Kiddie Academy of South Arlington - Permanently Closed

Alyssa K. _{on Google}

Sep 21st, 2023

In todays climate, leaving your baby in the hands of strangers can be daunting. Once I toured Kiddie Academy, the owner put my nervousness to rest. My son feels welcomed everyday he attends and I can focus more at work. The early preschool teachers are smiling and greet every child that enters the room.

Asmaabatea Batea _{on Google}

Sep 3rd, 2023

Kiddie academy was an amazing place. I worked as a sub here, and it was an amazing environment to be in. The kids have so much fun, and I would love to work with them again.

Evelyn Rasor _{on Google}

Sep 19th, 2023

This center is HORRIFIC. The ownership is dishonest and of very poor character. If you care about your childs well-being and safety, stay far away from this place. We started at the center when they opened. It is fresh and clean and pretty-that is the only positive thing about this place. If you dont want an auto ACH draft from your bank account, oh well. ACH drafts are processed randomly throughout the week, and there is no consistency. The director ended up quitting due to poor ownership, and when she did, she sent out her resignation letter to a few parents letting them know all the bad things happening behind the scenes. When we started at the center, we knew there would be some growing pains in the beginning. However, the problems at the center were never fixed and continued to get worse. The owner does not want to spend the money to staff the center appropriately, so she tries to make it work with temps. I received an email on 5/19 that my daughters class was closed because they did not have enough teachers. I had reported the center 2x to the state. The first occurrence was that my daughter had a fever of 103.7, and the center never notified us. When I brought it up to the owner, she did not care. She asked me What do you want me to do? She told me that she just learned of the temp at 2pm and just had not had the opportunity to take my daughters temp to inform us. She lied. It was found out in an investigation that the teacher asked for a temp check at 9:30 am in the morning, and the owner never checked the temp or notified my husband or me. The center received a violation for this. The second time, I had to report the center to the state because my child (15 months old) received a head injury in their care. The incident was investigated, and the findings found that the incident was preventable and that 4 teachers (including the owner) watched it happen. My husband and I were never informed of the injury. The center received a violation for this as well. I even spoke with the owner after this happened, and she never brought it up to me. Due to all the issues, we were on a waiting list for a new center and upon the center receiving the 2nd violation the owner kicked my daughter out of the center with 2 days notice leaving us without childcare. Reported to state Fri 5/12, investigation Monday 5/15, asked to leave Tuesday 5/16 at 7:10am via email last day was 5/18 due to closure on 5/19- lack of staff. She did this as retaliation. This was also reported to the state. Instead of trying to fix the problems with the center, she decided to get rid of my child. This place is so reckless. We had access to their cameras until 6/7, and we left 5/18- which is illegal and violated the child protection act. If you care about your child, run away! Dont let a new and pretty center fool you. it's not worth your childs life. Check the center's violations at the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services website.
I was expecting my daughter to be following an educational curriculum as advertised, which did not happen. Every time I logged into the cameras, all the kids were running around playing. My daughters breastmilk was overheated several times, and 1 time the center actually sent home a deformed Dr. Brown bottle from being overheated. My concerns here were never addressed. New temp teachers daily, no structure or consistency, high turnover. The week before we left, the owner called me to tell me we owned $1500 because she forgot to bill us, fyi we were on weekly ach auto pay (the only option). Im sure I could go on even more, but if you have read this far, Im sure you get the point. STAY AWAY!!!!
Update: The owner of this place shows a pattern of being dishonest. I never asked for a fridge. The center did not have sufficient staff to store breastmilk in another fridge, so she bought a fridge when I refused to move my 15-month-old daughter to whole milk per her request. It's so sad seeing all these fake reviews from new profiles and staff! Gross!

Lesly Jaime _{on Google}

Sep 11th, 2023

Ms Ani is the most amazing infant-baby teacher. She is the epitome of a nurturing loving teacher! She cares for all kids with such patience and love. My baby cries when she leaves the room and gets full with joy when he sees her! My 3 yr old as well loves her to pieces. They have amazing subs that have consistently been in my 3yr olds class, she absolutely loves every single one of them. The moment you walk in you get greeted with a smile by front desk and the owner. The director is as well so amazing! Both the owner and director love on my babies and are always so friendly. School is always clean and toys are continuously being disinfected.
I love that you get live camera access. I get to log in randomly and check on my babies. I have never been worried or seen anything of concern. Every time I watch the cameras my babies are smiling, being loved, and learning.

Tanya Busby _{on Google}

Sep 3rd, 2023

Wow! Kiddie Academy is a charm! I watched it being built and could not wait to check out the state of the art facility. They have an amazing building, playground and the most important part, an amazing staff. The owner is a sweetheart and works so hard to make sure that everyone's sweet precious babies are taken care of. I would see her pop into the classrooms and talk to the children and you could tell that she genuinely cares. Engaging academic activities are always going on. The baby room had a sweet teacher who loved on the babies. The older classes as well. You could tell by the smiles and giggles you hear and see that this is a great place. Coming from someone who has been in the Early Childhood Profession for 40+ yrs. Kiddie Academy is a great blessing for all the families in our community.