Amazing day care center! My kid has been going here for over a year and has transitioned between 3 classrooms. This Facility was our favorite by far when we did tours in the area - modern building / facilities, great technology to stay connected and monitor your kids, and very friendly and competent staff. This is what daycare should be like in today's age! Parking can be a bit of a pain at times as pickup / drop-off for most parents are around the samtimes and the parking spaces are not the biggest. There's also a high school across the street that causes some traffic disruption but just avoid those times. They give you two apps, one that the teachers use to track meals / diaper changes, and one that you can see your kid at all times. There's a fairly structured curriculum for the kids, though usually I just see them running around having fun. The staff are all very friendly and will try to give each individual kid as much love as possible. Highly recommended read more

Being a new mom and an educator in the community, everyday I am more and more thankful we found Oak Forest Academy and were able to get our baby in their school. From an education perspective, our baby is hitting his milestones physically, socially, and emotionally. They provide weekly lesson plans that are age appropriate. As an educator, I've heard from many kinder teachers at our school that students coming from OFA are prepared and beyond. The facilities are always clean and up to par. It feels nicer than any other school in the area. The directors are always at the front available to chat if needed. Last and most importantly, the teachers are fabulous. They're friendly and love our babies. I appreciate that the administration cares about teacher retention but also doesn't continue to keep teachers If they don't meet the expectations of OFA. I have peace of mind knowing our baby is good hands. I always recommend to my friends and neighbors looking for high quality school for little ones. read more

Oak Forest Academy - A little 4th of July celebration from the babies! - Preschools Near Me - Houston, Texas

We love OFA. The teachers and staff work so hard to make it a fun, educational, and loving environment for all ages. In addition, it is run very professionally and they communicate very well. We are constantly amazed at how well they get all the children to do structured, educational activities, as early as 1 year old! The school is beautiful and has a lot of nice offerings such as nutritional meals and snacks made in house, in room cameras for parents to check any time, lovely playground areas and a vegetable garden that the children are involved with. They also have Spanish and Art programs, soccer shots and other activities during the school day so you don't have to drive around town after school. They go above and beyond for extra fun stuff too (Dino week, Disney week, holidays, parades, carnivals, charities, cooking with the chef, fire truck visits, etc). Our children are thriving here, and we are confident they will be beyond prepared for any elementary school. I know yours will be too! read more

This review is long overdue, but I did want to write a review OFA for any parents that are looking for a great daycare option for their little ones. We have 2 girls and started them at 1 year old and 4-year-old. Food - The school has on-site chef who prepares healthy meals daily (breakfast, lunch, and snacks) You can see the options weekly on a menu that they send out beforehand. My 4 yr old is a very picky eater and after some time I had to look at the menu weekly and pack her lunch on days that I knew she wouldn't eat the lunch option. My baby is an easy eater and always ate what the school provided. Education - I am strong believer in early education and that it helps builds a well-rounded child. OFA does a great job at the academics but more importantly, it has helped my kids socially and emotionally especially during rough times with Covid. The OFA family works on all these levels and has taught me a lot about the potential of my own girls. Teachers - Teachers are the core of any school and I could go on and on about how we love the teachers that my girls had. Each class has "team" usually 2-3 teachers depending on your child's age and ours worked wonderfully together. They provided a safe and fun environment and both of my kids love their teachers. They had great communication, always listened to any of our needs/wants, and provided great feedback. My 4 yr old transition easily into OFA when we first started and did not look back. My baby is a "mama's girl" and has stranger danger but after warming up to her teacher, she always goes to her willingly at every drop off. Facility/Cameras/Daily Reports - The school is a new build with lots of space and room to grow. The school looks a nice with animal mural adorning the walls. Each classroom is set up with a camera and you can "check in" on your kids anytime. You can also check on your kid's daily progress with updates on a parent app or wait for the daily report that is automatically emailed when you check your kid out each day. Play/Extra Curricular Activity - I love the different play areas for the kids. They have the traditional playground for the older ones, a garden area, and a multipurpose room on the 3rd floor. My eldest loves the garden activities. For babies and toddler, they have their own separate playground with more sun coverage and age-appropriate toys. My 4-year-old took Soccer Shots and really enjoyed it. She liked her Coach and liked going outside to do something different. Overall, I am happy that we ended up switching daycares last summer and couldn't be happier with the care that we received at OFA. My only grip is the wooden mulch on the playground, it gets inside of their shoes and is hard to remove from jackets and socks (that's really me trying to look a for a negative). I wish I had moved schools sooner right when OFA first opened its doors. There is a lot of love and care taken in the daily planning and you can tell the owners have pour their hearts and souls in this school. I wish them continued success and appreciate them bringing some normalcy back to our lives during the pandemic. read more

