New Horizon Unitd Mthdst Lrnng Ctr Pre Schl & Chld

The search: After looking at least 8 preschools in and around Cooper City I visited New Horizon Learning Center.
I had called in the morning and was told I could stop by anytime without an appointment. So I did.
The initial visit: I was immediately greeted by the Director and given a tour of the school and its two playgrounds. One if which is what they call the Outdoor Learning Center — which my fearful 2 year old would not leave! He loved it so we signed up that week.
One year review: After an entire year at this school, I love the school and the teachers more than when we started.
The teachers truly love and respect the children. I have frequently stopped by unannounced and see the teacher meaningfully engaged with the children. Even the last 10 minutes of school is filled with learning opportunities.

My experience at this school site was a horrific experience. After researching and visiting several VPK centers we decided that this was definitely the perfect place for our child to attend. I saw parents walking out as I went to drop off my registration forms/​fee and everyone gave it amazing praises, I was extremely excited for the school year to begin but unfortunately I no longer share the same sentiments. The lead teacher was absent during the first two days of school due to a medical procedure, her substitute on day two made a disparaging remark about our child as I was holding the door for her to enter the main building. Little did she know that I was the mother of the child she was so annoyed and bothered with! Upon informing one of the directors of the incident I was just smiled at and told that the substitute clearly did not realize that I was the mother of the child. Not sure how that makes this scenario ok, but I let it slide. On day four our child was sent home with a note requesting that we speak to the lead teacher during drop off the next day. During that conversation the lead teacher who only has a High School diploma (as stated by Kim– the director of NHLC) essentially labeled and diagnosed our child as having ADHD, stating that the behavior displayed by our little one was «not normal,» and she had certainly never seen it during her 7 years as a teacher. She proceeded to ask if our pediatrician had suggested or advised us on possibly evaluating our child, and even went as far on her second day with our child to compare the behavior displayed to that of another child that she had the year before. According to her, the child she was referring to should not have gone on to kindergarten but his parents had not listened to her advice. Upon hearing all of this I was truly astonished, how is it that this VPK teacher who certainly has years under her belt but by no means is a master of the profession can come to these conclusions within a two day span. When I brought this up to one of the directors I was given the following response «well teachers talk, so she knows what has been going on.» Yes this certainly may be true but shouldn’t we make our opinions based on what we have solely observed, not label a child as the behaviorally challenged one of the class without having a lot of interaction. Bottom line is this all took place within the first week of school, now I know what it is like to want to address certain issues that kids may be having early on in order to rectify them but as an educator myself (with several degrees) the first rule is DO NOT DIAGNOSE a child unless you have the proper credentials! Clearly my child was not going to receive the proper care at this facility so it was in my opinion best to withdraw and transfer him to another location in order for all parties involved to have some sort of resolution. Although this decision came about due to the rudeness, and lack of professionalism from a staff member at this location my registration was not refunded. I called to also ask about the supplies that I had turned in, and only half of the items were returned. Nothing like ending on a good note!