Complaints

This profile includes complaints for Yellow Brick Road Early Childhood Development Center's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

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Yellow Brick Road Early Childhood Development Center has 6 locations, listed below.

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  Yellow Brick Road Early Childhood Development Center

  16909 Blondo St Omaha, NE 68116-2302

  
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  Yellow Brick Road Early Childhood Development Center

  2201 Sunset Dr Norwalk, IA 50211

  
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  Yellow Brick Road Early Childhood Development Center

  15808 Grebe St Bennington, NE 68007-8107

  
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  Yellow Brick Road Early Childhood Development Center

  756 9th St Des Moines, IA 50309

  
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  Yellow Brick Road Early Childhood Development Center

  1300 8th St Ste 2 West Des Moines, IA 50265

  

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/08/2025

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  ***** ****** was enrolled as a here beginning in October of 2023. ***** has had chronic constipation issues his whole life which has required support from his PCP. Since he has struggled with this, support with his disability was very important to his father and I. This was discussed with the director at the time, his teachers, as well as being notated on physicals we provided the school on a regular basis. May 2024 we started to see regressions with *****'s potty training, specifically around bowel movements. With *****'s disease he would experience painful BMs that would leave him loss off feeling, bowel control, hemorrhoids and fissures. He has developed a fear of pooping at school while there. He began actively holding in his BMs out of fear of pain, embarrassment and shaming. Over the next several months we had worked closely with the school to attempt to resolve this issue as it was harmful to him mentally and physically. We also started ***** in Physical Therapy for the pelvic floor to ensure we tried all we could on our side as parents. We met with ****** and ******* 2/19/25 to discuss the concerns you will see addressed in my attachments. The next week ***** was in soiled clothes at pick up while having an open wound. He asked the adult picking him up to be cleaned up immediately, and cleaning the dried-on feces resulted in reopening his wound daily. ***** was pulled 3/21 and we alerted all staff that it was his final day. ***** requested we sign a form to end enrollment that was also and acceptance of a $1100 fee. I informed them I would not sign until the fee was discussed. The school requested we meet 3/24 and we asked for a time and place. I did not get a response, and they continued to treat ***** as an enrolled student not showing up. You can see they have sent several messages since our agreement to meet. I believe they intend keep him enrolled until the account charges off to avoid having an uncomfortable conversation regarding this.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 04/28/2025

  Response to Complaint – Yellow Brick Road ECDC Downtown Des Moines
  We would like to begin by sincerely thanking the ****** family for entrusting Yellow Brick Road Early Childhood Development Center – Downtown Des Moines with their child’s care over the past year and a half.
  As detailed in the attached documents, the ****** family registered with us for a start date in October 2023. Yellow Brick Road ECDC has provided services in accordance with the policies outlined in our Parent Handbook (attached), including our established four-week notice policy, which was acknowledged and agreed upon during enrollment (see attached enrollment forms).
  Upon receiving the family’s notice of disenrollment in late March, our billing department was promptly notified. As a courtesy, rather than invoicing the full four-week balance immediately, we extended the courtesy of billing on a weekly basis. Despite this accommodation, no payments have been successfully processed since the notice of termination was given, as shown in the attached account statement.
  While we are empathetic to the ****** family's situation, it is important to note that they were asked to sign the Termination of Care form, which they declined. A meeting held in mid-February could have served as an opportunity to formally initiate the termination process with the required 30-day notice period. However, the family ultimately elected to terminate care immediately, without providing the required notice.
  Our four-week notice policy is clearly communicated in multiple documents provided to families, including enrollment paperwork and the Parent Handbook. This policy is in place to ensure consistent staffing and appropriate classroom planning. As such, it is not subject to negotiation.
  At this time, the ****** family's account reflects a balance of $1,148.95 in past due tuition. No additional invoices have been or will be issued, aside from any late fees that may accrue as a result of the outstanding balance.
  
