Kiddie Academy of South Fayette

★Sujay P

This review was long due and even though late, we wanted to ensure we share our horrible experience and warn all parents. My son attended this daycare for one day in September 2022 before we had to take him home before any more damage was done to him. This whole experience was extremely traumatizing and it took our family quite a few months to recover, especially for my wife who just had our second child and was in the postpartum. We got admission to Kiddie when he was 21 months old. After dropping him at daycare on first day, We were so excited and curious, we started a live video feed of the daycare and what we saw was so heartbreaking and traumatizing for any parents. Day 1 : our son was just roaming around in the room with no direction. There were 2-3 teachers and around 10 other kids of similar age. For a complete 8 hours, not a single teacher comforted him or at least showed him around. They were so brutal in their behavior, that both of us were teary eyed watching this. At one time, during outside playtime, my son went all the way to the fence hoping someone will get his attention but it didn't work. It was so sad to see my son standing alone far away and all teachers were completely unaware and constantly on their phones. We can totally understand how much attention teachers can give each kid but all children should get some kind of compassion on their first day when they are nervous . Our son was already daycare friendly for 9 months and all he needed was some direction to become familiar and instead the only thing he got was complete ignorance. As parents, we were completely shattered but still were hoping for the best and decided to drop him for a second day. Day 2: After dropping my son, the teacher picked up my son and started vacuuming. There were multiple vacuums and complete trip hazards. She could have easily dropped my son by mistake. On top of that, at that age my son was terrified of vacuum noise. We couldn't even imagine what he must be going through when he was listening to the vacuum sound for 10 minutes and crying. We were so angry and crying at the same time by seeing the cruelty of those teachers. In addition, the teacher kept my son on the carpet and started spraying chemicals on the carpet to clean. At this point, we decided to pick our son from daycare. It was still a one hour drive from my office. In that one hour, we saw AT LEAST 4-5 teachers in that room. They picked up and played and comforted almost all the kids except our son.my son picked a book and forcefully sat on the lap of one of the teachers and she just got up and went away. Only an EVIL person can do this. Talking to owner : After multiple attempts to talk to the owner, it all made sense to me. it was not just teachers, its Top-down management. I communicated our experience to the owner and the only thing we got back was arrogance. Some of his responses 1. There's nothing wrong with picking up kids and vacuuming. 2. There were no chemicals sprayed on carpet, it was only baking soda 3. when i asked about my family photo that was given to my son, he response was " WE BURNED THE PHOTO, WHAT WILL YOU DO" My son was so traumatized he kept on crying in his sleep for months after these incidents. My wife had the most difficult time to recover as she was in postpartum. It took her at least a year to recover from this. When we look back, we can never figure out what went wrong. We got a traumatizing experience for our lifetime. We lost around 700 dollars. No refund. instead, they kept on charging us for following weeks, which we had to dispute from our bank. We consider ourselves lucky that we got out soon else it could have scarred our son for life. We always wonder, was it just a bad teacher? because we were from different country? Or just a scam to get quick $700 dollars?? Or they just didn't like us ? We will never know the real reason. Summary - STAY AWAY FROM KIDDIE ACADEMY if you love your little one. Please watch out for your kids’ physical safety and mental health before you send your kids to this horrible place.

★★★★★Stephanie Thatcher

This is a fantastic center! Like many families, I have very high standards and expectation for the care of my child. My son was born 8 weeks premature and he has been with Kiddie Academy since he was 5 months old - they’ve been incredibly accommodating to my many preferences and requests and have really helped him to achieve and exceed his milestones. They have excellent educational programming, the facility is extremely clean (my son hasn’t been sick once), and their staff has been wonderful with our baby. The director Jenn is kind and approachable and my son clearly bonded with his teachers. I appreciate the regular updates on their app and the ability to occasionally check in on their live stream. Thanks for everything KA!!

★★★★★Steven Stombaugh

KA is more than a business that just takes care of our children, they have a big family atmosphere. It’s so nice to know our children are going somewhere safe and clean, where they will be loved and they won’t be pumped full of the nonsense that is being pushed on so many young children nowadays. Our children’s curiosity for learning is fostered and we are routinely impressed at how much they are learning. We are so grateful for Eric, Jenn and all the amazing teachers and staff. - Hannah and Steve Stombaugh

★★★★★Craig Upton

We've been sending our daughter for 3 years now (since 5 mos). Eric and Jen have put together the best, transparent, and safest environment we could hope for. We know nearly every teacher by name and the setup allows for all the kids to recognize others' parents. This peace of mind against outsiders is reassuring. Our daughter is definitely ahead with development as a result of the Kiddie Academy structure and the staff's execution of the curriculum. We can't recommend enough.

★★★★★Albina V.

We have been a Kiddie Academy family for over a year now. We are very pleased with our child care choice and cannot say enough positive things about this facility! Everything about Kiddie Academy of South Fayette is amazing. This place is very well run and the teachers are great with kids. Also, the owner and the director always address any issues or questions we have with kindness and respect. I highly recommend KA to any parent looking for a child care center.