Learning Springs

My son started going here back in July. He is 6yrs old. When he started he had many issues including hyper activity and sensory issues. After he had been there for 3 weeks he started to trust the staff and learned how to calm down. He has been a totally different child ever since! Lucia the director is amazing and all the staff has been so patient in understanding his needs. It is really hard to put into words how wonderful they are. I highly recommend them for a private school and for after school care. When I pick my son up at night he is so happy he doesn’t want to go home, he would rather stay and play.

Staff at this school are caring, knowledgeable, have solid experience with special needs children, and very easy to talk with. The owner, Lucia, is very warm, understanding, inviting, friendly, and knows a lot about special needs. Our 6yr old did one successful and fun week of camp and ABA therapy during the 2015 summer. Now our son is lucky and gets to attend the schools 1^st grade class. We love the daily notes from the teachers we get at pick up to know how our son did each day. Our 6yr son has Autism, ADHD, Anxiety, Impulse Control, and Negative Attention Seeking Behavior and has adjusted very well, made friends, and is finally doing great in school. Finally he is playing with peers and not hanging on adults all day. Our psychologist who conducted an IEE on our son and viewed him here in the secret observation room said this is the perfect school for our son. We highly agree! Finally our son is getting the help he needs for his special needs!

Staff are very knowledgeable and truly care about the kids. Our special needs 6 year old son attended after recommendations from his psychologist. He has been there for a week and attended ABA therapy and summer camp and has done extremely well in terms of interacting with his peers and staff. During pickup and drop-​off all the staff are friendly, communicate strongly and the kids look happy and engaged. The perfect environment for our son.

Wrote a review in 2011 about my now 9 year old son who attended Learning Springs for 3 years from 2008 – 2011. He was speech delayed when he started, and only said a few words in a language he had created – he could not be understood by his teachers and peers. Lucia, the director, and the teachers worked with him daily, and Lucia gave my husband and I «homework» with drills and activities designed to help our son with his delay. By the time he was in his third pre-​K year, he had improved his expressive and receptive language delay tremendously, and was giving short oral presentations in class. He had also made many friends.
Now in June 2015 my very spirited 3 year old twin boys are almost done with their first year at Learning Springs, and attend five half days. Thankfully, they are not speech delayed, but they are very challenging and love to test the teachers often. Lucia, and the Yellow Room teachers work on daily positive behavior strategies, and the twins’ behavior is improving. There is daily communication between myself, the wonderful teachers, and Lucia, the director. I know that my twins will be as prepared as my older son was when he graduated and began kindergarten – he was strong in reading, math and science!

At first it was awesome til my stepson was always dirty when I would pick him up I would have to change him. Then I came and one girl said he threw up and slept a lot at home he had the biggest black bruise on his chin. First thought my baby got hurt and you guys said nothing and let him sleep… They change teachers more than they will change you kids… The director only wants your money she literally stole from my family under the premise of well we worked with you. Right doesn’t wrong anyone and these people are wrong… Lost my job lost our home and she kicked my kids out stole 800 $ and sued us to steal more and left out money we payed her… Stay away unless you don’t mind rotating teachers… Well students so she pays then cheap so they leave I stayed in contact with a couple so listen up… At a time I loved it but it was so sour and evil at the end. They do it to everyone… Its not Stratford!!!

My 3 old toddler had a very unpleasant first time daycare experience while she was at Learning Springs for 7 days.
She was hit by a child while having 3 adults in the same classroom «supervising» her.
There was no exact explanation as to why they didn’t witness the incident.
My child had an «accident» and I always provided an extra pair if clothes as expected, but my child was left with her dirty clothes throughout the day.
The hours state they are available for business at 7am and for me this was expressed how important it was to be their on time. The staff would walk in right at 7am and by the time I walked out from checking her in and everything else that needed to be done, i was 10 minutes behind schedule.
I expressed thus to the director and we couldn’t continue allowing more incidents occur and decided to not continue having our child be here.
We requested our 2 weeks of daycares money that we had paid in advance to be refunded and they refused and said their policy stated we needed to give a months notice stating we were removing our child.
We were furious to hear how the wanted us to leave our child their to have more incidents happen.
A refund wAs not given back to us and were un-​sympathetic.
Bad experience from day one.

My daughter started there when she was 3 and we went there for nearly 1.5 years. The teacher she had was nice but nap time became something she no longer needed (she’d be up till 11pm if she napped). It was difficult to communicate this to them, they kept making her nap despite my objection. Another student was bullying her and again they were unresponsive in helping the situation. Over the course of the 1.5 years this place has seemed to go downhill and my daughter would scream with terror and complete anxiety to go daily. It was heartbreaking. I withdrew my daughter on the 8^th of the month and for her remaining time moved her to 3 days per week. Despite that she’d only be there until the 8^th of the next month (they require a 30 day withdrawal notice which I find excessive) they kept my entire deposit!!! For only 8 days of the month my entire ½ months deposit is gone. Do not recommend this place at all.

