Growing Kids Preschool

Both my children have gone to growing kids and we've had a great experience with both. My son started after school care at age 7 and my daughter at 1 1/2. One of my favorite things about them is how wonderful the director and CEO both are. Kim and Kayla are warm, kind, and friendly while also encouraging independence for the littles when appropriate. I love their partnership with Porter Sports next door and Mr. Chris is awesome! Both my kids have participated and have had a great time. I also love the additional activities they offer like Kids in the Kitchen. These are both offered at an additional cost but that is to be expected as they need to purchase additional supplies outside of the normal day. I also can't say enough about their preschool program. My daughter started Kindergarten this year, and her teacher has been so impressed with how smart she is, and how much she already knows - it has been so much fun to watch her learn and grow over the time she has been there and I'm grateful to have them in our lives.

Money driven and not the wellbeing of the kids driven. PLEASE don’t bring your kids here. Our kids had an awful time there, would be petrified to go in and it took me far too long to realize they weren’t individually cared for like you’d expect, I witnessed them dismissing kids when they tried to speak and although a few of the younger teachers seemed to care more than the directors—I wish I had never brought them there. Also, there is always extra fees to do anything inside the school/daycare. For example, there was a cooking class that you had to pay (an outrageous amount) in cash and then guilt trip you into doing it because the entire class is doing it. I just find it odd that the directors are flashing there Louis Vuitton items and then trying to convince parents to pay in cash for everything outside of the actual daycare cost. Something I wish would be investigated…I also believe they’re removing poor reviews too— which is VERY unsettling.

Im writing this because I'm upset and the director doesn't seem to care how they run things.. DO NOT, I REPEAT DO NOT, bring your child to Growning Kids. They're extremely unprofessional. I'll start by saying I had daycare lined that fell through last minute. I searched all FM for something. Growing Kids informed me they would have a spot open in August. We decided to take a tour even though they're far (we live in Hawley) we loved it and my son absolutely loved it. The assistant informed us that two other families already toured for the same infant spot. She said if we wanted to hold the spot, that we needed to give 2 weeks tuition and the registration fee. She said not to worry that the check was hold the spot and will not cash until the week he started. We agreed and wrote the check. The following week the director, Kayla emailed and said he could start August 2nd and that we need to do orientation. I called because my son has severe allergies to egg and dairy. After a long conversation with her we left it that we will discuss over orientation (essentially told me we need to provide his lunch/snacks). Later that week she apparently cashed the check. This caused a spiral affect in our account and yes we overdrew as we didn't expect that to be cashed until the week he started. Spoke with Kayla who said they cash as soon as the have the spot available, so I let it go. As he was already going to start in a couple weeks. I emailed her to let her know that we can do orientation next week. She said great and can't wait to see us. The following day (yesterday) she emails me that they actually can't take my son and they refunded our money and mailed us a check. Apparently the family that was leaving was no longer leaving. I asked for a call back with no call back. I emailed back with my frustration and clear things up because cashing the check had secured his spot. She never responded and replied with ,"We mailed the check". As a director she did not acknowledge the situation that occurred and never even apologized. Very disappointing and disgusting way of running things. Kelly as a CEO you should be ashamed of your employees handling your establishment.

Our boys started daycare at Growing Kids Preschool and Childcare in 2022. Kim and Kayla are wonderful at communication and caring for the littles. Kayla responds to concerns and questions promptly and the children adore her. They have a drop off spot which makes the transition into school go smoothly. The kids are always full of smiles and stories at pick up. The facility is spotless and well organized. We love the option of extracurriculars within daycare hours. Our son loves the Sport Sampler and is excited to try Cooking Classes. We have toured 20+ daycares in the area and Growing Kids is the top of our list.

We used Growing Kids from June 4, 2018 - May 31st, 2019. Our experience has mostly been in the infant room and some in the toddler room. These are the reasons why I am giving them a 1 star: Facts about Growing Kids: Parents are not allowed in their child’s room. I’ve never seen where my child takes naps. As a parent, that made me feel uneasy and disconnected from what my child’s day to day is like Early Learning Intervention is also not allowed in the rooms. However, other child care providers allow those programs into their rooms because they recognize it is the most effective way to help a child. The health policy states a child can’t come back for 48 hours after any symptom (fever, diarrhea, vomiting, etc). Other child care providers say 24 hours. In addition, Growing Kids says if you have siblings at Growing Kids then they also can’t come for 48 hours if one of the siblings shows any of those symptoms. The closures this winter were frequent because Growing Kids follows the West Fargo Public School System. As a daycare, Growing Kids doesn’t have the same weather related issues as schools such as busing. I know personally other child care providers rarely closed this winter because I used that provider for my other child. Our Personal Experiences with Growing Kids: The director made me feel like something was wrong with my child through comments she made: "Other kids his age don't take their shoes off," "He should be showing more of a variety of emotions." The director handled our situation poorly and kicked us out. There were no formal meetings to discuss progress/what was being done to help the situation or advice on how we could help. The only formal meeting we had was when we were told to leave. When I tell other child care providers our story they are shocked at the director's decision and disappointed Growing Kids didn’t do their job. We offered to leave a week early if we didn’t have to pay for that week. The director chose to take money rather than resolve the issue other parents were having with us being there. Her reason was that she was hopeful the issue would be better that week. And it was better because they put forth more of an effort to prevent the issue. Basically, they did the job that other child care providers expect they should do. Prior to the last week, we were told there was no solution to our issue. However, that proved false when they prevented the issue the last week. On our last day we had an unproductive conversation with the assistant director because she was close minded, misinformed and abrasive. So I left the conversation feeling like my concerns weren’t heard. We suspect Growing Kids discriminated against our child and believe they used our issue (biting) as a vehicle to get us out. Biting is a common yet difficult childhood behavior but something that can be managed. The lead of the infant room told me in her 9 years being there she's never seen a child who bites get permanently kicked out. My child was held in the infant room at 22 months of age because he had a gross motor delay. However, by keeping him there he didn't get the opportunity to develop other skills like speech. Biting is related to not having language skills to express themselves. When I told them my child would be wearing orthotics soon, I sensed that they were uncomfortable with that. Seems like Growing Kids doesn't want to deal with children having special needs and just kicks them out to solve an inconvenience for them. Other notes: I heard yelling from a teacher in Room 2. It was an aggressive way of saying, "No." For one day only, my child smeared poop from the diaper and I was told to use onsies from there on. But I think a better solution would be to changed the diaper more promptly. Benefits of Growing Kids: The facility is impressive to adults The weekly cost is reasonable They provide a decent basic level of care. I enjoy the art they made with my child's footprint. It was very creative. The head of the infant room is great to work with and uplifting.