Former employee review: During the initial interview I was told this and that about teachers management wanted to replace. So I had certain expectations going into the job. If you do your job correctly and with passion while also making suggestions for ways to improve certain things you will most definitely be exiled. Once hired the owner never spoke a word to me unless it was "constructive criticism". If you turn down a promotion and you give good reason for why you will almost certainly be "let go". This company is a snake in sheep's clothing. $1500 a month for the best early education possible, yet they fire the only teachers who actually teach. read more

Like many parents, we struggled to choose a day care for our child. We had spots at other established day cares in the area, but I felt a strong bond when talking to OFA's founder and really wanted to be part of something bigger. Some questioned our decision, as OFA is a brand-new school. We were just about a month in when the coronavirus closed everything. We have no regrets! Our daughter loves school and has already learned so much in just a few short weeks. She's an only child and needed to be near other kids, and her classmates are wonderful. Her teachers put up with my daily questions at pick-up and take meticulous notes about everything I need to know. The food is made in-house and is, frankly, better than anything I've served her. We love OFA and are proud to be part of its first class. read more

Oak Forest Academy is the best preschool my children have ever attended. After 10 years of trying eight different day cares around Houston, we have finally found a preschool that we absolutely love. I now feel confident that my child is growing in all ways--intellectually, emotionally, spiritually, and socially. It is the best preschool we have attended in Houston, and this is coming from someone with extremely high expectations for schooling. (I am the daughter of two educators, and have degrees from Harvard and Yale. Education is everything to me and my family.) Oak Forest Academy's owner and director, Mia Heil, is a working mother of three who understands what children and parents need, and she has the business experience and strategic acumen to deliver upon her vision. Mia had her own children in various day cares and saw what worked and what did not. At Oak Forest Academy, she has combined the best of the various places to create this extraordinary school focused on nurturing and empowering the whole child. Mia is at the front door each morning smiling and greeting each and every child and parent by name. Her authentic kindness is refreshing and unique, and makes everyone feel welcome. I have never once felt that we were simply a tuition payment or just another student. My daughter feels loved each day, and my family feels valued and a part of the Oak Forest Academy family. Mia has also hired top-notch talent, including a Curriculum Director who has a Ph.D. in education and 35+ years of experience. There are also unique, amazing features such as: a chef at the school who cooks healthy, fresh food for the children; a dedicated, full-time Spanish teacher; and a lovely garden the children tend to. I have only had positive encounters with Mia and every teacher and administrative staff member, which is an absolute first for me in my 10-years of day care parenting. Oak Forest Academy actually feels like a school, not a day care, and Mia's emphasis on the developing the whole child--academics, leadership, and character--is real and executed upon excellently. Most importantly, my daughter is happy and excited to go to school every day, and when I pick her up, she often does not want to leave. She absolutely loves Oak Forest Academy! It is the best preschool we have encountered in Houston. I just wish it had opened 10 years ago so all three of my daughters could have attended! read more

