BumbleBeesRus is a daycare facility at 76 Lorraine Street for the Red Hook community and beyond that offers programs for all different types of families. BumbleBees has six locations in Brooklyn and two in Staten Island, but many feel a special connection with the facility on Lorraine Street.
They are a large center with 158 kids and 12 classrooms. They pride themselves on offering a family-like atmosphere and take children from six weeks through five years old.
The facility has been on Lorraine near the ball fields for five years, but the director of this location, Jessica Figuly, has been in at BumbleBees for three years.
“We get to know all the families really well, and we get to really interact with them on a daily basis,” Figuly said in her office. “So we have a lot of families who come back to us. They have kids who grow up and end up graduating and they have another baby and they start with us again.”
One way Bumblebees is special is the many different programs it offers to assist families.
“We have Pre-K for all, we have Head Start, we have early Head Start, we have some private pay families and then we accept two kinds of vouchers,” Figuly said. “We accept HRA vouchers, which are for families that receive welfare, and we also accept ACS early learn vouchers, which are for working families.”
Parents can enroll their children in the facility throughout the year. Figuly says interested parents are welcome to come in for a tour.
“We will give you the enrollment package and really guide you through the steps,” Figuly said.
BumbleBees is open from 7 am until 6 pm, which allows parents to drop their kids off early before going to work.
Another aspect that makes this daycare stand out is that the programs offer involve unique things for the children.
“For example, in our early Head Start program there are a lot of extension courses,” Figuly said. “We have a Spanish immersion class, where a teacher comes in and does Spanish songs and books with the children. We have a music and movement teacher. We offer diapers and wipes for our families, so that they don’t have to provide them on site.”
Another thing that makes BumbleBees different is that they have a playground space for the two and three year olds, and another one on the roof for the three, four and five year olds. Figuly remarked that that is a nice touch for the kids since a lot of daycares in Brooklyn don’t have a playground right on site.
Families send their children from the immediate area surrounding BumbleBees, but also some come from other neighborhoods since they want the family-like atmosphere the facility provides.
The Lorraine Street location had about 55 or 60 kids when Figuly started three years ago, which means they have tripled in size since she commenced at BumbleBees.
“The growth is a lot of word of mouth because most of our families are local, so word of mouth is really big,” Figuly said. We have a lot of families that come in and say my neighbor across the hall, or my friend, or my cousin goes here, so that is how we get a lot of our enrollment, is through referrals.”
