“Had to come on here and leave a review!! My two little girls have been going here for years and I cannot say enough good things. From the owner to the staff to the management. I will only take my kids here and there is a reason there are the best in Clarksville.
Shot out to Macey and Eva’s teachers and Mrs. Hope!! We love you.
I had to leave a comment because I just saw that someone wrote that they only care about money.
I’m a school teacher so i can vouch that this is the best care you could find the most genuine care you could find. In a world where all employees and the overall care seems to be going downhill, I will say that The Youth Academy seems to be doing a very, very good job not following the others lead. Just so happy.
Any concern or understanding we’ve had or needed ( which usually ends up being a state policy) is taken care of and with the upmost respect and concern for my families and mine wants and needs.
Just a little encouragement for you all ♥️”
“Amazing staff with so much heart and caring mindset. It’s wonderful seeing our toddler get excited every morning to attend. The teachers really make an effort to engage with my toddler even if they aren’t assigned to his specific room. Candy from the infant room makes me feel very comforted with leaving my 9month old and seems to genuinely care about the babies, plus she stays on top of growth development. The management is really committed to providing a safe, fun, and loving environment and we’re very thankful.”
“All my children attended the Youth Academy from Infant until the last one just interred middle school. They are good people who truly love children. My daughter just told me the other day she wants to work there when she is old enough. That says a lot from a child who has been raised there”
“My son started at this daycare on June 22, 2020. He was 3 months old. Before his first day I called and inquired about the care and visited the facility to take a tour, meet the teachers, and sit down with the director. I was told there would be two teachers in the room and one, Ms. Candie was a past director at another facility. The tour was very nice and the teachers seemed nice. They put on a good show and we ultimately chose this place because we believed, because we were told, that they had a camera system and could pull footage of any incidents in the case that there was one. We learned later this was not the case after I had to sign an incident report for my child who was 3.5 months old.
My schedule is pretty set and I would drop my son off around 7am and would pick him up around 5:30 PM every day. The way their schedule works his primary teacher would be there from the time I dropped him off until about 2pm-3pm and the other teacher, a young girl (assistant to Ms. Candie), would be there alone with the last few children for the rest of the day.
I would ask her questions at the end of the day about his day and was often met with the response of “I don’t know” and “he is the youngest I’ve ever watched so I am not sure,” On numerous occasions I would get my child home and his diaper would be put on incorrectly and so tight that his sides were extremely red. There were a few occasions where I would pick him up and be walking to the car and notice his diaper was extremely full. I would check the paper they give you at pick up that states when the child last had their diaper changed. On many occasions I would pick him up at 5:30 and the paper would say that he was changed at 5:25, but his diaper would obviously be full and had not been changed in a very long time. This made me very skeptical of his diapers. Things like this happened numerous times.
There were multiple days I would get there to pick him up and the teachers would not have fed him the all of the bottles I had brought, which is also the required amount of food that he needs on a daily basis. I told the main teacher Ms. Candie multiple times throughout the month and half he attended to please make sure he gets all of his bottles, because he gets extremely upset when he doesn’t get his required amount of food. She would often say “it is too busy” and/or “he just doesn’t want it,” while at home he has no problem eating the amount I bring them to feed him. It is clear they do not take the time and do not care. I would pick him up and his entire outfit would smell like spit up. I asked both teachers if he had spit up at all and was often told no. He had dried spit up all over his outfit and smelled of spit up. They were not even paying attention to him to even notice. The hair on the back of his head would be hard and you could tell he was laying down and spit up went down his face to the back of his head. In addition to the diapers and feedings being constantly overlooked, almost every day I picked him up he had bags under his eyes and looked extremely tired. It was as if he had been crying for extended periods of time by himself. He would whimper upset as we walked to the car when I picked him up and fall asleep before I even buckled him in his car seat. One day I picked him up and was told by the main teacher she left him in his seat for an hour and forgot how long he sat there because he was so quiet. They do not pay attention to the children and do not care.
On the day of the incident, I got to the facility and was told he had been hit in the head with a toy by another child. I was told they often “play” together and that this other child plays rough. This was the first time I had heard anything about this. This other child was almost a year old and able to run around, throw things, etc. My child cannot play with other children. My son was 3 months old, can barely lift his head and can’t move. I had to sign an incident report for him after two weeks of being at this facility. I asked Ms. Candie the next day to keep them separated as my child cannot play with 1 year old children. He is too young and can barely hold his head up. She said we keep an eye on them and sometimes we have to tell the older child to not push him in the swing so hard. AT NO POINT SHOULD A 1 YEAR OLD CHILD BE PUSHING A 3 MONTH OLD CHILD IN A SWING EVER.
