StarChild Academy356

My child attends the Star Child Academy in Wekiva/Apopka. The owners know every child & parent that walk in & out their front door and they use the names too. They are friendly and very professional.

The curriculum is very aggressive, which is a great thing for parents who like their children to learn. They also have ample play time.

The teachers at this school play their role; they are teachers, FYI -they're not there to be friends of the students. That said, they are very friendly to the children and very stern when they need to be. Any parent that has a problem with this, is a parent who does not discipline or know how to discipline their own children. I love that this school teaches the children to be independent, to be empowered and to be respectful. I wish all schools in the USA were like that. If they were, our children would be alot more respectful to teachers & their parents, they would be in less trouble & would be more focused on the things they need to focus on - like school, studying, school and studying.

It's so unfortunate that the parents that rated this school below 5-stars really have no idea what a great opportunity their child is missing out on. I worry about my child going to another school, be it public or otherwise; there aren't many schools that are as great as Star Child Academy. It's worth every dollar.

First off, not all StarChild Academy's are the same. Waterford's has proven to be the best. Child performance and parental satisfaction has been so high that other daycares, including other StarChild Academy's have visited to see how to modify their own curriculums. We read these other reviews on here and were cautious until we visited the facility ourselves several times. One review complains about Apopka (each academy is run independently and has their own curriculum). Another complains about their child running out the front door and let me tell you that is all but impossible with 3 doors to run through and the last door monitored by AT LEAST one person all day. The last one sounds like a parent who had their child removed by the school... not removed by themselves.

We moved there from another daycare in 2008 after our name came up on the waiting list and couldn't imagine going anywhere else. There is usually a 1 to 2 year waiting list to get in if that is any indication... if nothing else, it says nobody is leaving. It seems like every teacher knows all the kids in the place and treat them like family. Sometimes we feel like our kids hug the staff more than they do us. They have projects and parties all the time and parade graduates around the entire facility. It is adorable. From what I've heard, most graduates from last year's class have been advanced placed. They have extra curricular activities outside of school as well. All rooms have lots of visibility to each other through large windows. We found the price to be high but competitive with other "learning" and accredited daycares, and well worth it. With the economy the way it is right now, there may be some openings.

Don't take anyone's word for it. See for yourself. We took several tours and stayed extended periods with a supervisor just to make sure we were making the right decision. We have no doubts we have.

StarChild Waterford does not have a good reputation. BEWARE...you are risking your children's safety and nuturing at this school. It is clear they are all about the dollar. Numerous families have removed their children from this school for various reasons such as teacher's pulling hair, putting tape around toddlers shoes, teachers yelling, uncontrolled classrooms, and etc. As a Mom, I would NEVER recommend this school to anyone. I ended up removing my children after 1 month.

I went to the waterford location because of multiple recommendations. The problem is that they went to the school a few years ago. It has gone down hill a LOT. We left the location because they seem to not even care about our children. They even let my son run out the front door 3 times. (I wonder who was supposed to be watching them). After the third time we left

We have had a great experience with Star Child in Waterford - our child loves going there and that is a big change from the other daycare she started at in the past. They are always doing something with the kids, the staff working in her room really seem to work - and enjoy the kids. They have tons of toys and books. I wish the kids got outside more often, but other than that I have only praise for the one in Waterford Lakes.

...StarChild Academy in Apopka from day one 2005. My son started in the infant room thru graduation. In my opinion the owners should of done something special for the class of 2005. There were only a handful that did attend the 5 yrs and it wouldn't of been to hard to do something special for the little ones. The most surprising situation was when we gave notice that our children were going to attend the before and after extended day at their school, it was not big deal or sadness in Cindy's expression. It was like "okay". StarChild was a huge part in our childrens lives for the past 5 yrs and they felt jilted by the lack of affection that the owner's didn't not show. No hug, shake of the hand..Just a wave good bye...to me that just shows they are only in it for the money. The before and after class room is totally uncontrolled with screaming kids and in my opinion once again not staffed as it should be. One positive point is that my children learned alot from StarChild but lost what they learned very quickly once they started public school. I personally wouldn't spend the extra money to send my child to StarChild because of the lack of affection from the owners and workers. I have seen in the two year old room one worker jerk up a child which I told the owner and nothing was done to remove the caregiver.