assistant teacher

lead teacher

director

preschool teacher

maintenance technician

Brightside Academy

Brightside Academy has the potential to be a leading child care provider. The staff is caring and committed, and the coworkers treat each other with kindness and respect, much like a family. A typical day at work is very busy, loud, and messy. Children require a lot of attention and energy, and in my experience, the teachers go the extra mile to give each child a personal experience. Everything I know about children and childcare was learned at Brightside Academy, and it inspired me to pursue my career as a childcare provider and family crisis specialist. My managers were all very caring, considerate, and respectful to their staff, and although a great deal of independence was expected from us, they were always very helpful and encouraging. The hardest part of my job was losing children and their families. Kids get older and move to other rooms, or families move and have to change providers. Sometimes the kids forget you completely if too much time passes before you see them again. The most enjoyable part of my job was the interaction with the children and their families. I love kids, especially little kids, because they are so curious and adventurous. Having the opportunity to help them grow and develop into young adults is very rewarding. Brightside is an excellent place for developing communication and people skills, as well as developing time management and patience.

The people make the job what it is! 

As an Academy Director I assist with helping to motivate and support the teachers during their time in the classroom. I encourage them to further their education. I pick out good in all my staff and allow them to also make decisions around the Academy. Ive learned to not always talk but actually listen to how they feel, and show them that its not just a JOB but I truly care. I am happy to say after so much hard work we just celebrated moving our Academy from a Star 2 to Star 3. Now the teachers must maintain the Star and progress to Star 4.

I would say the hardest part of my job is transitioning upper management. When they change a supervisor above me it always that wonder if the person is fit for the job. I believe that its starts from the top and trickles down, upper management must be just as passionate about the job and this is not always so.

The most enjoyable part of the job is the families whom heart I touch each day! I love the children, and when they come to visit my office on the way out just to give me a hug. Parents trust me and feel open enough to come to me even if they have a personal issue. Its not only about the child but its about the family, sometimes I feel like a counselor but I know its important to support parents also because they are the ones children go home with each day. I also enjoy being part of the Keystone Stars program, this allows us to provide quality childcare the the community we serve.

Worked at Brightside for several years and found the reviews to be true: I was looking for a new job after a week. I only took this job because I couldnt find a teaching job in what I was educated, so I thought I would work here to make a little money while I waited for my true job opportunity. As one of the most educated in the center; two more degrees than my director, I was always passed up for advancement: once by a girl who was the niece of the director who had just graduated high school, and another by a woman who knew the director since they were little and she didn't even finish high school. The pay was ok for me because of my multiple degrees, and was even paid a little more after I refused the initial pay, but it wasn't enough to deal with the uneducated and ignorant staff and parents. Some of the parents who were nice and educated were there because their children were on a waiting list elsewhere. Staff has to clean their rooms. Dusting and picking up was ok, but staff also had to mop and vacuum. The custodian sat in the office joking with he directors, while all of the staff kept the place tidy. Food was subpar, but not horrible. The hours of work were the worst. I worked up to 12 hours a day with no break; up to 55 hours a week. True I did receive over time pay and was able to take home a handsome paycheck, but the stress level was insane. If you can take he stress, hate, nepotism, sickness, and ignorance, this is the job for you.

When entering Brightside Academy, the first thing you would hear were the good morning to you songs or the hello how are you songs coming from the class rooms, I learned standards of nacey and stars, how to create curriculums for the children although i was an Assistant group supervisor, I also created lesson plans, did assessments, and other paper work on the children based off of the standards, I learned how to do some sign language and apply it to the basic needs of each child, Iearned songs and as well as other formats of how children learn on a daily basis, It allowed me to be creative and open, The management was okay for the most part, however some things could have been done better in my situation seeing as how I was there for five years and helped the company pass four out of the five years of me being there. The hardest part of the job for me was being watched like a hawk by the state representatives, as I am a very shy person at first , the most enjoyable part of this job was my abilities to express and create with the children, that was the most fun part of this job for me, being able to do art and have fun with the children.

