Academy For Kids

03/06/09

Great child care

by mydl at Citysearch

Academy for Kids provides a safe and caring environment for children. They were recommended to me from two separate friends. One of my friends daughters is now a teen and still speaks very highly of Miss Teresa and the Academy. Miss Teresa helps the children learn about responsibility through her "child elected government". She has organized plays and activities and allowed the children quiet time to work on homework. At one point my son was having difficulty with another child. I spoke to Miss Teresa who was very quick to address it. She doesn't tolerate "bully" behavior. I never had a problem after that day. She also checked in with me for several weeks after to make sure there were no reoccurrences or retaliation. I cannot say enough about how well the staff take care of the children. Nancy the director is very kind and thoughtful and explains everything clearly in the beginning so there are surprises. Nancy wrote a wonderful recommendation to the school board to help me with a transfer. I was in the middle of selling a house and the kids would have to transfer after two weeks to a month. She and all the staff really worked hard to help my children start one school to have stability. This is a wonderful environment for children.

04/30/09

Love it here!

by CSMobileUser at Citysearch

My children have been attending this day care since my son was 3 months old (he is now starting kindergarten), my daughter is 18 months old. The staff genuinely care and love working with kids. ANYTIME I have had a question or concern the owner and I have talked it through and come up with solutions. I will be very sad when my children are too old to attend here anymore. Remember when picking a care facility that you also have to put forth effort and communicate your expectation clearly. This facility and staff WILL work with you!

03/03/09

Properly supervised

by lovebear at Citysearch

The care received at Academy for kid is wonderful. The program that Ms. Teresa has put together is like no other. She tries very hard to put fun and exciting activities together and keep the cost to a minimum. That is a hard task to accomplish. Daycare is not cheap. I am very thankful to have this staff surrounding my family. They treat all of us with the most respect there is. My son loves everyone of them and we love them too. Keep up the good work!

• Pros: wonderful staff

02/25/09

Caring teachers, Happy kids!

by contentkids at Citysearch

We would love to share our families wonderful experience at Academy for Kids. Our children have attended Academy for Kids for nearly 4 years. Our son started as an infant and is now thriving in the preschool program. The preschool program offers a strong academic focus that is perfectly age appropriate. Our son has learned all of his letters, letter-sounds, colors and numbers! He is now beginnig to write and comes home with wonderful art activities and projects. He enjoys going to school and is always treated with love and caring guidance. In the school-age program, our daughter has a safe and fun place to go after school. The head teacher Ms.Teresa, is a loving person, always ready with a smile and big hug for the kids. She provides wonderful opportunities for the kids to to be involved in crafts, projects, student government and fundraisers that build leadership skills. She also directs a yearly musical program for the entire school (all ages)! She and the other staff members go above and beyond other after-school programs we've seen. To dispel any concerns a family may have, our children have always been closely supervised (as appropriate for their age) and provided care when they have received a bump or bruise..that happens with kids! To imagine that any teacher at Academy would not provide care to a child or that any child could be "yelled at" or "berated" by another parent or adult in a classroom with teachers present is absurd. We highly recommend Academy for Kids!

• Pros: Trained staff, modern facilities, strong curriculum
• Cons: Prices may be higher compared to some daycare, but not for equal facilities in the area

02/25/09

Good Care

by tadc at Citysearch

The staff are very caring and provide a safe environment for the children. It outs my mind at eaze to know that they are safe and loved. They have some learning programs in place and the children are placed appropriately. There should be a better program for the school age children, more struture. My kids do love going there and they have made lots of friends.

• Pros: wonderful caring staff

02/21/09

Academy is a great place

by trustingparent at Citysearch

I am appalled after reading review from reading lady.....First of all if you had all these issues going on why did you stay 2 years?.....Did you ever discuss any of these issues with them?.......It seems to me that you were just upset that you had to give a 30 day notice like everyone else....Also i know for a fact that when it is more than 30 children they have 3 teachers i have counted.....Also Ms.Teresa does a wonderful job with them she has created many programs and is always involved. KATU news was out when they had a pink sale for breast cancer and he was amazed at her program....She shows her love for them always and always has a positive attitude.I I know your daughter and i know she loved academy its too bad that you have chosen to slam it because you were ready to leave.What are you teaching your daughter? She has to grow up.WE LOVE ACADEMY WE LOVE MS.TERESA.....Keep doing what you are doing. you are awesome

• Pros: everything
• Cons: none

02/21/09

We love Academy

by BellesMomma at Citysearch

Teresa, the primary teacher for the school age kids, has developed a program that includes:

? Quiet Time ~ an hour in which every child has to be sitting down (or laying down, if they choose) and being quiet. It?s a chance for kids to get homework done ~ or read a book ~ or just rest. As a single parent whose child is involved in lots of extra-curricular activities, this has been a life saver. With the amount of homework that kids have these days ~ there?s no way that kids whose parents work until 5:00 pm can be involved in sports, do homework after they get home and still get to bed at a decent hour.

