Vinci School

While impressive with arguably great cost-benefit. I was disappointed. We attempted to enroll our child at the location closest to our home, but was told that there were not slots available. We opted for the center a bit further from our home and consequently more inconvenient. Our son was scheduled for an evaluation process. As our family is bilingual and our child's primary language is not English, we expected a bit of difficulty in interaction and adjustment. The initial engagement and interactions with the staff was pleasant and we were convinced that our child would be nurtured an educated simultaneously (even with the potential language barriers during the adjustment stage). The centers are impeccably clean, pedagogy is top-notch, staff was adult friendly.

What is missing is the sense that the teachers are sincerely passionate about caring for and teaching our pre-school aged tikes. Our child was treated in a very robotic manner, I would even say cold as if he was entering bootcamp. The extreme structure and lack of flexibility may be too much for most 2-5 year-olds who are learning to assert their own independence and urge to explore and learn through play and experimentation. Surely, more structure may be suited for older children, but a pre-school approach must be a bit more flexible, nurturing, and personable especially considering the fact that our family dynamic promotes exploration of limits and more flexibility in a nurturing atmosphere.

If I am entrusting my child to a school, at the tender age of 2, I expect to feel, and be certain that she/he would be be nurtured while being educated. Needless to say, we walked away quickly from Vinci.

Terrible treatment if children and teachers. Would not recommend as we had a terrible experience and our child did not learn how to read.

I would not recommend VINCI to anyone I love. I feel actually horrible that my daughter stayed there as long as she did (5 months). we had a very similar experience that another reviewer had.

Our child was born in COVID times so we kept her home with us for over two years. When we started her at VINCI (Alexandria Fairfax street location), she was vibrant and happy at home but was not at school. not at all. We thought this was due to it just being a hard transition for her, but I began to worry about how she was being cared for. My daughter regressed at school and refused to even get up and walk and refused to speak to or acknowledge anyone, she was completely withdrawn. I was told by Dr. Dan that my child had special needs that could not be addressed by VINCI and that my child needed to see a psychologist. This didn't make sense to me because every day when she got the heck out of that place, my daughter was her happy, busy, running, walking, talking self. It was clearly something about the environment and not about my daughter.

Dr. Dan as far as I can tell doesn't have an education or child development background. The curriculum she created was rarely ever followed. When it came to the learning activities we would be told that our child didn't engage at all or didn't want to do things, but the things described were not appropriate for her development stage at just over two years old. For example, they harped several times on her inability to cut with scissors. The lessons were heavily worksheet based rather than play based. So no my child cannot cut out words and match the words with the parts of a plant. that's not a two year old activity.

Additionally, towards the end of our time there, our child came home with a large bruise on her arm, we were told they had no idea how she got it. she also came home once with a big knot on her head.

Since moving her to a new school, our child has been 100% herself since day one in her new environment. She engages appropriately, she has never refused to walk or talk. She has really flourished.

I can say with confidence though, that the 5 months she spent at VINCI set her back developmentally, and I don't want to think how she'd be if Dr. Dan hadn't done us the huge favor of kicking her out. We have seen a development specialist, and our child who Dr.Dan determined needed psychological help, was assessed to have no development issues and on track overall.

This is a long overdue review. My child attended the Merrifield location of Vinci School but since Dr. Dan is in charge of all the Vinci School locations, people should be aware of how Dr. Dan operates. Dr. Dan lacks true compassion for the children and their parents. She put on a good show, I was very impressed at her open house. However after a couple of weeks, her true nature was revealed. She wanted my two children to leave her school after she concluded my older child most likely had a disability. She made this assessment in the middle of the night by herself. She didn't even have the decency to tell us this in person but in an email. We met in person to discuss the email. We questioned her rash decision. She was outright defensive and said she didn't come to this decision lightly. We asked three other teachers whether they thought my child had this disability and none of them thought it. We asked to see the tool she used to assess our child.

It turned out the tool specifically said to not be used to diagnose a child (see picture for the disclaimer notice). I had a real assessment for the disability completed and the assessors concluded my child did not meet the diagnosis that Dr. Dan came up with. The real assessment is done by at least three members with a diverse set of specialized skills over several months in which they observed and test the child. Dr. Dan should not so arrogantly made this diagnosis on a whim. She put my family through unnecessary distress.

In addition, Dr. Dan agreed to refund my two children's security deposit since it wasn't our choice to leave. When it came time to settle the account. She kept both children's security deposits stating it was policy that she keep them and made it sounds like it was out of her hand. She is the owner and she makes the rules. I also didn't understand why my younger child had to leave as I was told "You have no choice." There were ZERO complaints about my younger child. I think she was afraid my younger child might have this disability too so she was proactive in kicking both my children out.