Livewire, dashing, dynamic Exec Director Lucia, Fun Classes, variety of activities, weekly email updates, regular photo updates on things done, parents welcome anytime, listening to parents input, transparency at its best.
This would be a great place for your high functioning kids to go to. The academics for the typical child may not be the tops, but the overall experience here would make it one of the best places around. Highly recommended.
The spirit of Lucia shines around and gives joy and peace to families who have their children there.
Update –29 Nov, 14
School looking shorthanded, hopefully it is a temporary thing. We withdrew our child end of October, and experienced staffing challenges for a couple of weeks.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this place and all the staff too! Everyone here is amazing! We’ve been coming here for almost a year now. My daughter attends the preschool program and my son is there for their after school, school-​age program. Both of my kids are excited about going to school here. They love their teachers, and are always excited to show me the things they have learned.
My son loves doing his science projects in the after school program and loves to learn new words in Spanish. My daughter loves her teacher in the red room and loves all the cool and exciting programs they work on. They have a lot of different activities throughout the year for the kids to do, like going to the pumpkin patch, having an Easter egg hunt, visits from people with reptiles, visits from police and firefighters, etc. They are always learning so much. They are learning words in Spanish, cooking in the classroom (and they somehow even managed to get my picky eater to try new foods too!). They offered group activities to learn social skills with other kids and they offer baseball and soccer, all at an extra cost if you are interested in those programs too.
We had lots of opportunities to meet other parents at school events and if you are willing to put yourself out there to meet other families, you can make a lot of new friends for yourself too… even from the other classrooms!
The women behind the scenes in the front office, Karina and Lucia, are so very friendly and extremely helpful. They keep things running smoothly, communicate with families regularly and are more than willing to work with you if something comes up. Just keep the communication lines open so they know what is going on.
Every night we receive a communication log from the teachers that comes home with the kids. These logs let us know what was happening during the day. I need to say that I have really appreciated these.
If you are looking for a fun place with great staff and a fantastic learning environment in multiple age groups, then this is the place for you and your kids!
I would highly recommend Learning Springs Academy to anyone.

Both my kids have been attending LS since the beginning of March. I’ve noticed improvement in my son’s reading and writing abilities. The only complaint he has it that he is asked to lay down and rest at nap time. Parents received a communication log everyday that tells you what kid of work your child worked on, if they ate snack and lunch, bathroom use, etc. The teachers always write a little something to give you a peek into your child’s day. We are very happy with our experience here.

My daughter attended Learning Springs for 2 years and the overall experience was nothing short of great. I was very happy with everything the school had to offer as well as the staff and teachers.
This was my first exposure to a preschool and I searched high and low until I found a school that I felt comfortable leaving my daughter for the first time. All of these factors made for a very easy transition for us:
–safe, nurturing environment
–daily communication logs so I knew if my daughter finished her lunch, how long she napped for, what her overall mood was, and always a personalized note about something special my daughter did that day
–emails from the teachers on a weekly basis explaining the upcoming events and what was happening in the classroom. I always knew what was going on.
–open door policy. I could always walk in to the office at any time and speak to the director Lucia or assistant director, Karina to discuss anything and they were always happy to help out.
The classrooms are large, appealing, clean, organized, and well equipped. The playground large with multiple play structures. They also have a great curriculum which had my daughter coming home excited about all the things they were learning each day. She still sings alot of the songs she learned almost 2.5 years ago. I also appreciated the assessments they did twice a year so I could see my daughter progress.
I have to say, one of the biggest things I appreciated was their flexibility. Our first year, I wasn’t working so I sent my daughter only in the mornings. In the middle of her second year, I went back to work part time and Lucia was very flexible and accomodating and worked out a schedule that best suited my needs.
Overall I couldn’t have asked for a better first preschool experience, I highly recommend them, and I look forward to sending my younger daughter there later this year.

I love this school. I first brought my son in 4 years ago and now my daughter. My son came into pre-​k from another school not knowing anything and after the one year he was able to read, write his name, some addition and learn to read the clock My daughter is only 3 and she is loving her teacher and learning new things each day. The director is always planning special events for the students and takes parents concerns seriously. This school always goes above and beyond and I appreciate it very much. My daughter loves to go to school and it always eager to go. If I had more kids they would be going to this school.

