Kiddie Academy of Mountain View

If you’re looking for a safe responsible daycare for your child, this is NOT the place! With in two hours of my 19 month old granddaughters first day, she was bit on the face then hit in the face with a hard toy!!! Basically physically abused… are the kids left to care for themselves??? Very negligent and unacceptable.
This place deserves No stars… but I’m required to put one.

I don’t see how anyone can give a bad review about this daycare, when I am loving it so far! I started my 6-​month old son since the beginning of this year and I have no complaints. All of the teachers are super nice and caring and I have visited other daycares where the teachers look like they literally hate their jobs. The director, Martha, was very patient with my questions and concerns and explained everything to me from the very beginning. She gave me a tour of the whole facility and showed me where my son will be staying (infant room) and explained what the teachers do and the activities they teach the babies/​kids. It made me feel very comfortable knowing that she wanted me to actually bring my son and have him stay in the daycare a week before he started to get acclimated to the new environment since he has never been to a daycare before. This really helped because it was a smoother transition from being at home with one nanny vs 8 other babies and 2 teachers. I am really happy with the infant teachers and I see that all of the teachers help each other out when needed. Everyone is super friendly and I have visited other facilities where no one even bothers to look at your or acknowledge that you are there when you walk by. Also, they are very organized and it seems as if every teacher know my son and talk to him even though he is not in their class. I have to say that I am very impressed and pleased with how the whole staff takes care of my son and how patient and loving they are with each and every child there. Keep up the good work Kiddie Academy!

My daughter has been attending Kiddie Academy for almost a month. I was so nervous putting her anywhere. From the moment I called Kiddie Acadamy, Martha spoke to me with patience and reassurance. Ms. Maru is great with my daughter and my daughter only cries for a minute when I leave. But when we arrive to the center each morning and when I arrive to pick her up she’s never crying or upset. My daughter just turned a year and even naps on her mat like a big girl. I encourage Kiddie Academy to promote healthy eating and organic foods for all the babies and children. I’m happy I enrolled my daughter and I feel comfortable leaving my baby there. This takes a lot of work and patience. Not everything will be perfect but it’s important for the teachers and parents to work together and I feel Kiddie Academy does that. One last thing, on the first day of daycare, Martha the director called me to talk to me about my daughters first day and reassured me things would start to go more smoothly and was really passionate and caring. Thank you Martha.

My experiences between one Kiddie Academy to another are drastically different. Cupertino, efficient operations and the perception of management is awesome. Mountain View, not so much.
After receiving confirmation of a weekend story time, we arrive to a closed facility. No sign, no email, nothing. Other parents were just looking at each other like WTF? I hope the halo does not apply to their actual operations. The fact that they didn’t care enough to notify 6 to 7 other families is simply unacceptable as a business practice.

I love it. I didn’t start needing care until I had my second child so when I enrolled them my son was 4 my daughter almost one and I was very scared but that fear soon was gone. M daughter loves it after about her second day she stopped crying when I would leave her and is all smiles when we arrive on a daily basis. My son is the same way after school he always goes there and loves it. Never likes to miss a day.

I use this childcare as a back up option from time time. It‘s not a great place to be (kids have been watching cartoons there, which is not acceptable for me), but overall, my child felt there very good and secure. They also provide food, wich is awesome, I think.

I couldn’t imagine a better and safe place to leave my son every day.
We love the way the staff take care of our son; since he was 4 months old we had to leave him in the hands of someone else to look after him; at the beginning I wasn’t sure if I was the worst parent on earth for doing that, although since the moment Martha, the assistance director on that time opened the door I feel like home, I felt this place was not just another daycare, it felt like I was at home talking with persons who love their job and they do it with attention and real love for the children.
Now my child has 28 months old, and every single day I drove him to Kiddie Academy in Mountain View, I feel sure that he’s in good hands, and he’s going to have a day full of fun and activities that will keep him happy throughout the day, and then after I finish my job, and drove back to pick him up, I take a moment to see him and he’s always smiling and in good mood. Maybe not with the cleanest clothes, but that gives me the idea that he’s been playing, drawing, and running and having a great time at Kiddie Academy.