Aside for the misdiagnosis, this school seem like a good value at first but there are hidden fees. You pay for an expensive material fee but the school would ask you to bring all these art supplies, tissue boxes, ziplock bags, etc. You also have to buy an extra pair of shoes to be used indoors only while at school. That cost can add up as the kids grow over the years. There is also the required uniforms which also add up over the years.

We weren't leaving the school fast enough (it was two days since we were notified) so Dr. Dan had a teacher document a disturbing behavior from my child that was not even true. I felt bullied by Dr. Dan in her tactic. Please stay away from this awful person for your and children sake. All Dr. Dan care about is making money as easily as possible.

Don't bother enrolling your child here unless you meet the following criteria:
-Your child is meeting or exceeding their milestones at ALL time ( I think Dr. Dan only want smart kids to boost her "results").
-Your child is well behaved at ALL time no exceptions. My child was misbehaving due to adjustment problems.
-Your willingness to agree with Dr. Dan ALL the time no matter what the topic as her arrogance cannot allow her to be wrong.

As an educator myself, I can confidently say that this is not a daycare facility that will help your child learn. This is a money-making business for the owner. Her underpaid and undertrained staff is the best evidence for this. I had my daughter there for only two months, and during that time we had several incidents:
One time when I came to pick up my daughter, I found that she had been taken outside for a walk without a coat or even a pair of shoes. Her hands were freezing cold, and she was crying in her stroller, clearly because she was cold. It was 57 degrees outside, but she was wearing only one layer of clothing, while the staffers were wearing coats, as was I.

On at least two occasions, I noticed that Vinci had violated the required child-to-teacher ratio of no more than four or five to one, as recommended by the state of Virginia.

Our child received head injuries twice in the same week, on a Monday and a Thursday. And even worse, when she was injured on Thursday, the teacher did not tell me about it. When I noticed my child's injury and asked about it, the teacher couldn't tell me how it happened.

My child came home twice wearing a different brand diapers than the ones we provided the school, though we had provided plenty of diapers to the school for our child.

PLEASE STAY AWAY! Your child deserves better.

The indoor facilities at this school are beautiful, and they have access to a very nice playground. But don't make the mistake I did by letting appearances trick you into sending your child to this school. There is something very wrong there. The staff turn over is constant. There have been four directors in a year, and the teacher turnover is similarly off the charts. The teachers are overworked, inexperienced, and undertrained, and bark orders at the kids or let a touchscreen or laptop babysit. They are not teaching much of anything, and they do not address bad behavior. Parental concerns are not addressed when raised to management (though they initially pretend to do something), probably because of the constant turnover and too much work. I am desperately trying to find a spot somewhere else to get out of this situation.

What a horrific institution this place has proven to be. During our initial visit my husband, daughter and I walked right into the front door of the daycare. No one was in sight. There was no one running the front office for 15 minutes as we waited. This is an immediate safety concern. Babies were sleeping in several rooms near the front office! Additionally I heard babies crying and screaming at the top of their lungs for 15-minute durations before anyone tended to their needs. How does this place stay open? If you care about your child, do not take them here. These people
do not care about children.

Stay away. Explore other options. Dr. Dan closed the N. Fairfax location providing parents with 3 days notice during Covid. Then, she demanded payment for a 1/2 month tuition even though she already laid off all her support staff off.


http://www.dss.virginia.gov/facility/search/cc.cgi...h_keywords_name=Vinci%20School

The N. Fairfax location does not have a dedicated playground, but parents receive no reduction in fees due to the liability cost savings.

Stay away. There is a high turnover rate for teachers and high dissatisfaction rate among them as well. You can easily sense it when you meet any teacher there. The owner, Dr. Dan, presents the school as a reputable, structured environment, however that is far from the fact. They do not follow through with the curriculum they set forth. Dr. Dan is very unorganized and lacks empathy. They have competitive rates for daycare, but it's not worth saving the extra dollar when your child is in an unsafe environment.

It is not a school to be honest. That's money making business for Dan. she doesn't know how to talk to parents, staff, or kids. I heard her using curse words with a parent. I mean she principally uses abusive language with the parents of her students. Her staff is always being fired no matter what time of the year it is. She fired a teacher who got COVID and was always checking on when she will be back to school and realized that teacher is fully vaccinated and she will have to pay her for the days she was home. She fired her and replaced her with an untrained and nonqualified staff in Kindergarten and first grade. The food she provides the kids is disgusting and very less. If they get the pizza they are not allowed to get another slice. For milk, the teachers have to go to other classes leaving their kids behind. Trust me there's a lot that I'll keep writing. That's the reason she never has as many kids as she's qualified to have in her beautiful buildings. Everyone is being cheated and treated badly here. Don't get your kids admitted here they are not loved. Don't work as you'll never get what you'll be promised to get. Just run and stay away from horrible VINCI