I was recommended to Learning Springs by a friend, and since then my overall experience with them has been great! My daughter has been attending preschool here going on 5 months now and looks forward to going everyday. The classroom is very welcoming and organized, equipped with books, toys, round tables, cubbies, and crafts, and they also have a huge playground in the back where the kids get to have recess. The staff is very friendly, and the teachers do a great job of keeping you updated daily on your child’s progress. They also have a great curriculum for the kids where each week has a new theme that incorporates new letters, numbers, shapes, people, places, etc. to learn. It’s really an amazing feeling to hear my daughter come home singing the songs she’s learned in school and telling me about all the things she’s learning. The schedules are flexible, prices are very reasonable. Overall, Learning Springs is a great school and I highly recommend them for any parents looking for a preschool.

My four year old son has been here for about a year and he has learned and experienced things that have benefited his development academically and socially. We noticed an immediate impact with my son after he was potty trained within a month of starting and half a year of attempting at home.
The whole family admires the Learning Springs so much that we’ll soon be enrolling our second son. Our baby is very familiar with the academy since he sometimes goes to drop off and pick up his older brother. The baby loves being in the classrooms and playground and is already comfortable with the teachers and environment.
I’m not sure if other schools or child care centers provide communication logs, but the ones I receive from Learning Springs are very helpful in letting us know what the lesson was for the day, how my son participated and even how he ate and slept for the day. On additional plus is the parents night out that the academy provides. We’ve only benefited from this once, due to scheduling, but we hope to take advantage more. Both boys enjoyed their one experience at LSA while mommy and daddy had their night out.
Can’t imagine what my son’s growth would be like without LSA.

Both of my sons attended LSA when they were in preschool. I loved it and they loved it. They loved it so much that they still ask to go to Parents’ Night Out even though they are now in elementary school. Parents’ Night Out is held once per month from 6 to 9pm to allow parents to go out for dinner. The kids come in their pajamas, eat pizza, do crafts and have lots of fun for an extremely reasonable price, much less than what a babysitter would cost. When my sons were in preschool at LSA, they both received extremely personalized care. The director noticed that my older son exhibited some characteristics of a child with Asperger’s and after I had him assessed, he was diagnosed as Asperger’s. He has been getting pragmatic speech therapy and social training since he was four years old. He received such great training at LSA to help with his social issues. He went on to a regular classroom in public elementary school where he is on the honor roll. I am positive that had it not been for the extra attention and care he received at LSA he would not be doing as well today. My younger son also received great individual attention. He was a very active guy, and they had great strategies for helping him join circle time and being calm when it was time to learn.
I was really impressed that all the teachers had bachelors degrees, the director has two masters degrees (in special ed and psychology), and the communication with parents is amazing. There are daily communication logs that go home and the teachers and directors send individualized emails on a regular basis. LSA provided a great balance between academic achievement and play time to help children grow socially and academically. My boys loved it! Finding a good preschool is very difficult so I feel very lucky that we found LSA.

I could not have asked for a better preschool to send my kids! Between my two children we have now been at Learning Springs going on 4 years. The school, as a whole, does an excellent job at fostering a love for learning. The school has 4 different classrooms based on age of child and the child’s Kindergarten start date. It provides a full spectrum of education starting with the basics (alphabets, numbers, colors, shapes, etc) to specialized areas (phonics, reading, science, cooking, math, etc). Learning Springs provides a good balance between structured educational time and free play/​learning time. My children are so excited about the new things that they learn. I enjoy listening to what my kids have to share about the things they’ve learned in school.
As if the preschool program wasn’t good enough, Learning Springs has an excellent after school program! My child goes to Learning Springs after his day at Kindergarten is over. Going back to Learning Springs after his Kindergarten time made for such a smooth transition into Kindergarten. My child’s anxiety of starting new at Kindergarten was completely diminished knowing that he would still be able to enjoy the second half of his day with the teachers and friends that he was so familiar with. The after school program gives the kids a chance to unwind, but there is also time allotted for the kids to do their homework. Often times homework will be completed and reviewed during the after school program, which means the parents don’t have to battle out homework with the kids after a long day =).
All of the teachers and staff are wonderful. They are all nurturing and caring in their interactions with the children. Everyone is easily accessible either through phone or email. My favorite thing about the school, if I had to pick one, is that the school is so flexible and tries its best to accommodate my requests for my child. For example, my son has a strong desire to read and/​or be read to. To encourage his love for reading, the teacher takes extra time to spend with him to read, he was also paired up with an older after school student to read together. The staff is great at pinpointing strengths and weaknesses in each child and working on how to foster further development in areas as needed.