My experience is based on the short visit only, so can’t really give full review of this facility based on experience. I’ve decided not to put my child there right away.
1) The communication with the prospect customers is almost lacking. It took me almost a week of calling there daily to get someone pick the phone up.
2) When visiting, no one was there. I was waiting for the manager for 10 minutes after the agreed visit time and then left. No one was able to tell what’s happening, where’s the manager and when he or she will be back.
3) I was interested in the infant care, and in those 10 minutes I had an opportunity to watch what’s happening in the infant room. On baby was crying and no one seemed to care for quite a while. There was no contact between care giver and babies, they just placed babies from one place to another and in those 10 minutes I don’t recall anyone saying a word to any baby, or showing any emotion to the baby.
4) This is a small detail, but on the wall there was a sign «Velcome». Taking into account everything I saw already, this was just one more sign of how people might not take care of small things well there.
So, I decided not to wait for the manager any longer, since I’ve decided not to put my child there anyway.

My first instinct was that place wasn’t the best place for my sons emotional and intellectual development and I left thinking that they didn’t even have basic safety under control.
This was my first ever daycare experience I was so shocked I took my son straight home. Here is why…
When I first walked in a few things stuck me straight away. First of all, it was really dark. No one had bothered to turn the lights on. There were screaming kids everywhere and the place was very messy and disorganized.
There were only 2 helpers for about 20 children when I arrived. Suffice to say there was no administration person to assist me with the initial paperwork (I was told they were off sick along with all the other helpers that were supposed to be there). I thought that was weird that so many people were away. At this stage I am starting to feel really uncomfortable.
So I am starting to question whether this is going to be a good place for my son when suddenly the fire alarm goes off. Now I am faced with the chaos of 2 women trying to herd 20 kids out of the building. It gets worse. They heard the kids out the back of the building past what is the most depressing concrete playground I have ever seen to a car park. I realize at this point that if this was a real fire, these kids would have all fried. The ones that did make it out, would have been run over in the car park.
Another odd thing is that when I called to enroll my son, the fire alarm had also gone off that day. This makes me think that it isn’t just a once off thing but it happens on a regular basis.
Anyway, I was shocked. By just how bad this place was. It was straight out of a comedy skit of daycare gone wrong.
I have since taken my son to another daycare that is run in a very professional manner. The ratio of caregivers to children is awesome. It’s clean, has great equipment and toys. The administration desk is always staffed.

Just a follow-​up to my original posting and a reply to one of the comments. One of the first few things we did was report this to the Department of Social Services Childcare Division. Since then, an investigation was done and Kiddie Academy received 4, yes four citations as a result of this horrible incident including fines. As a result, all parents with children under their «care» now and all inquiring parents must be given a copy of the report outlining the incident and citations. This is also now part of their public record.

I enrolled my daughter here for her first childcare experience. I thought it was great because it was right down the street from where I would be working and it looked like they had a lot of good things planned through out the month.
Unfortunately, my daughter became sick the first week there. I expected this to happen as it happens to most children who haven’t gone to childcare. However, my daughter was sick almost every week for three months. Her doctor had said that she shouldn’t be getting this sick and suggested I rethink her childcare situation.
I had to leave my job due to how often she was sick and I pulled her out after only three months. I kept her in to help her immune system. We thought she would get over it. But when her doctor said she shouldn’t be there, I pulled her out right away! Her last month there she was only there for 7 days. They always claim how they are their to help families, but when I told them I lost my job due to the amount of time I had to take off due to her being sick, they still would not give me a refund for any of the remaining time left for the month.
There were a couple warning signs I had not given enough attention to. I thought they were one off’s. But now looking back I feel awful for having my daughter here as long as I had.
The toddlers are given a cement area behind the building to play in. I’ve seen my daughter playing on her own or crying with out anyone looking at her. Many times my daughter would be so thirsty because they didn’t make water available to them in extreem temperatures outside. When I would get her back inside she would drink three cups of water. Which is a huge amount for a 15 month old. The food they serve is mostly junk food. My daughter was only 15 months and they were giving her cookies and ice cream as snacks. I didn’t know until when we tried to leave one day they tried to give her an otter pop. She’s 15 months old! She doesn’t need ice sugar!
Don’t let their «Security» make you feel like this place is great. They tried to woo us with locked doors that can only be opened by parent’s finger prints. Also a computer to sign in. Neither ever worked.
I waited a bit to write this review as I was hoping they would do the right thing. But they didn’t. Once you ask for any money or decide to pull your child out, they just don’t care. It’s about money. Not your child.
However, one of her teachers was very kind to her and they formed a bond. But it wasn’t enough to keep her enrolled. There were too many negatives. I had to pull her out. Since she’s been out she has not been sick once and she’s been around other children and the park as well as other public places you would think children would get sick from.
I know this is lengthy but as a parent you should know. Look for something else. Seriously.