If my son was being watched properly, this would not have happened. When my husband and I toured the facility we were told by the director herself we shouldn’t have to worry about incident reports as he is not yet mobile and is so young. More care and precautions should be taken place with a child so young around other children who are older and more mobile. The infant room has children between the ages of 3 months and a year. A 1 year old that is fully mobile running around and throwing things should not be in the same room with 3 month old infants. If they are in the same room it is reasonable to expect that there would be multiple teachers in the room responsible for the different age groups. That was not the case and I do not believe this is a safe room for a 3 month old.
When I got there he had a large knot on the side of his head along with a red mark and looked like he had been crying for a while. I was not called about this incident. They said they attempted to call me but the number did not work. I had them verify the phone number on file in their computer system and they had the first two digits of my phone number swapped. She did not attempt to verify my phone number in the very large packet of paperwork I filled out to get my son enrolled. When I asked them to check the number against the paperwork I filled out the number I had given them was correct. There was no urgency or care in contacting me in regard to this incident. I spoke to the director and asked for the camera footage, but was now told THAT THE ONLY WAY TO VIEW THE FOOTAGE WAS TO FILE A POLICE REPORT. This information was left out when we initially toured the facility. This facility used to allow parents to see the camera footage. Online it says “live monitoring” and reflects that you are able to see the footage, but that is not the case. I also spoke with her about the girl watching my baby who seemed very inexperienced and mentioned the way his diapers were put on. She said she needed training and is newer and inexperienced. Another red flag. Why would you put someone inexperienced and untrained in a room alone with infants? A week or two later this girl was moved to another classroom and I was told this was due to parent complaints.
There were a few times I got there early to pick him up and as usual all the kids are just “playing” freely together on the floor in the middle of the room. The teacher was back behind the diaper changing area doing something else. I noticed all of the pack n plays were put away. I asked her when they were put up and she said sometimes they are put up early. Often times my 3 month old would only nap 2 times for about 30-40 minutes each per day. I believe this is a main reason that he would rarely ever get the naps he should have been getting. The teachers are lazy and careless and do not want to have to put the pack n plays up at 5 or later at the end of the day before they leave like they should so the children can still get naps.
On the last day he attended, I went to pick him up and the teacher in the room was someone I had never seen or met before. I asked her when he ate last as he seemed upset and was trying to eat his hand off. She replied saying she did not know. I asked when his last diaper change was and she began rummaging around looking for his paper for the day. She did not know. I asked when Ms. Candie left for the day and she said around 2 PM. I asked when the other girl left and she said a little while ago. I asked her if either of these teachers relayed any information in regards to my sons care before they left for the day. She said they did not tell her anything. Neither of the teachers watching my son told this lady when he needed to eat again or if he needed to eat again or when his diaper needed to be changed again. She did not plan on feeding him again. I got there to pick him up and he had not eaten in hours. There was absolutely no communication between the staff before they carelessly left for the day. This facility is completely careless and inexperienced. I immediately asked to speak to the director Ms. Joyce again. She said she will talk to the teachers and make this right. I let her know I have had to tell the teachers myself on multiple occasions how many times he needs to eat and around what time he needs to eat. She let me know these staff members should be written up. These women watching my child had already been told time and time again what they needed to do to watch my son and failed. I let her know there is nothing you can do when you have staff that do not care. I then brought up how she had untrained inexperienced teachers watching my son. She persisted to tell me all her staff was trained. I needed to remind her SHE WAS THE ONE WHO TOLD ME THAT THE PERSON WATCHING MY SON WAS NEW AND STILL NEEDED TO BE TRAINED. The fact this person was put in a room with babies alone with no experience is careless. The fact there are staff that do not communicate is carless. The director told me I should have brought these concerns to her so she could of talked to the staff. She clearly does not communicate or keep in touch with her staff as my concerns were brought up daily. I then brought up how I brought a box of 95 diapers in June and asked the Ms. Joyce if they had been using other babies diapers on my child. She assured me that they were not. I asked the main teacher how many diapers he had left and to show me. He had almost 20 diapers left. I let her know that the math does not add up. He had been attending the daycare for a little over 30 days at this point and the papers given to me at the end of the day averaged 5-6 diaper changes per day. I have kept every paper they sent home with me for every day he attended. I told her they are either putting other children’s diapers on him or are lying on his paperwork about changing him. She said they are not putting other diapers on him. So, it seems to me they are lying about when they change him as he should have been out of diapers by now.
On this same day, when I dropped him off I personally witnessed another child (close to 1 year old) standing in high chair by himself because he had not been strapped in properly. The staff at this facility are inexperienced and careless. The leadership is lackluster and seems profit driven only. They will tell you whatever they need to in order to get you in the door and hope that you do not leave once you are there because daycare is so hard to find. My son was there for a little over 30 days and there were numerous red flags. I caution anyone thinking of putting their infant child into this daycare. He just started at another daycare and the difference in his attitude when I pick him up at the end of the day is day and night. The owner was also supposed to call me and never did. They truly do not care. Speaking as a mom to other parents, PLEASE look elsewhere for the care and safety of your babies.”
