Kiddie Academy of Canyon Springs

My 3-year-old attended this daycare for almost 3 months and in this time his behavior took a turn for the worst. First, we were excited about the engagement we had hoped my son would have, he came home with worksheets to practice writing and tracing, we loved that but unfortunately the screen time allowed in this facility is excessive and was creating issues with his sleep habits and ultimately his behavior at home was becoming challenging we believe to be due to the excessive screen time. During the tour we were told the screen in the room was for educational videos and for music to be played for the children to dance to and sing along with. The daily report provided that my son was watching Jack Hartman for teaching American sign language, but the exposure to screen time far exceeded this. My son was coming home stating he had watched cartoons like Cocomelon, chu chu tv, etc. During Halloween my son started to fear jack o lanterns from something they showed the kids, he was even shown the Michael Jackson thriller video which the teacher claims was an “accident” … after talking to the teacher to figure out what had happened, it became clear that they are just letting YouTube play the next videos without supervising what is being shown. We met with the Asst Director Ms Ashley and the Owner, Dr. Koshi (spelling?) and unfortunately our concerns fell on deaf ears. I wanted to know what the process was for picking these videos that are not educational and why parents aren’t being told what their kids are watching and why their daily report is providing false information on what my child is being exposed to. We even reported that on several occasions when picking up our son as the teachers were bringing the kids in from outside that the teachers were asking the kids what they wanted to watch, and kids were asking for spiderman and frozen etc. On several occasions the screen was moved to a corner so that the parents couldn’t see what was being shown. During thanksgiving they showed the movie the Wild robot without letting parents know this was going to be shown, the film is rated PG. They also showed them how the Grinch stole Christmas the Jim Carrey film which is also PG. I was never consulted or made aware about what my son would be watching or had watched. The use of the screens and the way the administration handled our concerns is very shady, for the price you pay for childcare and with their claims to be an educational facility to prepare children for school I do not trust that they are a good option for families that care about the quality of care and learning. Editting to add I did not create profiles to add additional reviews. This same review is also posted from my accounts on yelp, Facebook and on Nextdoor. The Parker’s household is also my husbands email. And your policy is two week notice to pull him out and that was the soonest I was able to. Thanks.

Words cannot describe my gratitude for our experience with Praveen, Ashley and the whole staff at KA. I have had two children there over 4 years (including after school program from Specht and summer camps) and have seen significant improvement in both my childrens’ social, moral and educational development. We’ve had probably 12 different teachers over the years and each one has effectively communicated via the app, sending pics and overview of the days curriculum. The school does a great job celebrating appreciation days, events and special guest visitors (firefighters, dentists, Bluey,etc). They put on an awesome Christmas program too. I’ve seen some negative comments about Praveen. While he may have a shorter communication style, I know that him, his wife Sairah and Dr.Goshi are a great Christian family who run KA as a family business and poured their heart into their staff development and family relations. Their daughter was in my sons class. As for Ashley, sure sometimes she may not respond for a day but give the woman a break! She is the director of a school with 100+ littles and their parents, the staff AND she is a mom of two herself. As for “too long of nap time” comments, the teachers need a break too! You try corraling 20 preschoolers all day. Myself and other mom friends have only great things to say about our experience with kiddie academy and their devotion to developing our children. Worth every penny.

There is no connection between what was told to us during the school tour and the reality. Our child was exposed to a lot of screen time at the school. The administration promised to handle everything whenever we needed, but nothing was ever resolved. The cameras in the classrooms are used for the benefit of the administrators, not the kids; even when there is a problem, they don't show or explain anything to you. Praveen, one of the administrators, is not a polite person and has no relation to child education and development . Also, the nap times are incredibly long almost 3 hours! This place feels more like childcare than a school.

My daughter started attending Kiddie Academy six months ago. This is my first child that I'm sending to daycare and I found myself very apprehensive. The staff at Kiddie Academy has been patient and kind with both me, my husband and our daughter as we went through this transition. We have found our daughter enjoys the stimulation and experiences. Additionally, I genuinely believe the staff cares deeply for our daughter, as they are always smiling at her and encouraging her independence.