ACORN LEARNING ACADEMY

Our experience at Acorn was stellar. Our daughters thrived there, and felt loved and secure. They were so well prepared for kindergarten that their public school recommended that they both skip kinder and go straight into first grade. With one exception (Caitlin) we found the teachers to be kind, consistent, affectionate caregivers who maintained high, but realistic expectations. The teachers were definitely more than just babysitters; they helped children learn discipline while also allowing them to be kids. For example, the pre-kinder class did an exercise in which they had to divide into pairs and propose a plan to retrieve a leaf from the other side of the chain link fence with supplies they could find in the playground. The summer reading program set a goal of number of minutes devoted to reading per day, calibrated by age. Those who met their goals received gift cards to Half Price Books. The small school size meant that it was easy to build a community, and several parents have become our close friends. The owner has a tendency to increase tuition with little to no warning, which was a thorn in our side, but we were willing to put up with that for the great teachers. Turnover among the junior teachers was rather high. In our 5 years, only 3 staff members remained the whole time. It seemed like a teacher was on her way out every 2 or 3 months. The administration stayed comparatively constant, with 3 directors in 6 years. Despite our great experience, it appears that Acorn has declined drastically since we left. In the past 10 months, they have had almost 100% turnover. None of the teachers who used to have their own kids (mine called them "Rome models") at Acorn have them there any longer, and I am sad to say that I would not return. I was unimpressed by the current director's inability to tell me whether or not they would provide before school care for elementary kids when they bring their afterschool program back.