Country Kids Play Farm

We LOVE Country Kids! Our oldest child started when they were 9 months and our youngest when they were just 4 months. We joke that we want the teachers to come live with us. Our kids LOVE them, as do we. Our oldest had a hard time at first but Ms. Sandra and Ms. Maria eased her right in. Mr. Lewis is absolutely phenomenal. He has quickly turned this place into such a great environment. It’s a perfect mix of a “bigger” school but with a small feel to it. We looked into a few places at first and I wouldn’t send my kids anywhere else. The communication is great and the care they have for our kids is unmatched.

This center is BEYOND lucky to have Lewis leading the way! My daughter had Lewis as a classroom teacher when she was 4 and she still talks about him to this day. As a parent he was everything a parent can hope for. When I heard he came to this school I was ecstatic to watch him grow into his new role! This center has great things ahead !!

Being new parents, it was important for us to find the right fit for our daughter and after vetting 3 other centers, we are thrilled we chose Country Kids. Although our experience has been brief, it’s been extremely impactful in the most positive way. Tynisha has been absolutely fantastic from her constant communication correspondence via alerts on the app, emails, or in-person updates. She has always created a welcoming environment and consistently demonstrates how much she cares for the kids and that carries over to our daughter’s room. Our daughter absolutely loves it there. When she first got there she’d barely nap 30mins and was limited with her motor skills. Now she’s napping at least an hr and a half each time, sitting up, mastering tummy time and can reach/grab everything. However the most important part is each drop off we give her to Ms. Luisa or pick her up with Ms. Sandra our daughter looks at them, touches their face and smiles right at them. They just care a lot and it shows through our daughter’s development.

I wish I could give them zero stars. I sent my children to Country Kids for a year and a half. Unfortunately, Cadence Education purchased Country Kids during that time and turned it into an incredible mess. I am aware of 4 other kids in my children's classroom who switched to the Goddard School in the last month. These are my reasons for our switch and why I would NEVER recommend Country Kids Cadence Education. 1. The Cadence administration does not care about the teachers and some of the teachers seem extremely unhappy. It felt upsetting to leave my children with a teacher who seemed visibly angry and unhappy. The head teacher for my children often did not say hello to my children when they arrived or acknowledge they were dropped off. She seemed extremely stressed and upset on a daily basis - not a great fit for a room full of three year olds. I do not blame this teacher since it was clear she was not being supported by the Cadence administrators running the school. On one of our last days, she was the only teacher in the room at drop off with approximately 15 children and she was on the phone trying to get help from someone in the office. 2. The teachers repeatedly complained to me that they do not have the support they need from the Cadence administration to properly take care of the children. There are not enough floaters so kids can't be taken to the bathroom if they have an accident. On 2 occasions when my 3 year old had an accident. I was called by the teacher and asked to come to the school due to not having a change of clothes. When I arrived, there was an available change of clothes and my child had been sitting in her soiled pants since the call was made 30 minutes earlier. The teacher informed me that the office was not answering her calls for help, they did not have enough teachers to help my child get cleaned up, and that my 3 year old should be able to clean herself up after an accident. 3. They are unable to retain teachers as employees. In a three month period, four teachers that my children were familiar with quit and told me they were leaving due to how awful Cadence treated them. On our last day at Cadence, a teacher confided to me that Cadence has recently hired a high school student who did not seem qualified for the job. 4. From age 2 until 3 1/2 my children switched rooms 3 times. The teachers in each of these rooms never helped my children to clean their faces (or guide them how to clean their own faces) properly after lunch and my kids would have food all over their faces each day when I picked them up at 5:30. This meant they had ketchup and other grime all over their faces for hours while they slept and played. 5. The teachers repeatedly told me that my children's room was supposed to have direct access to a toilet in the room and mentioned it was against the state guidelines that they did not. 6. The teachers and administration do not communicate with the parents about upcoming events like parent-teacher conferences, theme days, or if my kids took a nap or anything specific about their day. All communication about a child's day is copied and pasted for each child in the room and no individual details about my children were shared through their app. 7. When we decided to stop daycare with Cadence and move them to Goddard, Cadence assured me of the final amount I would be charged. They then overcharged me and have not provided me with a refund or a final accounting. Speaking with anyone by phone or any of the teachers is a constant chain of blaming each other and then blaming the overall administration. Due to these issues, I strongly discourage parents from sending their children to Cadence's Country Kids in Brookfield.

I have never left a google review before but felt compelled to do so because of how quickly our experience with Country Kids went down hill. Our children both started at the center as infants and we were extremely happy for three years until the center was purchased by Cadence. The teachers started leaving, leadership was chaotic and it was never clear who exactly was in charge or helping to make decisions about which classes our pre schooler would be best suited for. Additionally, on several occasions I arrived at drop off to hear loud and aggressive yelling from my pre schooler's classroom and always felt uncomfortable leaving them on those days. I even noticed some of the aggression coming into my child's play - using words and phrases like "mind your business" and "do what I say" that they wouldn't hear at home. Things felt manageable when some of our familiar teachers were still at the center, but when they also left, we knew it was time to find a better fit for our family - one that was stable, felt safe, and leads with kindness and empathy. It doesn't seem like any of the teachers are happy, communication is either nonexistent or very confusing, and its not clear what the pre schoolers are even doing all day, as they are moved and combined with different classes due to staffing shortages. It's a sad and disappointing end to what we had hoped would be a place our children could thrive. Moving schools is a highly disruptive and personal choice for a family to make and we didn't do it lightly - but it doesn't appear that Cadence cares about that at all. With all of that said, there are some amazing educators at Country Kids who we will miss. For younger classrooms especially, the providers treated my children like their own and were loved in return. The center has so many assets and I hope Cadence is able to turn things around with time.