Temple Kol Ami Early Childhood Center

Lisa R. _{on Yelp}

Jan 23rd, 2023

I am writing this review for TKA because my daughter was at this school and really thrived here. Isla began attending TKA October 2021 at 6 months old under the direction of Debbie Glassman. During my pregnancy I had toured many daycares and early childcare centers. TKA spoke to me due to the structure of the classrooms for each age group and the class sizes. My daughter never fussed when I dropped her off, she was always happy when I picked her up. Her teachers showed interest in her development. Karina and Liat were beyond helpful as she was developmentally delayed due to being a preemie. I had had many conversations with my daughters pediatrician who kept telling me that I was a nervous first time mom and everything was alright. Being almost 12 months and not crawling was not ok. Karina had learned of a program called the Arizona Early Intervention Program and told me about it. Immediately I called them and was able to get set up a few months later. During this time TKA changed directors to Nicole Stokes. Due to this my daughters therapists with the Arizona Early Intervention Program were allowed to come into the school and see her in her daily routine. They were able to work with the teachers and other staff to show them how to help my daughter. This along with all of the work we put in at home allowed her to finally begin walking at 18 months with crawling shortly after (backwards, I know). Isla was able to move into her age appropriate class now that she could walk. Moving into the class with her previous classmates and new teachers Raegan and Barbee. She had just as much fun in this class as the last and more as she was now able to go outside and play on the play equipment. She brought home the cutest weekly art projects and continued to thrive with most of her development. Shabbat Fridays continued to be her favorite as she could now not only listen to the music from the buggy, but she could dance. What Debbie started had an incredible foundation and was really brought into a more modern approach under the new director Nicole Stokes. I highly recommend TKA. Sadly, I did have to move Isla to a new school in January 2023 due to her nutritional needs as that is the part we were still lacking. Her new school provides a robust health menu which TKA did not. One day hopefully they will be able to offer this and be 200% amazing vs the 199% they currently are.

Lesley P. _{on Yelp}

Jun 26th, 2019

Beautiful temple with a wonderful childhood education center. Everyone who works in the early education center is kind, patient and loves children. After looking at other daycare facilities in the Scottsdale area, this one made me feel happy and comfortable to send my three month old daughter, who seems to be thriving in this environment.

Maggie H. _{on Yelp}

Feb 28th, 2019

The first (and only) visit to a preschool my family made when looking for a warm, caring environment for my first born was to Temple Kol Ami's Early Childhood Center. When we entered the building, all it took was Debbie Glassman's sweet, enthusiastic smile and confidence in her ability to educate my baby girl in a safe and nurturing environment to make me and my husband 100% sure that the ECC was the only place we needed to visit.Fast forward 10 years to now, our THIRD child is finishing up his Pre-K year, and every day we walk into the ECC we still have the same feelings about Debbie that we had the first day we met. Debbie IS the ECC. She is everything a parent could dream of in a preschool director and more!

Jessica T. _{on Yelp}

Feb 1st, 2019

I've spent a lot of time considering whether or not to post a review here, and ultimately am doing so out of a desire to inform and protect other families following a very disappointing experience. I will not post a surplus personal details here, but will share that after repeated issues in the infant room over several months, many of which were documented with center leadership, we pulled our child out mid-week, with no alternate plan, and never set foot on the property again. It's difficult to recall another time in my life that left me feeling so upset and shocked. What we experienced on multiple occasions was not just unprofessional and careless, but illegal and dangerous.We've had multiple children in multiple daycares for many years, and understand that this is not an easy or straightforward operation to run. In any daycare or preschool, things go wrong, unexpected circumstances occur and things do not always go smoothly. However, there are certain minimal expectations for care that simply were not met here. Examples: missed feedings with no explanation, bottles propped on blankets around a baby's head in a swing, combined age groups, unnoticed bites, failing to ID unfamiliar adults picking up my child, and overall poor communication were just the beginning. I regularly walked in on teachers on their cell phones ignoring the babies, and was offered the wrong baby by a teacher upon pick up three days in a row. That's not a feeling any parent wants to experience.Over eight months I received only one art project and one photo. In contrast, at our other daycares over the years, we've received both art projects and photos on a daily basis.Many of our teachers were wonderful and caring, for which I am truly grateful, but the tone set at the top and the overall lack of commitment to the wellbeing of the children was deeply troubling. If you have an infant I would not recommend this as a place of care, until significant changes are made, and I encourage you to review all State of Arizona reports on this center - I wish I had.

Genevieve B. _{on Yelp}

Dec 15th, 2016

As an Educational Psychologist finding the best early childhood daycare and preschool was so important to me that I began researching schools and centers as soon as I found out I was pregnant. My husband and I toured so many schools that we lost count. However, once we toured Kol Ami's ECC we knew that no other school could ever come close to giving our children the best start in life! The teachers are amazing and most of them have been there for years and years! The curriculum is engaging and developmentally appropriate. The facility is beautiful and stimulating for little minds!We enrolled our soon to be newborn the same day we toured. She started when she was 5 months old and that was almost 7 years ago! Since that day, we have enrolled our 2 younger children when they were infants at the ECC and we could not be happier with the care, love, and education they have received.We have been considered family at ECC since day one! They staff there are friendly and inclusive of everyone. We are not Jewish and they always go out of their way to answer my questions about the Jewish faith and customs! Exposing my children to other faiths and cultures has been a wonderful experience for the whole family! I love that we can incorporate other traditions into our existing holiday traditions! Now at Christmas time, you can often find my children playing dreidel next to our Christmas tree!As a parent, I could not be happier that I found Kol Ami ECC! As an Educational Psychologist, I could not recommend this school any more!