A Child'S Garden

ACG was everything I hoped my daughter's first introduction to school would be. Ms Kathy and Ms. Kim were phenomenal teachers with a genuine warmth that anyone working with small children should have. The school's communication to parents was excellent. The owner, Ms. Marty genuinely loves what she does and it shows. The school puts a lot of effort into keeping things fun and organized with different themed play rooms each month, and visitors such as local fire departments, police, mail carriers, Cinti Museum Center etc. My daughter loved her time there so much. She felt safe, supported and loved by her teachers and all of the wonderful support staff. I will sing ACG's praises for years to come, and to all who are looking for a wonderful start to their child's education.

My son, who is intellegent but a highly energetic child, attended this preschool quite a few years ago. The facilities are well maintained, and my son especially loved the large-muscle room with the trampoline and foam pit. The preschool is well-organized & hosts many fun events for the students throughout the year. Many of the teachers & staff here are friendly, although some can be quite authoritarian &/or sticklers for punctuality. My biggest gripe with this preschool, though, is that when I re-registered my child for a second year, my wishes for my child's placement were intentionally ignored. I had specifically requested that my son, who was to be turning 4 years old in September, be placed in the pre-K class in the Fall. I had every intention of registering him for kindergarten before his 5th birthday the next year. The director accepted my registration & fee, but without discussing the matter with me, placed my son in the 4-year-olds class. After we had begun the school year, & I discovered what had been done behind my back, I gave the 4-year-olds teacher an opportunity to show that she could properly prepare my child to enter kindergarten the following year. However, sometime in October it became apparent to me that my son was not being challenged enough--more time was spent on socialization and motor skills development (areas in which my son was fairly well-developed for his age) than actual instruction on pre-K material. Displeased with my son's placement, I brought the issue up with the director. She admitted to having intentionally placed my son in the 4-year-olds class instead of pre-K, despite my wishes. Her reasoning was that she didn't think he could handle pre-K material (without specifics as to how this decision was made) and had determined that with his speech impediment, he'd be better served by delaying his kindergarten entrance another year. I was outraged that she would make such a decision without discussing the matter with me first. If she had brought up the matter with me prior to placement, I would have pointed out the flaws in her reasoning--1) that, at 3 years old, my son was already beginning to develop an interest in reading and was identifying words, and 2) a speech impediment does not necessitate a delay in education until the speech impediment can be remedied (both of his older brothers also had speech impediments at his age, and both were educationally excelling beyond many of their peers). Unfortunately, at that point the pre-K class was full, & my son could not be moved up. I decided I didn't want a preschool that had such low expectations of my son directing his education. So I withdrew him mid-year and placed him at another preschool. The son in question has since been identified as being gifted in reading and is a voracious reader. He did receive some speech therapy his first couple years in school and still has a slightly lazy tongue even now, but his speech is understandable. He is doing well in all academic areas and has not been held back despite being one of the youngest in his class. Don't get me wrong. A Child's Garden is a lovely preschool. If your child is hitting all of his/her developmental milestones, A Child's Garden may be the right place for your child. But if your child is not a typical child and has strengths in some areas & weaknesses in others, A Child's Garden may not be the right place. But then again, maybe the director has learned from this experience (as stated, this occurred a number of years ago) that all children are different and that parents and school administrators have to work together as a team to ensure a child is properly educated.

Excellent preschool! Great teachers, excellent environment and learning through experiences and activities. Visits from dentist, firefighters, etc. All around great!!! Both my kids went here and loved it.