Alphabet Academy

Loving, child-​centered, nurturing community school!
Excellent staff. Teachers & directors call and check in about your child early and often — fostering open doors between staff and families. The staff is very responsive to parent feedback, as well.
Our daughter has thrived at both Alphabet Station and now the Alphabet Treehouse. She soaks up new knowledge at school like a sponge — sharing songs, Spanish, yoga, science, letters of the week, new vocabulary, and nature facts. I appreciate the outdoor time students spend during the warmer months in the Treehouse’s outdoor play space.
Our daughter adores her teachers and enjoys spending time with her friends at school each day. Teachers care deeply about the children they serve at Alphabet Academy, and nurture curiosity and learning, in partnership with the individual child’s development and in collaboration with families.
The school focuses on learning through play, and also provides structure — free play, circle, story, snack, nap daily.
Additionally, the school values community involvement and is committed to supporting community efforts, including: holiday caroling at the local fountain, food & toy drives, and fundraising for those in need.
Finally, the location on Passyunk Ave. is extremely convenient, with great hours for working parents (7:00am-6:00pm daily), part-​time options (Treehouse), and affordable tuition.

My son, Daniel, has been going to Alphabet Academy since he was three months old — he is now 13 months. Sending Daniel to a place that wasn’t with me or my husband was so heartbreaking and difficult (as most parents know), but the ladies of Alphabet Academy were so wonderful during the transition.
Since Daniel isn’t talking yet, he can’t tell us how he feels about the days he spends at Alphabet Academy. But the proof is all there… Daniel smiles when he sees the staff and is obviously happy to be with them. He is thriving and I know that his teachers have so much to do with that. How can we ask for anything else? These people are taking care of my precious boy five days a week — feeding him, reading to him, laughing with him, comforting him, singing to him, doing activities with him… I can be at work and know that he is in capable hands and I know that I will get a phone call from Debbie if there is any cause for concern or I can call to ask how Daniel’s day is going and the person answering the phone will go check on him and let me know.
I absolutely recommend Alphabet Academy to parents out there looking for a safe, family oriented, happy place for their children to spend their days.

We have been with AA for 2+ years now after trying out several daycare in the area. It’s clean, affordable in comparison to many others, my kids love their teachers and vice versa, they play, make crafts, and any time I call someone is there and always available. As for the food issue, it is my understanding that the laws require food to be thrown away. From another daycare we used they didn’t do that and instead paid a fine for keeping the food around. I think ultimately daycare is whatever works for you and your kid. and AA definitely works for us.

My oldest daughter has been going to Alphabet Academy since she was 4 months old (shes 4 years old now). She’s currently in the Tree House’s preschool room and we have been very happy. She absolutely loves her teachers and friends and is excited to go to school everyday; she even gives me a hard time when she has to leave at the end of the day. She loves the science experiments that they do in the science lab and loves learning Spanish! She is definitely loved and well taken care of there and to me, that’s the most important thing.
In my opinion, no daycare is perfect and there is always something that parents would like to see differently. For example, I wish they did a bit more outside play. That being said, the owner, directors and teachers have always been open with me and have listened to my concerns and questions when I bring them up. As long as I continue to fee like I am being heard and my child’s needs are being met, I’m very happy with the care she’s getting.

My family has been associated with AA for 10+ years. Alphabet provides a clean, safe, and fun environment. 2 of my own children attended. The owner, directors, and teachers are very personable and will assist families in anyway possible. Both my children as well as my other family members loved Alphabet. Yes the children do work through play, I mean when the children leave Alphabet and begin elementary school there is no more play so it’s senseless to stress them out in daycare a daycare setting. The curriculum is A+. Prior to my youngest attending Alphabet I thought she was autistic she didn’t talk at all. She started at 1 yr, at 2 she was fully potty trained, by 3 she could spell her first and last name. She is now in the Pre-​K class, and assists my 1^st grader with some of his homework (this is all the work of Alphabet and their staff). I have never had any issues or concerns with Alphabet!

I love everything about Alphabet Academy. My daughter attended AA at age 3. After her pre-​school graduation (that was the best graduation ever) she was ready for Kindergarten.
AA was home away from home for my daughter. I always felt like my daughter was with family when attending AA. My daughter never came home with a complaint. My daughter was shown nothing but love!!!
Trips were always fun and parents were welcomed to attend.
Until this very day I’m still in contact with the staff. Sweetest group of women you would ever want to know. I would recommend Alphabet Academy to everyone!!!

