Kiddie Academy of Columbia

Kiddie academy of columbia is like the best school ever. The administration has made me feel so comfortable with leaving my children all day to work. Because I am a teacher myself, the staff really values early childhood development and makes sure every child is treated with individuality and love! They do a lot of community outreach to allow the neighborhood family to come and join in on the wonderful extra curricular activities. My children ask about school on the weekends because they are so excited to be in school with their teachers. I have experienced all rooms from infancy to prek and everything is beyond my expectations. I also appreciate the owner coming through and making sure everything is top tier and functionality is 100%

Kiddie Academy of Columbia has been our second home for the past six years. There are not proper words to describe my appreciation for the dedication and care that the staff and administration have shown to both of my children over the years. The peace of mind I have knowing that my children are well cared for has been priceless. Plus, the added bonus of potty training support was worth its weight in gold. The academics, exposure to Spanish, dance, stem, and yoga have helped to open my children's minds and set them on a path to find success in kindergarten. We have loved our time with Kiddie Academy of Columbia and would 100% recommend them to anyone searching for an amazing daycare.

This review is based on my incredibly racist tour with Alicia the administrator and not the school itself. I was looking to re enroll my children in Kiddie Academy because before they had a series of hiccups at the Laurel location last summer, I was very happy with the school. My kids attended the Laurel location but I decided to check out Columbia after looking at the reviews. As I was greeted by Alicia at the start of my tour, the first thing out of her mouth was that the school doesn’t take state vouchers. I never asked about it and always paid out of pocket for my kids because we are an upper middle class household, but she saw my black face and decided to talk public assistance before anything else. Then she promptly started talking about how terrible the current governor is because he’s raising taxes and they never went through that with the previous one. Why is she even initiating a political conversation with potential clients? How grossly unprofessional. But wait it gets worse. As soon as I mentioned to her that my kids attended the Laurel location in the past and I was familiar with the school’s structure, something in her just snapped. She displayed more of her thinly veiled biased attitude by talking about how different the family dynamics and structures and incomes were at the Laurel school versus Columbia. This is a lie because the majority of kids who attended the Laurel school when we were there came from two parent families and were working professionals or in the military. Even if they weren’t traditional families, it’s not her place at an employee of a daycare to voice that attitude about families. Furthermore, it’s less than smart to bash the Laurel location when it has the same owner ( Patel) as the Columbia one. FYI, he owns the Ellicott City, and Owings Mills locations also. To add the cherry on top, she emphasized that tuition was paid monthly and not weekly, once again assuming we couldn’t afford it because we were black and from Laurel. She promised to email an application that never arrived. I hope Patel finds out that Alicia has been representing his school in such a discriminatory way and discouraging parents that she doesn’t deem suitable (white and conservative). I also hope that she doesn’t interface with the kids directly because I can only imagine how she would ever so subtly treat the ones who DON’T look like her. I was so disgusted, I changed my mind and continued my daycare search.

The program is very well designed, the teachers are very capable, transition when teachers leave is smooth thanks to a solid foundation. The director and managers are involved, proactive and knowledgeable. I highly recommend KA!

My 4 yo has been at the school for 3 years now, she has loved every teacher she had for each class, she is writing her full name, loves to code (per her latest report card), she has become very social despite having been born in the pandemic. I feel she is so much more kindergarten-ready compared to how my older son was at her age. KA Columbia has a strong curriculum, a different focus each day whether it’s yoga, dance, STEAM, arts, or Spanish. The administrative staff is wonderful and caring towards the students, listens to the parents and is very helpful. Highly recommend the school!