All children, regardless of how much in day care costs or tuition their families pay, deserve to be treated with the utmost respect. But when we hear about pricey private schools, we often assume administrators are providing them with the highest quality of care.
Not true at the Goddard School in Woodbridge, Virginia, where a teacher has been charged with assault and battery for reportedly biting a toddler after the 13-month-old bit her colleague. And when the owner of the school found out about the incident, rather than report the teacher, she allegedly kept it under wraps -- and told a staff member who had witnessed it not to call cops or Child Protective Services.
Theresa Brown, 24, is the teacher who has been accused of biting the baby as a totally deranged way of teaching him a lesson after he did what so many toddlers do and bit another teacher. She apparently bit him hard enough to leave a bite mark on the child, though it is unclear whether he needed medical attention.
When a different teacher told Nadia Choudhry, the daughter of the owners of the school, about what had happened, she reportedly told the witness not to say anything. She may have kept it quiet forever if not for an anonymous call that was made to CPS the following day reporting the crime.
Brown was released on $2,000 secured bond. Information about Choudhry's bond has not been made public.
The young woman was set to take over the school, which serves children as young as newborns and as old as kindergarten-age, but her parents have wisely issued a statement making it clear she has been fired. Brown, as you can guess, has also been let go.
Since each Goddard school is independently operated, it's impossible to quote an exact tuition cost, but a friend of mine sends her child to a well-regarded Goddard school in New York City and pays about $800 a month. She is extremely happy with them and believes the institution is worth every penny. But it's crucial to remember that a school or day care is only as good as its staff and that sincerity is a quality that you can't buy.
Assuming they're guilty as charged, two bad apples shouldn't spoil the bunch.
Are you surprised something like this happened at a costly private school?
Image via Woodbridge Police Department