Merrill Johnson Early Childhood Program

We've had a wonderful experience with The Ark Learning Center over the past three years. Our daughter has grown emotionally, socially, and academically in such a warm and nurturing environment. The teachers are incredibly caring, patient, and intentional in their approach to each child's development. If you're looking for a preschool/daycare in the Hooksett area that emphasizes developmental growth, safety, and strong parent communication, The Ark is worth considering. They offer rich programming in a clean, secure space with a well-trained team. We couldn't be more grateful for the love and care our child has received here.

High turnover of administration and teachers. In the last year there have been 4 different directors alone, not including the countless number of teachers that have come and gone. What was once a wonderfully run daycare has turned into a poorly managed facility with inconsistent communication of meals, inconsistent following of their own written policies and procedures and teachers that do not understand how to implement the pyramid model that they preach. During grandparents day, my parents and my in-laws witnessed the teacher in the two-year-old room harshly treating another child that was emotionally upset; the teacher told the two year old "get over it". Another different teacher has been removed from being around certain children due to using physical force with that child. Additional note: some of the 5-star reviews on here are written by the staff's spouses, creating a biased review. They have also done promotions during the year to be entered into raffles if you leave a 5 star review for them on Google. This was done multiple times in my 3-year tenure having a child enrolled.

Pulled our son out of this location when he was 7, due to really bad childcare practices he is 12 now and sounds like it has only gotten worse in the 5 years from a recent experience a friend of ours had. please consider other childcare companies The Ark is a mess.

I feel it’s important for families to be aware of what I observed during my time there. My intention isn’t to be negative, but to give insight I wish more parents had access to. Communication with families is often lacking. Behaviors and incidents aren’t consistently shared with parents, and staff are required to mark that meals were eaten even when a child didn’t touch their food. In some classrooms, toys are visibly dirty, broken, or even potential choking hazards. In the preschool room, I witnessed children being physically restrained by staff/directors which was deeply troubling. If your child is consistently crying during drop off and pick up, please don’t ignore it. Let that be a sign. MANY of the most dedicated teachers have chosen to leave, largely due to POOR management and a LACK of support. I’ve toured at multiple centers, and this was unfortunately the most stressful and disorganized. Based on my experience, I personally regretted enrolling my own child here, and I hope more transparency becomes a priority for the sake of the children and families.

My daughter has attended The Ark since she was 6 months old (now 2), and I cannot speak highly enough about our experience. My daughter was a preemie with a lot of feeding difficulties in her first year, and the teachers at The Ark took the time and care to learn her particular feeding needs and made every accommodation to set my daughter up for success. Now as a toddler, she gets ample outdoor play time and has learned so many things from songs to books to drawing/crafts, and more. The Ark uses the brightwheel app so everyday I am consistently updated on her day and have easy communication with staff. It’s not easy sending your child to daycare but it’s easier knowing that the wonderful teachers at The Ark are caring for my daughter just as I would. We love The Ark and cannot imagine a better place to send our daughter!