  Please let us know if any additional information is needed to assist in closing this matter. We are committed to cooperating fully and providing any further documentation necessary.
  Sincerely,
  ******* *****
  Executive Director of Marketing

  Yellow Brick Road Early Childhood Development Center – Downtown Des Moines

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/07/2025

  
  
  Complaint: ********
  
  
  
  I am rejecting this response because: - YBR did not provide what is promised in the handbook. They failed to follow through on 2 Incident reports. One, that resulted in a very skinned up elbow that should have been cleaned and treated. There should have been an incident report for his injury, I never received one and had to take peoples best guesses of what happened at the end of the day. I figured "fine we all have our hard days and toddlers must be hard to be on top of constantly". I let it go and led with empathy to try and see it from their perspective. Then when his grandfather picked him from at a later date, ***** had a large goose egg above his eyebrow and a bit of a black eye. I called the school and spoke with ******* ****** to ask if there was an incident report for *****, they may had overlooked sending him with as his grandfather picked him up. ******* went to ask another teacher for the report, and I could hear her say over the phone (I was not on hold) "There isn't one for ***** ******". Once ******* came back to the phone after talking with the teacher, she informed that "the teacher in the room said she heard some black fall over, but no one was upset so she didn't think anything of it. *****'s entire recount was different than the teacher and requested they pull footage going off *****'s recount of what had happened, and ***** was correct. He was hit by a friend in the (by accident) and hit in the face with a block. It took me almost 1 week to get an answer to that question. The do not adhere to the DHS ratio requirements as evident by the attached class list. There is also a video of a teacher wandering around on her cell phone while out on a field trip and appears out of ratio, she most certainly wasn't paying attention to the children. It has spread through social media as well; I actually had someone send me the video directly because she recognized her as one of *****'s teachers and were worried for me. His physical therapist saw him after the incident where he was being picked up in clothes adhered to him by dried feces, stuck to a newly closed wound on the other side. After explaining his situation with the school, she suggested that his school situation may had been worsening his condition. The only place ***** was having accidents was at school. She suggested we try a break with him changing schools but was concerned about the injuries and trouble healing around the anus, and suggested we take him to his primary to have it examined. To this day he has not had one accident since enrolling in a new school. I had also noticed the current staff was leaving good reviews on Google. That way they can offset the negative ones left after several parents pulled their kids for safety concerns. Even the slew of teachers that left, because they didn't think they were given the tools to keep the kids safe, were bringing transparency to why so many of them left. Every review i see for YBR downtown, it's their current employees leaving positive reviews to try and offset the bad one. I find the entire Google review mess to represent the chaos that is YBR Downtown. I had only placed a stop payment on my account in hopes that could be the thing to get their attention and meet to discuss this in depth. Instead, they continue to send me menus, newsletters, and everything a full enrolled child would need. You can see through my previous attachments; they did not make it easy to communicate. We appreciate your empathy; just hope you chose integrity as well.
  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  ****** ******

  

  Business Response

  Date: 05/23/2025

  We are deeply committed to the safety, care, and communication standards that guide our team’s daily efforts. While we understand her dissatisfaction, we respectfully stand by the fact that our policies and procedures were followed appropriately throughout her time with us OR were followed up on and addressed by the leadership team if timeliness did not occur. 
  Our Family Handbook, which outlines all policies including incident reporting, staffing ratios, and billing practices, was first distributed to enrolled families in October 2023. Updated versions were later shared through both email and our Kangarootime app in 2024. These communications are part of our standard onboarding and annual update process, and families are encouraged to refer to these documents regularly.
  Regarding the specific incidents mentioned:
  Our team did conduct internal reviews and communicated with *** ****** to provide information to the best of our ability, including requesting footage when necessary.
  While we understand the concern regarding incident documentation, not every minor bump or peer interaction qualifies for a formal report unless injury or distress is observed. In the case involving the block incident, we regret the delay and did follow up accordingly once more information was obtained.
  In regard to class ratios, our school remains compliant with DHS guidelines and maintains daily attendance records and staffing logs. The class list attached to the complaint does not represent real-time ratios, which are fluid throughout the day depending on drop-offs, pickups, and staff breaks, and are monitored by our leadership team.
  On the matter of cleanliness and toileting: children in early stages of development may experience setbacks in potty training, especially in new environments. While we regret any discomfort ***** experienced, our team follows health and hygiene policies consistent with licensing requirements. If an isolated oversight did occur, it was not reported immediately, but we wish we had been made aware at the time to immediately address it.
  As to the comments about social media and reviews, we do not solicit or script reviews from staff. Employees, like parents, are entitled to leave feedback about their experience, and many have felt proud to do so. We do not regulate public opinion but remain committed to transparent and professional operations. 
  We understand *** ****** ultimately placed a stop payment on her account. As of now, her account has been cleared through a bad debt credit on our end, and no further payment is due. We hope this resolution, while not ideal, helps bring closure to the matter.
  We genuinely wish ***** and the ****** family the very best in their new school environment.