Great Beginnings Early Child Care Center 818 John McNeil Drive, Kingsford, MI 49802

"I worked at this establishment for almost 3 years. I got along well with the staff, but I wasn't impressed with how the former owner ran the business. If you worked 40 hours, you were only paid part time. Teacher salary pay was extremely poor. The former director had paid time off but not teachers who actually has degrees (i.e. Me). What? Why? I waited two years for a raise and it was only 5 cents. It was extremely insulting when you put a lot of work into the daycare. You practically sold your soul to the devil working here. For example, I requested time off months in advance and the previous owner expressed annoyance that I requested two days off. But she had no problems going on vacations and leaving us with not only teacher responsibilities but also manager responsibilities as well. She depended on us too much - she depended a lot on the former director as well. The former director always left her second staff alone with students for a decent length of time. Sometimes it was the legal count. Sometimes it wasn't. The manager and director took advantage of us. Also, the former manager always understaffed the employees. So she placed twice if not thrice amount of pressure for us to get daily tasks done. We weren't robots - we're human. I should also note that one time the previous owner understaffed us and refused to buy us lunch as a "I'm sorry I understaffed you and you can't take your hour lunch break because I don't know how to schedule people, lunch is on me." We were all hungry, tired, exhausted. Don't get me wrong, I loved the events we did for the kids. I loved working there to see the kids. But as for the rest, the previous manager demanded a lot from myself and my previous co workers. I practically lived there. It shouldn't have been our responsibility to clean the entire daycare until 9 pm. That's the owners job to do during the weekend. We were never paid overtime. One time I worked a 7-4:30 shift but I was held overtime until 9 pm to help the owner move furniture around and clean her daycare. I should also note that I had to be back at 5:30 the next day. UPDATE: I also want to address this. The former owner, Angela Bochardt disregarded my and co- workers safety when a drunk father tried to pick up his son. It was left up to me to protect the staff from this abusive man. But where was Angela? At home. I called her for help and she scoffed and made it sound like what happened was an inconvenience. She expected me to take care of it. I wasn't the owner nor the property owner. Angela used me to do herbiddings. She was a crook of a boss. I would have been a better owner than she was. I was close to buying it, but I'm sure Katie used her husband's va loan to get the building (my husband is a veteran so I know how it works). I hope the new owner treats the employees better than the previous owner. I miss the kids and some of the previous co workers. I also miss the atmosphere and the families, but I don't miss the experience. This job is great for college students. I don't recommend working here as a "lifer." You'd be lucky to make the standard teacher wage. Just food for thought."

"My daughter has went here for 5 years and they have always treated her with the most love and care! Would 10/10 recommend this daycare for others!"

"My daughter has absolutely loved her time at Great Beginnings. She adores her teachers and is always excited to go see her friends. Amazing communication to parents in every way, shape, and form. They maintain a consistent routine and provide daily reports. They not only work on age appropriate learning but also incorporate many fun activities. It isn’t hard to see that the staff truly care about the children here. My daughter would have without a doubt continued her care here until schooling if it weren’t for us moving hours away. The standard that Great Beginnings has set in my mind when looking for new childcare in our new area has proven that a place as amazing as Great Beginnings is hard to come by."