I can't say enough good things about this school! My son is attending their Kindergarten school, and I feel so lucky to have found Oak Forest Academy, and they had a place for my son. First, the academy is so clean, beautifully designed inside and out (I love their outdoor space promoting gardens and green space), and every staff member is amazing. My son loves the food, and I love that I don't have to bring his lunch and snacks. Second, the staff is very high caliber. They invest in key advisors and the management/operations is very transparent, supportive, and kind. I've appreciated how they have handled COVID-19 and have made decisions after consulting the parents and other advisors. Third, his growth and development are excelling due to his excellent teachers. His teacher has high standards and she teaches at a very high quality! My son is learning so much and he actually thinks that he plays all day!! He comes home and actually teaches ME things! He's only 5 and came home explaining to me Subitizing! She is such an incredible teacher and communicates so much. She has an Instagram for the parents, daily behavior feedback, weekly curriculum emails and handouts, and report cards every quarter. Amazing! After the traditional part of school, there's another teacher that teaches art and Spanish. My son comes home singing new songs and is constantly trying to do creative projects at home because of what he's doing at school! The school also has a service where you can view the class at any time on live video. The school exceeds all my expectations for health and safety, teaching kindness and social development, and education. Just so this review doesn't come off like a paid ad, I will admit the only thing that I don't like is their narrow parking spots. read more

Oak Forest Academy has been our first experience with a daycare/pre-school, but I had toured and shopped about 10 other options in the Houston area. We ultimately landed here, because of the dedication that Mia and the team she assembled clearly had to breaking the mold in pre-school education. This brand new school offers so much! I appreciate that they thought through low child to teacher rations, great schedules/lesson plans for such young minds, gardens and play facilities for daily outside time, and even a healthy chef so parents don't have to pack lunches. They incorporate art, song, spanish, sign language and all kinds of things into the kids schedules so things never get stale and they are being exposed to new concepts regularly. I hate that COVID-19 has impacted school closures, but yet again Oak Forest Academy proved that they are excellent communicators, rule followers and really care about our kids (even in a pandemic). Weekly zooms with our sons class keep him engaged. That is an extra measure they didn't have to provide to a one year old, but somewhere deep down that is getting through and keeping him connected to the school he was just getting to know. Can't 'wait to be back and watch him grow! Great job, OFA, and keep it up! read more

Simply the best! My daughter (and our family) have had the best experience possible at this day care. We attended another daycare with our first child, where we had a good experience. However, it was only once we enrolled our second child at Oak Forest Academy, did we know how good it could be. My daughter would come home every day, EXCITED to tell us about the things she learned, the experiences she had, and the creative adventures Oak Forest Academy would create for her. She would be mad at us when we picked her up early. The owner, director, teachers, and all of the staff seem genuinely interested in the success of every single child. Their covid protocol is excellent and their communication surrounding any issues is very forthcoming; you know you are getting honest information regarding any cases. The facility itself is well run, they provide plenty of communication (emails, daily feedback, Instagram for parents, etc), it is beautiful inside and out, has a wonderful garden where the kids can participate in cultivating plants and vegetables, and has a very nice playground as well as general green space. Honestly, the school has far exceeded my expectations in just about every way possible, my daughter's teacher is the BEST we have ever experienced and my daughter's overall development has been nothing short of impressive. I am 100% positive this school has more than prepared her to be amazing in kindergarten. We only took her out because we moved...but we did consider just driving 45 minutes out of the way to have her continue at this school. If you want to do right by your child, send them here. We will truly miss Oak Forest Academy! read more

This school has been built with the greatest integrity. The founders, particularly Mia, care so very much about creating an organization that supports children, teachers, and families. Every decision has been made thoughtfully and fairly. Our children love their teachers and friends. For the first time, they loom forward to school. They feel known at OFA. Something thats very important to me - food. OFA provides meals and snacks. As someone who is very selective when it comes to diet, I've been really impressed with the quality of ingredients and the diversity. They hired a chef from a Houston classic kitchen, so the meals are creative. They use OFA's garden when possible. I could go on and on and can't say enough nice things about this school. I love what it has given us already. read more

