident report (Caitlin stated that the child 'slipped and fell' when she dropped him) In fact, I had to convince her to write an incident report before she became angry for insisting. Though I followed procedure on the child's behalf, nothing was done on the part of the daycare and she was able to keep her position. Meanwhile, she would criticize me for being late and making minor mistakes.

Caitlin also had the tendency to favor certain children and breaking the rules for the said child. It is against company policy to allow a child to use the blanket of that of another. Yet she allowed one of her favorite children to use another child's blanket to stop her from crying. Remember, this is the same person who reprimanded me for accidentally placing child's blanket in another one's cubbie because it's cold and flu season.

We've butted heads a few times due to her hypocrisy I believe this is one of the reasons why she caused me to be terminated. She told the higher ups that I was a physical threat to her when I've nothing to cause her harm. I know this because Lynn, the Director of the Children's Program threatened to "call 911" when I expressed that I was angry about getting fired. If anything, I was angry because 1) I knew Caitlin complained about me to them and 2) this happened on Friday AFTER THEY HAD ME WORK MY ENTIRE SHIFT.

Furthermore, the administration does nothing to support the employees who work hard to make sure those children are safe. Between that, the favoritism, the blatant wage theft and violations, it's no wonder why there's a huge employee turnover. Good workers are leaving (or trying to leave) because of the nonsense that goes on behind the scenes and those who have no business working with children are still there just to get a paycheck. Do I need to tell you that, to this day, there's a former Infant Lead Teacher still working there as a Sub even though she shouldn't be there? While an Infant Lead Teacher, Miss Neraida Vega dropped and injured a baby and didn't report it. The parents called the State and RCN did EVERYTHING to cover up the fact that she should have been terminated.

Yet they're willing to fire me because I'm a "threat."

RCN only cares about money. They don't care about the children or the employees who are still there--unless the employee is a favorite. I urge parents who are reading this to go somewhere else. Your children are NOT safe there. I also urge those looking to work with children to look elsewhere because you will be quitting within a month or so.

This place should be shut down.

Both of my daughters had wonderful experiences at RCN. My oldest daughter went from young toddler to Pre-K with RCN and it has helped shape her ability to accept others who are different and be empathetic to her peers. She had wonderful teachers all the years she was there and comes back to visit as a successful RCN alumni.
My youngest daughter was with RCN in the toddler room, she is now in Pre-K, and Ms. Caitlin (her toddler teacher) is still her favorite teacher. She visits her often and we are still in touch. My daughter's experience with her was very positive and loving. Both my daughters were always safe and well taken care of at RCN.

My son went to preschool at RCN and we loved the program. The teachers and staff really care about the children and are wonderful support for families

My daughter is 12 now, but she went here for preschool and it really helped her come out of her "shell"

Companies tend to say they are inclusive but you see actions that say otherwise. At RCN, I could see and feel the diversity as I stepped in. Staff members always have a smile on their faces and value other member's work. Everybody is willing to help, I enjoy working here! It's a safe place away from home!

RCN has been a second home to my family. We started when my son was only 3 years old (he is now almost 8). I knew that my son needed some extra help, but wasn't sure what he needed or how to go about getting it for him. The staff at RCN was amazing, and most importantly, went above and beyond to help my son. The services that were made available to him through RCN not only contributed to his UPK experience, but have also been instrumental to his life long learning. They were also all available right there on site. With the help of many different teachers and staff members, my son was able to learn not only age appropriate classroom curriculum, but coping skills and peer relationship building skills. As a school age student, he now goes to RCN for school breaks and summer camp. The understanding and relationships that the staff have built with my son are beyond amazing. They truly care for HIM. They see him for who he is and allow him to be himself, while keeping structure and balance, and encouraging him to grow. We absolutely love RCN and it shows that they love our family also!