My daughter attended LSA last year and while it wasn’t all bad, I am really glad she is moving to another preschool for the 2011 – 2012 year. I was looking for a school where we could both develop relationships, and she could meet some girls would might live in our neighborhood to do playdates with. There were only two other girls in her class, and their parents didn’t speak English. That wasn’t so much LSA’s fault, but it was a big disappointment. I felt misled about the «extracurricular activities» which I was told included dance, Spanish, soccer, and cooking. I was led to believe these were either standard parts of the curriculum and occurred during school hours. I had to wait a month before their «fair» explaining it all. There was no cooking or Spanish offered, the dance class was over $ 100 a month and all classes started at 3pm, when I have to pick up my son from kindergarten. I wanted her to be able to enjoy these classes during school hours. Our previous school had a class called Little Movers which was $ 38 month and during school hours. I tried to get LSA to get in touch with Little Movers, and I know Little Movers approached them at my behest, but they wouldn’t get Little Movers.
Maybe my first tip off was the back to school BBQ, which promised a bounce house. It was the $ 300 Little Tikes version that doesn’t even hold 5 kids, except there were about 50 kids all trying to get in, it was tipping over and collapsing. Finally someone went in and monitored the kids. i also had an opportunity to buy my LSA t-​shirt so my daughter could show her «spirit» on spirit days. Screw that! I am not paying you more money for buy some spirit!
I forgot to save my receipts for a few months and asked for reprints. I was informed that each receipt (a freakin’ print out from QuickBooks) would cost $ 5, and to combine them onto one page would be $ 25. This is basic customer service. I was so shocked they would charge for this.
The biggest issue I had was arriving to pick up my daughter and seeing four 3 year olds unattended in the yard. One of them asked me, a stranger, to open his juice box. I waited until a teacher came out, one I didn’t know, and asked why these children were unattended. She said «they’re not mine, they’re not my responsibility!» I was furious. If you work here, you are ALL responsible for the safety of every child!!! Had she said «Oh no, I don’t know where the teacher went, I assure you this was a temporary accident and I will supervise them and ensure the director knows what happened» I might not have been so inclined to write the director a scathing email. She accepted responsibility but also assigned blame to my daughter’s teacher. The incident was never self-​reported and it should have been. If I were more spiteful I could have reported it and had their license yanked.
When I was diagnosed with leukemia earlier this year they were accommodating about letting random friends pick my daughter up since I spent most of spring and summer in the hospital. I had informed them verbally in March that she would not be returning the next year, but while I was in the hospital getting a bone marrow transplant I neglected to write them a 30 days termination notice. Later I realized that was required to get my $ 250 deposit back. I asked them if they might make a special consideration for my circumstances and the fact that they had plenty of notice. The director wouldn’t even take the time to respond to my emails about it, or didn’t have the balls to say no so she just ignored me. When I needed a copy of the last receipt, I asked her if I could pay by pay pal since I couldn’t go to the school and she actually waived the fee this time, but still refused to discuss the deposit, which I’ve written off by now.
Her new school has just offered me free extra child care so I can pick my daughter up late on the days that I have doctor’s appointments. LSA charged me $ 16/​hour for that and I highly doubt they would consider a freebie. I am excited to be treated like a human at the new school and excited that my daughter’s curriculum includes Spanish, sports, and sign language. I was reluctant to make her change again, but I know it will be a better experience.

My son went here for less than 6 months and we changed him to a different preschool. The Director, Lucia, is very nice and has a good background, which is the primary reason we enrolled our son here.
Learning Springs is going throug ha lot of changes (i.e. increasing enrollment, turnover in teachers and administration) where it just seemed like the level of support our son was not being met due to all of these changes. Add to that the fact that Learning Springs tried charging us for different services where it felt like they were trying to make as much money as possible and we decided that this was not the right fit for us.
I would not recommend Learning Springs at this time with all of the changes.

I love Learning Springs! My son has been at the school for 3 years and my daughter has been there for 2 years. They both love it! The teachers are great. They have a great balance between learning and play. I have never worried about their safety or their well being at the school. The school is safe and always clean. The teachers are very caring and go out of their way to help my kids when they are having trouble. My older son has been diagnosed with Asperger’s and the staff has been amazing. In fact, it was the director at the school who identified the need for an assessment and helped develop ways to help my son maximize his learning and social development. We were able to get help for him at a very early age because of the school’s experience with special needs kids. He is now moving on to a regular classroom at a public school. My daughter does not have any of these types of issues. She is just a regular high energy three year old and the school is also great with her. My kids have learned a tremendous amount. My son was reading at 3 without being pressured. He has strength in learning letters and words, and the school helped him build on his strengths without pressuring him to read at an early age. I can’t recommend the school enough! Unfortunately I had to move and put my younger child in a new preschool. It has reinforced my belief that Learning Springs is an amazing place. In comparison to the more expensive preschools that my daughter has now attended, they don’t compare in any way to Learning Springs. They don’t treat my daughter as an individual like they did at LSA. She is just a number to them. When she was at LSA, she felt special. We all miss it there and wish we could move back!