Primrose School of Columbus Downtown

We chose Primrose Schools for mainly 2 reasons the accessibility to my work also downtown and the curriculum for its students. But we quickly realized there were so many other reasons to love Primrose schools, especially including its staff. The teachers are so personable, professional, and confident. They can command a classroom and respect the kids at the same time. My kid has been going to primrose for about 2 years and in that time, he has learned to walk, talk, and express opinions. The teachers have commented on how much he's grown and how fun it has been to watch. I have to give a special shoutout to Ms. Morris, Ms. Patrick, and Mr. Blake for always being above and beyond teachers during this time.I have been impressed with the programs and curriculum Primrose has provided. My kid comes home telling me about electricity and recycling, or how plants grow or about a story they read in class every day. He thrives in their academic environment. Primrose has been such a support in my parenthood journey and I would recommend it to anyone who needs an elevated daycare experience.

We love having our daughters enrolled at Primrose Downtown (18 months and 3 months old). Megan and Matt who manage the daycare are always responsive and greet our family every day with a smile. We also have to give a special shout out to Mr.Blake who is THE BEST teacher to our 18 month old. Every day she comes home having learned something new. Ms Hubbard has also been great with our newborns and helping us navigate their development as new parents. In addition to having an amazing staff, we also love that we get updates multiple times throughout the day from their Procare App. The location is in downtown Columbus (right off of 3rd) and they have a private parking lot, so drop off and pickup is a breeze. Obviously there are a lot of options when it comes to childcare- but we recommend Primrose to everyone that we know.

Our child has been going to Primrose for just under 2 years. Extremely happy with her development.Admin staff is strong and does a great job communicating. Teaching staff does a great job connecting and building with the kids.Very thankful for all of their work and looking forward to many more years with the Primrose team.

Primrose is AMAZING! My daughter started going there when this location opened and our experience has been nothing but delightful. When you enter there is a desk on both the first and second floor where someone is ALWAYS sitting to greet you, answer any questions, take phone calls or assist teachers who need something (i.e. special milk for your child). They allow you to have the option to bring your own milk or they provide it as well. Primrose is open from 7am - 6pm and they provide breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack and evening snack. My daughter was 16 months when she started and never had slept on a cot which is what they use in the toddler room for nap time. They made the transition so smooth and kept me up to date on her progress. She is now about to be 18 months and I have started to try to potty train her with the full support of Primrose. Their app is amazing and interactive. I receive an end of the day report that shows what and when she ate, how long and when she napped, when she tried to go potty and if successful as well as everything she has learned that day. Throughout the day I receive pictures/videos of her doing the different activities. They are always painting or doing some great sensory activity. Each child has a large cubby and they give you a primrose bag that is on her own hook each day so that if you need to take anything home or bring anything in its easy to use. Any artwork is put on her personal clipboard and is often laminated to protect it!The teachers are all warm and friendly and are ALWAYS interacting with the kids. I love that they are nationally accredited and are extremely organized. I am so happy that they are a center that goes above and beyond and lives up to their word as great providers!

In my opinion:these people know very little about children compared to other daycares. Don't be fooled by the looks of the place and the cheap "free" backpack that comes with enrollment. Yes, it's a nice building the substance to what these guys know about kids and how to manage behavior is empty. It's not worth it in the end. We have a typical 2-year-old with some biting issues. Whenever he bit, he was pulled out of the classroom and made to wait in the office (Note: The daycare supposedly has a firm policy in that they do not do "time-out"). He was put in what I consider a "time out" from the time he was in the office until someone could come and pick him up. That was easily 30 MINUTES or more every time it happened, leaving a 2-year-old little boy in an office, isolated from the rest of his friends and the things they were doing. By the time we arrived, he had no concept of what he was in the office for. When he bit, we were notified and he would get KICKED-OUT for the day. Of course, we would never have enough notice and have to drop everything we were doing, leave work to come get him, and then watch him for the rest of the day. This experience didn't teach him anything and he probably got the behavior reinforced since he got to go home. We still got billed for the day too. They didn't help with referrals or making recommendations or thinking of anything useful to help. How do you take care of kids today and not know about issues that come up like biting?! To me, that says you don't keep up on CEUs and latest up to date research, you just cling to the "curriculum" you paid for. The only person close to a specialization has a degree in social work...not early education. You pay almost a thousand dollars or more each month for daycare because you need to work and trust that they can keep your kids safe and happy. This place did not do that for us. We don't condone biting in any way- but that is why you pay for quality daycare. We expect a daycare to help us teach our child skills to be successful. We do a great job of giving positive reinforcement and help him manage typical toddler behaviors at home but it doesn't do any good if he is at daycare for the entire workday where we are not in control of discipline and behavior strategies. I don't have control over what happens at the daycare when I am not there. I gave suggestions and at times given quick defensive comments like, "We already do that." Since I didn't see this behavior anywhere else, and can only go by reports they gave me- I feel like something about the way they handle things made this behavior reoccur and escalate to the point of expulsion. I mean, if an otherwise typical kid with nurturing parents, that has no problems at home keeps biting----shouldn't you come up with a better solution to stop the biting? The behavior there vs. everywhere else just didn't match up. Which in my opinion, makes me think it was a problem with them. We initiated a meeting very early on to try and come up with a solution. We were told at the initial meeting that they would work with us, assured us that this was typical behavior, they could handle the situation and they "would not kick him out over this". They tried the same solutions to the same problem and got the same results. Didn't change the environment, try new strategies, did nothing different. We were left feeling like we were the problem so we took our son to a doctor to see if it was an atypical behavior only to be told he's a perfectly normal, sweet boy. We were told "WE WILL GIVE YOU A 2 WEEK NOTICE" if he was going to get expelled; our son got expelled on a Friday morning without a formal prior notice to make other arrangements for childcare. We were told that the motivation was complaints from other parents but we never got to meet with other parents to discuss the issue OR A SOLUTION. I feel like our child didn't get a fair chance to succeed. Even if he had stayed all the teachers and staff already knew about him I think he was already labeled and they likely would have taken the same measures that led nowhere. Instead of solving the problem- it was easier to kick our child out and expel him. When it comes down to it I feel like this is just another inflexible, cookie-cutter franchise where there is only one way to do things and the bottom line is profit. Based on my experiences and opinion, my warnings to parents considering this daycare are: their plan of care may not be individualized past the very superficial appearances, get the conversations about what they "say" they are going to do or "not" do IN WRITING (as mentioned we were deceived twice by verbal agreements), and be ready at any moment to come and pick up your child because they don't have any other ideas of what to do. P.S. The owner wouldn't give us back the deposit we were OWED unless we signed a disclosure agreement to not share our terrible experience. Something to think about when you read their reviews...

