I have three sons -- 9 year old identical twins and a 13 year old. My twins grew up at Academy for Creative Learning, attending there from the time they turned two until they started kindergarten. My oldest son attended the ACL school age program during Christmas break and summer for three years. I cannot say enough good things about ACL -- our family has many very sweet memories of our time there.
One of the features that distinguishes ACL from other child care facilities is that the owner pays her employees well and there is very little turn over there. The teachers (God bless them) work there because they love kids and they have the patience of saints (if my life depended on it I don't think I could manage even a day in charge of a classroom full of two year olds, but these ladies make it look easy and fun).
Each teacher that we came into contact with took the time to really get to know my boys -- even though my twins look exactly alike, they were always treated like the individuals that they are. When they were three, one of my sons needed some medical tests in Dallas and I was stunned when his teacher spent the weekend driving all over town to find him a stuffed bulldog (his favorite animal at the time) to cuddle with during his test. During the year my boys were in the pre-K room our family went through a divorce and the teachers were such a big help in providing my boys the stability and TLC that they needed through that difficult transition.
The hair salon was a great feature -- all you have to do is leave payment at the front desk in the morning and when you pick up your child at the end of the day they have a fantastic hair cut. The swimming pool was great too -- the daily time in the pool during the summer time went a long way toward my boys developing a love for water.
The summer school age camp was super -- every day was filled with field trips, fun crafts, time in the pool and games. My boys still reminisce about summers at ACL -- especially the weekly visits from the snow cone truck.
As far as I'm concerned, the only downside of ACL is that the food is kind of junky -- white bread, juice drinks, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, and processed cheese are all featured prominently on the menu. I did find, however, that the staff was good about abiding by my request that my boys be served the healthier options and given water instead of juice drinks.
The bottom line is that I recommend ACL wholeheartedly. read more