? Class Government ~ The kids elect their own ?officials?. Mayors, councilmen, President, Vice-President, etc

? Part of this government includes the ?court? that another reviewer referred to. Quite contrary to the picture that she painted ~ this is a situation where the kids are taught the concept of accountability. They learn that there are consequences for their choices. Sure, nobody likes consequences ~ but face it, they are a fact of life and a great lesson. My child was sent to court a couple of years ago. She was found guilty and her consequence was that she couldn?t draw during quiet time for 3 days. The box that the other reviewer referred to? It was a great big cardboard box that the kids had all been playing in ~ making a space ship.

? Reading Across America ~ Kids get credit for a mile for every minute they spend reading. They track how fast they can get from Portland, Oregon to Portland, Maine and back again.

? Field trips ~ The summer program is chalk full of field trips. Weekly trips to the movie theater for $5. Bowling, zoo, golfing, lunches, swimming, baseball games at PGE Park.

? Fund raisers ~ Ms. Teresa organized a huge sale to raise money for breast cancer research. The Pink Sale was a huge success. The kids & their teachers, made hundreds of different items to be sold. They raised over $700 for charity.

02/21/09

sour grapes from "readinglady" ~ Academy is AMAZING!!!!!!

by Luck131313 at Citysearch

I have never written a review for anything. However, after reading the post from ?readinglady? I felt compelled to give a more accurate view of Academy for Kids. The information provided by ?readinglady? is, if not outright inaccurate ~ at the very least tainted by a parent who, prior to this incident with another childs parent, had nothing but rave reviews and good things to say about Academy. It?s unfortunate that her issue with needing to give the required 30 day notice (which is clearly stated when you register your child) caused her to cast a negative light on a wonderful program.

While the activities are beyond my expectations, they pale when compared to the level of care and love that the kids get from their teachers. Ms. Teresa and Ms. Sherry both love those kids to pieces. When ?readinglady? refers to the teachers sitting down and chatting ~ this is partially true. There are tables in the middle of the room. The room is large. The tables, and therefore the teachers, are centrally located so that they can see the entire room and keep an eye on what?s going on. They?re not huddled in a corner, ignoring the kids. Again, these are NOT little kids. They do not want/need the teacher(s) to be involved in everything they do. They are independent kids. They enjoy hanging out with their friends.

Bottom line? Academy is a wonderful place and my child will continue to attend.

(see the rest of my review under BellesMomma)

• Pros: love ~ structure ~ activities ~ programs
• Cons: childcare is not cheap, Academy is no different in that way

02/17/09

Not What They Appear to be

by readinglady at Citysearch

My children attended this daycare for two years. They are school age and only spent a few hours each day. I was told the kids would get a snack and home work help before I picked them up at 4:00pm.

Every time I came to get them I noticed the room was full of kids 40+ with two adults. The adults were ALWAYS sitting down and chatting. The kids were spread out all over the room. Several times when I arrived the children were having a "Mock Trial" there were children in "jail" and being brought up on "charges." Those children were put into a box and told to remain there sometimes with the lid closed.

On several occasions I was told when I arrived that my children had been injured during rough play. The kids were not given any first aide. Nor did the attendants have a first aide kit with them outdoors.

The last straw was when my child was trying to help a younger child find their belongings in an over crowded area and the mother of that child yelled at mine in frustration. No aduts were present and this parent berated my kid. No apology was made to my child and she felt threatened and uncomfortable there. WHERE WERE THE ADULTS? Sitting at a table 50 feet away....they had no idea something had happened.

When we pulled the kids out after givinng two weeks notice, Nancy said we were supposed to give 30 days notice and threatened to send us to collections. Money, Money, Money.

They don't care about the kids.

• Cons: Too many to mention.

05/12/08

#1 Daycare after searching for months!

by sanadsmom at Citysearch

I searched for months making sure there are no complaints with the city that all the licenses are up to date and accurate that its a clean and open atmosphere. I love that their doors only close to waste line and the top is completely open - i hated the daycare that were completely closed doors with just a peek hole this was a lot more open and pleasant and there are doors to outside in every room so I can peak in without my son seeing or even the teachers (I did this a lot the first few weeks). He comes home with atleast one art project or two a week. They have little christmas parties and even a little mothers day party where my son gave me a plant - it was adorable. They helped me potty train him now so he's fully potty trained. The ladies there LOVE children and love teaching children. When i first walked in it looked like a happy and clean atmosphere with murals on the walls and they have an in and outdoor gym. I love the staff and I thank God for their dedication to teaching and educating children. If it wasn't for me finding Academy for Kids I would have quit my job lived off one income and stayed home with my son. They've taught him please and thank you - table manners - alphabets - numbers and everything a working mom wants to teach her kids but doesn't have the time too. They are wonderful and I am truly thankful for what they do every day!

• Pros: Everything!