I can't say enough wonderful things about Primrose School in downtown Columbus! My son started there at 4 months and we had an incredible experience and only left because we moved. Shannon & Ariel are so warm and inviting and excellent communicators. The teachers are absolutely fantastic--kind, attentive, and truly passionate about what they do. They made such a personal connection with my son, and I could see how much he enjoyed being there each day. My sons main teacher, Mrs Hubbard is a true baby whisperer.The facility is clean, safe, and filled with engaging activities that helped my son develop new skills even at such a young age. I loved the open communication from the teachers; they kept us updated throughout the day with pictures and detailed reports, which really put my mind at ease as a parent.Primrose provided such a loving and nurturing environment for my little one. I'm so grateful for the wonderful care they provided and the special bond they created with my son. I would highly recommend Primrose to any parent looking for a caring, high-quality early education experience!

My girls and I LOVE Primrose! We always recommend it to our family and friends!

A terrible for profit pre-school. Our son was expelled last summer from the Primrose Downtown location for common toddler misbehavior. He was two years old and at the time and had typical biting and hitting issues. The administration expelled him without any notice to myself or my wife. Their actions contradicted statements at the time his enrollment and on-going meetings we had with administration.What a complete different experience after enrolling him at daycare down the street. The administration and teacher focus is completely different. They want to educate and assist in the development of all their students. Their mission among other daycare's we interviewed is about education and leaving no child behind.Our experience has been wonderful after our son was expelled. No toddler develops the same. It has been great working with administrators and teachers that understand that. I'd highly recommend thinking twice before enrolling your child into this daycare which is so inflexible about making any policy changes or having their teachers modify techniques. Guess what, other pre-schools understand the ever changing dynamics of their students and work hard to hard to provide the service needed to support the development of your child.

Words cannot express my gratitude and love for the Primrose School Downtown! My husband and I had little time before moving back to columbus and needed to find a safe and quality solution for child care. Our son had a nanny for his first 14 months of life and his transition into the young toddler room was seamless. The staff listened to our concerns and needs and we felt the school was a safe and educational environment for our son. The building is clean, the staff is professional and the day is structured while maintaining a fun and loving environment for the children. I would recommend this location and school to any parent of a young child where daycare/preschool is needed. Primrose and the staff exceeded every expectation and they became an extension of our family!

Our daughter started Primrose at 3 months. Some of the teachers and staff are excellent but they definitely are overwhelmed and over crowed in the smallest infant rooms. This might be okay in toddler rooms and above but tiny infants need more individualized care. They often combine classrooms so even though the ratio is 1-5 there are around 10 plus babies in a room screaming and waking other babies and needing attention. The rooms are too small to handle that many little babies, you're basically tripping over them to pick up your infant. I have also noticed some staff put babies in wrong cribs and have experienced breastmilk mix ups too. Some staff read the care notes you provide and do a good job, others you have to fight and remind constantly what your baby needs. There is also always someone different in the rooms each week so you have to spend extra time during drop off telling them what your baby needs. They also have began allowing high schoolers in the already overwhelming and crowded infant rooms. Just because the staff is for the most part pretty great, doesn't mean the care is what it could and should be for the money.