This is not a quality day care facility. No communication from the school to parents. No proactive communication of any kind. Only the same generic note everyday that says your child ate and slept. In addition, the owner seemed very defensive anytime I brought up any concern. If they would partner with parents, I think they’d have a chance of being decent. Instead, they seem to treat parents as «an avoidable annoyance» they have to deal with…
A few times an angry letter from the owner about parents not parking in certain spots when dropping off children is what I heard from them or if you are one day late for paying the week, then you get communication from them. That’s it.
Biggest problem: The school’s teachers are mostly teenage girls from the local high school. When I toured there last fall, I was introduced to the adult teachers and assured that these were going to be my son’s teachers. These adults are only there in the morning. When I arrived in the afternoon, all I find are 16 year old girls watching TV and sitting against the wall with no adults in the room and my son being given the valuable lesson of «how to sit against the wall.»
After a while I realized that this day care LOOKS like it would be good-​but it isn’t good at all. They are great at appearances during the tour, but deliver nothing but teenage girls checking their phones, caring for your kids.
I pulled my son out and have been happy since.

I have had 2 kids attend two of the AA daycares. One went to alphabet aquarium and one years later to the treehouse. I think you have to know what you want in a daycare before choosing. Yes there is tv but I only saw it during pickup time at the aquarium and honestly I can’t throw stones because the electronic babysitter comes in handy at my house quite often.
My first priority has always been that my kids feel cared for. I know my kids were treated well at AA and it was not as expensive as the prior daycare we used. I want my kids to play and have fun. They did that. I can recommend this school for anyone looking for uncomplicated child care. I wouldn’t recommend it for parents who are trying to teach their 2 year olds 5 different languages. Perhaps the parents of the «gifted» child were right. ;)
Here’s the two gripes I have and I can’t really complain because one happened after we left and we never asked them to change the other. My daughters teacher was let go without any notice to the parents. I don’t know what happened so I can’t really opine but I know some parents were upset with the abruptness and lack of communication. I also have heard this is common in child care. The second is that they always threw away the food and we never knew how much of the lunch we packed was actually eaten. As I said, we never asked for the remaining lunch not to be thrown out.
Honestly I don’t know where I went to daycare and I don’t think it determined the course of my life.

We sent our son here from the age of 2 — 3.5 y/​o. We paid extra money for Treehouse, which claims to have «organic» options (and from what I understand, less screen time). We were dismayed at how the generally poor quality of care detrimentally affected our son.
Screen time: this was our chief concern with this facility. It was also a major concern for many of the other parents we talked to. They claim to only allow screen time for 20 mins /​day, but we would come in at various times of day to pick up our son, and almost always saw the TV on. From what I understand, Alphabet Academy’s other facilities rely on screen time even more. One other couple told us that their son came home from their summer camp (Alphabet Aquarium) and said he was actually bored because all they did was watch TV & movies. AA begins allowing children to watch TV when they turn 18 months. For reference, the American Academy of Pediatricians recommends that children under 2 have NO screen time; obviously the harm or utility of screen time is a debatable issue and subject to individual parental judgment, but the fact that they are relying on it so frequently & feeding it to children so readily, is worrying. For the first year, our son became absolutely addicted to screens, throwing wild temper tantrums when he wasn’t allowed to watch the iPad at home. It broke my heart. Largely through the heroic efforts of my wife, we managed to wean our son off of screens, but it was a long & difficult process, particularly when he was watching it every day at daycare.
Food/​snacks: We paid extra money to send our son to AA’s Treehouse facility b/​c it was «organic», but this was a laughable marketing ploy. Snack time is either cheese puffs or veggie chips. Processed, empty calories aren’t any healthier just because they’re bought from Whole Foods. There are no fresh foods served at snack time, so please don’t be fooled by any of their claims. Also, the staff throw away any uneaten food from the child’s lunch. AA claims that this is for reasons of health & hygiene. We have never heard of daycare facilities throwing away uneaten food, and friends with children at other schools were surprised when we told them this. As far as I know, they’re not participating in any state or federal programs that would necessitate this (e.g. CACFP), so it’s a strange practice, and offensive & wasteful if there something in the child’s lunchbox that she or he hasn’t even touched.
Staff quality: It would be a far stretch to call any of the staff «teachers». I don’t know much about the education levels or qualifications of the staff members, but they didn’t seem particularly adept at handling large numbers of young children. Although there were one or two who seemed like they were good at engaging and managing the children, it mostly seemed like they resorted to a lot of shouting & empty threats (timeouts, etc). Rather than seeing trained facilitators working on developing the children’s self-​control and other skills, I detected a lot of frustration and desperation. And while certainly work experience is just as important as education, it was a very young group of people running the day-​to-​day. They didn’t seem to have much experience taking care of children in a facility setting. Additionally, there is fairly high turnover, or at least there was when we were at Treehouse. How is a staff member supposed to develop a rapport or bond with the children, and how are children supposed to develop a sense of permanence and stability, when new staff is coming in every 6 – 8 months? To us, it was just another indicator that quality of care is a low priority for AA.
Price: AA is higher priced than any of the nearby facilities (Moonstone, Giving Tree, etc.). It was like getting salt rubbed in our wounds. The private school we now send our son to — which for all of us has been like finding a divine oasis in a hellish desert — is about the same price as AA! So I guess the joke is on us.
In sum: When I reflect on our experience at AA, I inevitably start ranting about the low priority that we place on child development in the US, compared to many other countries. Sadly, AA is actually GOOD compared to many other daycares. The good news is, there are other options now sprouting up around the South Philly area. Please take the time to plan & find a good source of care for your child. We ended up in AA b/​c of a lack of planning, & we paid the price, both figuratively and literally. Fortunately, our stay there was short & our son is currently thriving.

