Kiddie Academy of Plantation

Reviews 3

DE

Deon Pottinger

My daughter has been attending Kiddie Academy (Plantation) since July 2015 almost a year ago. We were very impressed with the ratio of teachers to kids, the courteous staff and the cleanliness of the center. She started out in the early 2s classroom where we had an excellent experience. She would love going to school. Some days I had to plead with her to say goodbye to me as she would run to her teachers and friends. In January 2016, she transitioned to the late 2s classroom. It wasnt until then she started crying when we would take her to school and the teachers would literally have to pry her from our hands. A total 180 from her original demeanor in the early 2s classroom. Some days I would pick her up and she would have a bite mark on her cheek, a cut on her nose or a bruise on her face which I was not informed of nor was an incident report completed. Both myself and my wife monitor our daughter on the cameras on several occasions just to have that confidence that she was ok. We witnessed other kids jumping off chairs, fighting and running around freely. This showed a lack of management in the classroom. On 3 separate occasions my wife, having 15 years tenure with the Broward School Board, spoke with both the owner and the Director informing them of her observation and we were assured they would speak to the teachers and that it was hard to find "good teachers". On May 9th, my wife received a call from Ms. Judy informing her that our daughters fingers got caught in the door. My wife immediately called me as it was my scheduled day to pick up our daughter. Luckily I was already on my way to pick her up. Upon my arrival while entering my code to sign our daughter out, I heard our daughter crying, screaming hysterically that her fingers were hurting and that she wanted mommy. I quickly rushed to Ms. Roses office where she was in Ms. Judys lap. I immediately grabbed her and looked at her fingers only to see they were bleeding, swollen and black and blue. Being a first time Moms, I am sure you can understand how frightened and disappointed we were that the people we entrusted our daughters safety and wellbeing in, once again, was compromised and has left a heavy feeling on our hearts. We immediately took our daughter to the closest ER where they x-rayed her right hand and told us there was a vertical fracture in her right middle finger, however they did not have a small enough splint to fit her finger so they recommended we take her to Joe DiMaggio, which we did right after. She now has to wear a splint on two fingers and follow up with an orthopedic pediatrician in 5 days. The story we got from Ms. Judy was that the kids were all on the playground when one teacher needed to use the restroom and asked the 2nd teacher to watch the kids. When the teacher went through the metal door at the side of the playground, our daughters hand got slammed in the door hinge. I am still in utter disbelief and shock that this could have possibly happened as being around children and a trained child care staff, one of the first things you look for is if a child is close (especially their fingers) when opening and closing doors. Again, prior to January 2016, we never had an issue with Kiddie Academy and the staff members who represent them, I just think we got unlucky with this class. Its sad we had to go through this situation.

RH

Rhonda J

Ms. Sun Park- Kuo, you should be ashamed of yourself. We read the both reviews of the school from you and your husband and we understand that the school did not suit your needs. You are wrong for mentioning a particular childs name in your review, not once but twice. This child and their family have the right to privacy. Think about how you would feel if someone spoke about your son and painted a negative picture of your child. I know the parents of this child personally, and both parents are medical professionals who own and operate and very successful healthcare establishment. This child is not the type of person you are indicating they are. These children are a year old. They do not know that certain actions can be perceived as being hurtful. It is a learning process and it is apart of child development. This is why redirection is so important. I seriously doubt that any teacher took your childs arm and twisted it back because all of the teachers are caring and loving. For whatever reason, I feel that you are trying to destroy the reputation of the school and its employees. As far as another child pushing your child to the floor, again they are 1. This is when those actions are redirected to a more positive and desirable behavior. You stated that you saw it on the webcam. The webcam is good but you cannot see faces clearly. How do you know this child was not attempting to play with your son? You did not see her facial expression. My child has been attending the school since January shortly after the school opened and she was also in the same room as your child and I must say that you are wrong in your opinion of the school and the staff. My child went to another daycare in the area that began with kinder and ended with care and the teachers were awful. They spoke broken English, socialized all day, and they did no hands on activities with the kids. My child had free- play time all day long. The school was older and it had older toys and the maintenance was not good. I had to use the restroom there when I was picking up my child and I felt like I was using a gas station bathroom. Kiddie Academy is a beautiful school and the staff is amazing. My daughter is learning so much and she is always happy when she enters the school. The webcams are in place for security and comfort measures for the parents to be able to see what their child is doing throughout the day. The webcam is not there for you to sit by the computer all day and watch and pick at everything thats going on. If you feel like you need to watch your child all day from a webcam, you should keep them at home and keep your tuition youre paying to the school. Next, I have to say that all the teachers, director, Ms. Rose and owner, Ms. Judy are more than qualified to operate this facility. When parents have concerns, they address it with the people that are directly involved. If you feel a certain way, it could be a cultural conflict but I can assure you that the faculty at the school would not let anything happen to your child. They treat your child as if they belonged to them. In conclusion, you have the right to your opinion and I respect that but do not talk about peoples children. You may think youre being a good humanitarian and youre saving some childs life but all youre doing is making yourself look bad. Grow up and be an adult.

DS

DS LEE

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but an opinion should be just that – not taken as a fact or portrayed as one. My son, also in the toddler room - the same room as the previous reviewer - has been attending Kiddie Academy (Broward Blvd between Nob and Pines Island) since it opened in January 2013. I have been visiting the facility since November 2012 and have spoken with both the owner and director numerous times. I must have stopped by at least 10 times, usually after I visited another day care, with various questions and asking to see various parts of the facility before they actually opened. Since this was the first school my son would ever attend, I wanted to make sure it was the best one I could find. I am not sure how the facility the previous reviewer is scandalizing could be the same one I have been sending my son to on a daily basis. This facility has a full, color camera system that comes free with the tuition. You are able to view any area your child may be in, including the playground, all day long. I have taken advantage of this on a daily basis and have had no issues at all. To go a step further, on a day in which another toddler wanted to “play “with my son but my son did not want to, I could see the teacher intervening within moments and redirecting the toddlers attention. Toddlers have their own personalities and come with their own learned behavior and it’s not easy to adjust to a classroom that is a bit more structured than home. In an effort to address this, Kiddie Academy has 2 teachers in the room – even though the teacher-child ratio has not been met. On another occasion, my son was not feeling his usual self and the teacher was literally carrying him around as he lay on her shoulder as she continued to work with the other children. And before I checked in on him again, the director called to tell me he was crying, cranky and not feeling well and if I wanted her to take him out of class and she could keep him in her office for a bit until I could pick him up. These are the type of things that occur on a regular basis – and not just with my child. I have even seen the owner walking around with an infant, trying to soothe her, so that the teacher could tend to the other infants. The teachers are ALL qualified and have their bios posted with their pictures as soon as you walk in the door. You get a daily report that states everything that was done that day, the books they read, the activities, the diaper changes, and any other notes. The teachers are there to talk to everyday. When a teacher is absent – a yes, they are absent like any other person that has a job – another teacher is there. I have never dropped off my son and left him with a person I have never seen and in the case of a new teacher, I was advised about it before the teacher started and they are usually with another teacher the toddlers know to help transition. Kiddie Academy scores extremely high as far as I am concerned. Your child will get personal care, they will know him/ her by name, they will not walk around with snot hanging from their noses or in a wet diaper. Check it out. You don’t have to schedule a visit – just show up and do the walk through and see for yourself.

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