Ocean Kids Academy

It saddens me that after nearly 2 years at OKA, my child was a victim of continued biting incidents from the same student that were not properly addressed by OKA staff. Let me preface by stating that I understand this situation is regarding a two year old child who is learning right from wrong, my main concern lies in management’s lack of transparency and failure to appropriately communicate and uphold any policy related to the repeated incidents that compromised my child’s safety. Our child suffered bites to the face, both arms and hands by the same child on 4 different occasions. When the behavior first arose, my child was in the toddler level classroom and I was told by the school that there was a zero tolerance policy for this behavior once the behavior was displayed in the preschool level classroom. When it happened a second time and in the preschool classroom, I was then told that the policy was now a 3 strikes policy (a policy that was not documented in their handbook and is still not reflected on their website which has a 2020 version of the handbook currently listed). On the same occasion, the teacher informed us that the bite left no mark, until we requested a photo and only then she said said “When looking at it now you can see a small mark.” When it happened again, the student was temporarily suspended. But at pickup on the day of the most recent incident, the director pulled me aside and asked me if my wife would meet with the mother of the child who was doing the biting. She then inappropriately requested that I as her father not be present during this meeting since she felt this situation would be best discussed between mothers. She told me that we needed to have more empathy and understanding for the personal situation of the child doing the biting, however we were shown a clear lack of empathy for our child who was the continued subject of the biting. In this conversation I was made aware by the director herself that this child had recently bitten another student, which meant that with my daughter’s newest bite, this student was already beyond the three strikes. However because the other child’s family (who’s parent is an OKA staff member) was willing to give the biter a “free pass”, it did not count towards the three strikes. When I voiced concerns about the exception of the three strikes policy to the director, and that it left the door open for my child and others to be harmed, I was berated by her and told that my wife and I were gaslighting her. After 4 incidents and repeated failure by the school to properly address the situation, we made the decision to take matters and our daughter’s safety into our own hands and withdraw her from the program. I’ve never experienced this level of unprofessionalism in my life, and especially by someone who is supposed to be caring for my child. The state really should look into this school with a fine tooth comb and parents should proceed with extreme caution before considering sending their child here, as policies directly related to child safety are inconsistently applied by management.

I highly recommend Ocean Kids Academy! My son has been there for about 3 years and has grown so much during this time. Every classroom and teacher he's encountered has been amazing. They are so welcoming and attentive to my son. The teachers are great communicators and I can see that my son feels comfortable there. I would recommend this school to anyone looking for a trusted daycare, and I'm so happy we sent him there.

OKA has been a wonderful daycare / preschool for our little ones. My daughter went here for two years and our son for a couple of months before we moved out of town and had to move our kids elsewhere. We really miss it here. The staff are kind and caring. Our infant refused a bottle and the girls worked tirelessly to get him to drink milk. It was because of them we were able to narrow down one specific sippy cup he would drink from. They kept me updated around the clock. The communication in this facility is unparalleled. The girls in the preschool room were always very nurturing with our 3 year old who could sometimes get emotional. Always felt like she was given undivided attention even in a full classroom. Veanna was always flexible and accommodating with our needs. She is honest about any issues with the kids. At one point another student was rough with our daughter on two occasions and unfortunately the child was expelled but I felt comfort knowing my daughter was safe. Every experience is different but I’m happy to say ours was exceptional.

My daughter has attended OKA for almost 2 years, and we absolutely love it here! Everyone is wonderful and sooo good to my daughter! I highly recommend OKA!

We love OKA!!! Our kids absolutely love everything here. The staff is amazing and the director is awesome! I always feel safe when we drop our kids off here. Thank you OKA for making this a wonderful experience for us!