I worked at Brightside Academy for several years, and while I loved working with the children and watching them grow, the overall experience with the company was disappointing. The job was rewarding in terms of building relationships with students and some coworkers, but there was a serious lack of support from upper management. Despite reaching out to HR for assistance and inquiring about pay increases, I rarely received any follow-up. The compensation did not match the responsibilities, and we were often understaffed, which led to burnout and stress. Breaks were inconsistent, and the workload was overwhelming at times. It often felt like teachers were undervalued, even though we were doing meaningful work. Leaving was not an easy decision, but I had to prioritize my well-being and professional growth. I hope Brightside Academy improves how it supports its staff, because the children deserve educators who are appreciated and empowered.

I learned and grew a lot in my position over the years. It was fun planning and doing work for all the locations.

Some people in management really care for employees and the enrolled families. Others just care about the money and it shows.

The culture at my location was a bit pessimistic. Many employees would gossip and be upset with management but they would stay so that created a negative atmosphere to be in every day.

The hardest parts of my job:

Not having a concrete budget with the constant cuts of programs and supplies to save on money (and make a bigger profit). Also locations in under-served communities can sometimes be a challenge with disrespect and attitude in both parents and some staff. One final thing was lack of work-life balance policies, you are required to use personal time and cannot make up hours you use for appointments or family emergencies. Unfair work from home rules - it was randomly allowed for some and forbidden for others?!

The best part was seeing the completed projects and outcomes. It was great working with some employees who were amazing and truly cared about making a difference for the children in these communities.

Good place to get experience but not to stay more than two years.

There is alot to say about this company however, as it relates to upper management in the coroprate /regional department they are most definitely only worried about making money versus working on issues internally at academies.
They do not provide tools necessary to assure quality care is truely offered
They cut corners only to oepn and do not care about the actual prescence of what they are offering.
They cover up the multitude of maintanence issues just to pass an audit versus fixing issues when presented
Daily AD struggle with no support at all 
AD is left the fall guy of everything
all issues falling on AD with no exception or acountablility to those who supervise them
They should have seperate departments for all things outside of AD assuring quality care is being implemented.
AD are not mantenance, they are not IT etc these issues have nothing to do with education and quality of care
Those who are able to address accordingly should oversee those things
support accross the board should occur as they promote
They do not care about parents nor the children if they did the academies would all present the same: QUALITY

I really enjoyed the downtown location and all the staff I worked with there! I also enjoyed directors meetings and a chance to meet and get to know the other locations leaders! My biggest pet peeves where the lack of organization in a lot of important areas and the uncertainty of stability, meaning they can move you from a location without any explanation no matter your work ethic! Also if you have a problem with your direct supervisor there is absolutely nothing you can do! HR, Facilities and a lot of other roles are constantly changing (High turnover for all positions) due to the chaos of this company and things previous people put in place are never kept up with. The amount of responsibility put on one person is mind boggling and overall I call Brightside a messy place, and it’s sad to say because when I started I was very happy to be apart of a predominantly black company and things aren’t always what they seem. 

As a Lead teacher the management at Brightside Academy provided me the opportunity to implement my skills with confidents and minimal but adequate supervision. A typical day at work was teaching fundamental comprehensive skills to preschool aged children.

During my employment there I have learned the importance of working with the children collectively as well as individually due to the comprehensive level and the abilities of the child/children's understanding and progress.

Although my co-workers had their individual cubicles for the age ranges of the children, we worked as a team to design the weekly curriculum in order to be on an accord with each other.

Fortunately, the job had not presented any difficult challenges.

Finally, the most enjoyable part of the job was interacting with the children and witnessing their progress.

This is the worst job I ever had. being a manger was hard because you are over worked and under paid. Working from 6am to 6pm and not able to collect over time. Also working straight through with no breaks. If they are threaten by you they do their best to try and get rid of you. Nothing for the children. The teachers yell and the kids, yank the children up, and I even witnessed staff cursing at the kids. When reported to the regional director she did nothing about it. There are no benefits for employees. Teachers have no discount  to bring their children. Management does nothing. It would really be nice if Brightside Academy's would shut down. It nothing but a warehouse for children. They do not have enough staff but continue to pile kids in classrooms which forced teachers to work out of ratio. Not enough money for the work, drama, or stress.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Assistant teacher 1 salary reported	$14.93 per hour
Lead teacher 142 salaries reported	$18.78 per hour
Director 57 salaries reported	$43,228 per year
Preschool teacher 1 salary reported	$26.00 per hour
Maintenance technician 36 salaries reported	$14.58 per hour

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