Great school and even better place to work at! Management is amazing, understanding and have a beautiful vision for every child and the school as a whole! read more

Our children previously attended this daycare. Very unwelcoming environment for our children and for us as parents. The owner would sit at the front when you walk in and would barely say a word to anyone. We were paying for a service and yet it felt like the owner and administration thought we were the ones as parents who should be serving them. If you pick your child up 5 minutes before closing time they will likely pull you aside and talk to you about trying to pick them up earlier. I was also told that if we forgot to pack a cup for our children they wouldn't have a cup to drink from, so they would not have water. Classrooms were closed a lot due to teachers and students having Covid. I think the health department was investigating them because Covid was running rampant through the daycare constantly. The best part of the daycare were the teachers. They seemed to have a hard time keeping good teachers though so there was a lot of turnover. read more

This is an honest review of my short employment at oak forest academy, publicly airing my grievances for anyone looking for employment here. If you have other options take them, my experience here was wildly negative from start to finish. Before I begin I will say that I was told before I started I would have a 3 month "probationary" period where they would asses me and decide whether or not I would be a good fit, so I assumed they would be observing me more so than other teachers; however, they did not observe me, they spent remotely no time actually watching me operate in a classroom, on top of this I was given a truly egregious amount of contradictory instructions on how to do things because all the classrooms operated differently, which would of been fine except I was given "constructive criticism" for not knowing which one was right, or as the assistant director said "common sense", when my only form of training was watching what other teachers were doing and copying them, and a packet unrelated to the schools specific operations. Almost all the "criticism" given to me was unhelpful and vague, and I felt hardly applied to me; for example I was told I need to sing to the babies more, which I thought I did a lot already, and I witnessed through going to different classrooms I did it more than some employees that had been there over a year, yet this was told to me multiple times making me feel very singled out, and confused because they never were in the classroom with me? And I needed to work on "decision making" but was never told what "decisions" I was making that were incorrect or different from the other teachers. Management never speaks to you unless they have random critiques. I was let go and still am unclear on what I could of done better, even my co-teachers gave a surprised "what why?" when I told them, and they are the people I spent the most time operating with. Furthermore, communication was just strange on managements part, I was a little sick and went to the doctor because my throat was sore and the doctor said I was contagious, I told the assistant director this and even explained I didn't feel that bad my only concern was that I would be contagious around the babies, again, not that I felt too ill to work. And she said at least three things like "you didn't seem sick" "your energy seems the same" and things of that nature, basically insinuating I was lying/exaggerating even though I provided a doctors note. It was just very strange, how does someone even respond to that? And the cherry on top was my co-teacher feeling comfortable making the comments, "black people are too loud for the babies" and "I don't know why the parents like black people so much". Also the teachers gossip about each other and the whole environment is very unwelcoming especially for new people. In hindsight I am kind of glad they let me go because it saved me the trouble of quitting which I was already debating, ironically the only reason I hadn't left already was because I really did like those children. I've never had a job experience like this, and I hope to never again. read more

I've been very impressed with the founder, teachers and the facility. My grandsons are getting quality care with the right blend of fun, education and concern for the well being of the kids. And communication with parents is excellent. read more

OFA is such an amazing place to work ! The leadership at OFA is great, from Mia to Krystal, Dr.Joe and Lisa , they make working at OFA fun. They take the time to listen to teacher concerns, and give the teachers a chance to tailor the curriculum to their class. They make sure teachers are supported in the classroom, and they make sure the children are getting the best experience possible. They go above and beyond for the teachers. They care about the teachers and make sure everyone feels prepared for their respective role in the classroom. It's more like a family than a job. You develop authentic and genuine relationships with your coworkers and the children flourish in an environment where everyone is happy. read more