Our Academy

We have a simple mission – To provide families from all backgrounds access to a high quality early educational experience that prepares their children to be life-long learners in an ever changing world. What does excellent early education look like? We’re glad you asked.

• A Challenging Curriculum

• A Clean, Safe, and Engaging Environment

• A Culture of Collaboration & Kindness

• Instilling and Reinforcing Respect, Fun, and Leadership

• Operating Hours That Make Sense

• Locations Close To Your Home & Work

• Individual Attention Through An Average Student to Teacher Ratio of 4:1 for infants, 5:1 for young toddlers, 6:1 for older toddlers

Children are born with the right tools and they are eager to learn – All they need is the right environment to achieve their full potential. Brightside Academy strives to be that environment for you and your child and we’re here to make sure your little one excels with confidence and poise.

Facilities & Amenities

Brightside Academy is proud to offer cutting-edge, modern day facilities that grant your child opportunities for exploration and investigation that stimulates their development.

• Gyms that may be indoor or outdoor that promote purposeful play!

• Creative environments that stimulate knowledge in art, science, and the world.

• Safety-first thought process that includes secure entrances/exits with sign-in journals.

• Janitorial and maintenance techs that keep everything spotless and in working order.

• Education suites that are equipped with everything needed from books to supplies.

Nutritious Menu By participating in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), we ensure that our menus meet the nutrition standards of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In addition to serving your child great food, we teach them to develop healthy eating habits through designed activities.  For infants, we provide:

• Gerber baby food and cereal

• Similac and Enfamil infant formula

For toddlers and older children, we have:

• A healthy morning snack

• A nourishing lunch and/or dinner

Staff & Certifications

Brightside Academy has been providing high level child-care and early education in multiple cities across Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New York for twenty years. We employ over 1,200 people and serve over 7,000 children per day, with over 60 locations. We are recognized by the NECPA (National Early Childhood Program Accreditation) as we take great care in deciding who we hire to protect and teach your children. We strive to always earn the kind of high ratings that state initiatives look for. Adhering to, then attempting to surpass the standards of Ohio’s Step Up to Quality and Pennsylvania’s Keystone STARS programs are part of the DNA of our management’s strategies. In addition to always meeting state requirements and qualifications, we look to specifically recruit management and teaching professionals. Many have degrees in early childhood education, but employing high-quality instructors is only the beginning.  Our entire staff receives additional training throughout the year in diverse and important topics that include, but aren’t limited to:

• Appropriate practices that encourage proper child development.

• Health, safety, and nutrition.

• Deep-dive specifics about the curriculum.

• Lesson planning and individualized instruction.

• Screening and assessment strategies.

• Diversity and inclusion.

• Teacher-child interactions.

• Quality early learning environments.

Curriculum and Activities

Philosophy of Education At Brightside Academy, we believe that children learn through play. This helps them to explore and discover their world, develop self-concept and confidence, and reach developmental milestones. We support your childs play by providing a safe, warm, and responsive environment and access to appropriate learning materials and books. In addition, we believe that each child is unique and special. Emphasis is placed on nurturing cognitively, socially, emotionally, and physically. We provide an array of experiences to meet each individual child’s learning style. We provide a supportive, inclusive, and multi-sensory enlightening setting in which your child’s needs can be met. General Curriculum and Activities  Brightside Academy follows the Creative Curriculum framework. Infants Infants need relationship-based and responsive care as well as nurturing and engaging environments. To foster brain development, infants are provided with opportunities to explore in a safe area with teachers who respond to each child’s emotional and intellectual needs.

Infant Curriculum Study Timeline (Click to expand)

Toddler

Learning is a developmental process that occurs naturally and progressively within stimulating and nurturing surroundings. Fostering independence and language development in this preliminary stage is essential to your toddler’s developmental growth. Brightside Academy follows the Creative Curriculum framework and offers a wide variety of engaging play experiences that encourage growth, creativity, and curiosity.

Toddler Curriculum Study Timeline (Click to expand)

COVID-19 Measures

The current Covid-19 pandemic may have you wondering if it is safe to send your child to our facility for care. Here are some of the methods we use to enhance our health and safety protocols during this time. The following items are an abbreviated list of our new procedures. Please remember these guidelines are to protect your children, our staff, and the community and may change at our discretion.

• Face Masks & Hand Sanitizer: All persons entering the academy must wear a face mask and must use hand sanitizer upon entering.

• Health Screening: All children and staff will have a health screening prior to entering the building and their temperature will be taken throughout the day.

• Social Distancing: Only one family will be permitted in the lobby at a time. Please wait in the designated spot and maintain 6-feet of social distancing.

• Symptomatic Exclusion: Anyone with a fever, cough, sore throat or flu-like symptoms will not be permitted to enter the academy.

• Drop Off Hours: Will now be from 6:00- 9:30 am. After the daily health screening, the intake attendant will safely escort your child(ren) to their classroom.

• Pick Up Hours: will now be from 3:30-6:00 pm. Upon arrival at the academy, a staff member will bring your child(ren) to you.

• Classroom Stability: Your child’s classroom will be stable in that the same group of children and teachers will be together each day.

• Fun Facemasks: We have purchased face masks that have fun animal faces to reduce the fear for your child(ren). Each teacher will be required to wear them all day and will be permitted to wear a face shield.

• Staff Preparedness: Staff have been educated on the Covid-19 symptoms as well as preventive measures to ward off the spread of the virus.