I’m very torn on what to say here. I recommend Alphabet Academy– but with caution. My son was enrolled from 4 months old until around his 2^nd birthday, so I can only comment on the infant room, young toddler, and middle-​level toddler group at Alphabet Station.
Many parents whose kids are at AA love it, and I agree with many of the reasons. Here are the major pros:
1. most importantly, you know your kid will be cared for and shown a lot of love. The teachers are passionate about being good caregivers. This is invaluable and to me, the most important thing.
2. COST. It’s a bargain for quality care. You can save money as well by paying a year in advance. I looked at daycares in center city which were, quite literally, twice as expensive.
3. A few minor things. I liked that we provide the food; I knew my son was eating healthy, and they respected my wishes concerning no juice, etc. They were also good about things like safety, reporting incidents. And, being open on snowy days.
However, there were some major cons though that didn’t sit right with me.
1 TV. It honestly did not even cross my mind to ask about it when we visited; none of the other daycares I had looked at had tvs, and I just assumed it was a given. All of the research shows that TV is detrimental to kids under 2, but at AA, all the kids watch tv– including in the infant room, which to me is completely inappropriate. I stopped by at random times during the day and they line up the babies on the playmat in front of the TV… the babies learn they have to stay there. I hated it.
2. naps in the infant room. Babies under 10 months/​1 year or so should typically be taking 2 naps a day– one in the morning, one in the afternoon. However, at AA, they only do one nap for the infants at lunchtime. Yes, if the kids fall asleep they let them sleep, but most babies over 4 – 6 months struggle sleeping in a loud room with all the lights on. I realize it’s a pain to haul out the cribs twice a day, but it’s what they SHOULD be doing, not just making naptime convenient with lunch breaks. My son would come home absolutely exhausted until he finally transitioned to needing 1 nap a day. Other high quality daycares do 2 naps a day for babies, and this really bothered me about AA.
3. they are not Keystone rated by the state of PA. They don’t even submit themselves for certification. When I asked about this, they said there were silly Keystone rules about the building requirements that they didn’t meet. What building requirements? I have no idea, but it was a little bit odd and made me go «hmmm…» (Maybe it’s an important requirement with Keystone due to safety; who knows?)
4. they never go outside!!! These poor toddlers with so much energy are stuck inside all day long. Back in 2012, they promised me that an outdoor garden was opening up that would give the toddlers a place to play. As of the end of 2014, the toddlers were still not using it, as far as I know.
5. I don’t know why this bugs me so much but they put away the kids’ drinks at 3pm. If you can’t pick up your kid til 6pm, that’s 3 hours, and since very young toddlers can’t communicate that they are thirsty, they just go without. My son would regularly down an 8oz cup of water as soon as I picked him up.
I have a few minor complaints as well but those are fairly nitpicky. For example:
1. there is 20 minute parking outside from 7am-​6pm to accommodate drop off & pick up. There are about 3 spots and parking in that area is at a premium. Sometimes you get jerky neighbors who park there illegally, but do you know who the biggest violator is? THE OWNER. She regularly parks her car in drop off/​pick up all day. I went in to complain to see if PPA could ticket, and was notified it was the owner’s car.
2. I feel like communication was not good sometimes. I would sometimes get nasty reminder letters (sent to everyone) about how we should do something, like send food in a certain way, which they never told me when I moved into that room. Of course, I complied as soon as I knew. I sometimes had to request things multiple times before they respected our wishes (which was never anything very demanding).
3. this mostly applies upstairs, and didn’t happen with my son because he stopped daycare after moving upstairs, but the older toddler group is on the same floor as the middle-​toddler group. When toddlers get older, they change groups. However, their teachers that they’ve become very attached to don’t move. You can see the heartbreak when the kids first move over and they don’t understand why they can’t go see the teacher they’ve become really attached to. This may be the same in all daycares, I don’t know, but I don’t think it’s as big of a deal when you move to a separate room– 2 age groups in one big room just makes it hard on the kids with emotional attachments.
This was long but I wanted to give a comprehensive review of what I both liked and didn’t like at Alphabet Station. I recommend it, but with reservatio

Agree with the previous review. Too much TV.
Our son was kicked out for misbehavior. We knew we were not happy, but then he was kicked out during a time of transition. No notice, no conference: just kicked out, without warning from the director, who was at the time 8 months pregnant, and cited that reason.
We have later assessed our child, and found him to be in the «gifted» range.
We found the school acceptable until the above happened, but please beware: No outside time (except for gross roof play yard); Difficulty potty training (he was fine after being kicked out); intolerance for gifted children.