Shell's Early Learning Center - Camden

My daughter hasn’t attended this facility in nearly a year, yet her father received a response today to a 5-star review he left long ago. It seems they're only now replying—possibly in an effort to boost their ratings and promote openings. While my daughter's teacher was truly amazing, I can’t say the same about the facility itself. I’ve had experiences with this center dating back nearly two decades, including pulling my now 19-year-old son from one of their centers and sadly, the problems persist. From what I’ve seen and heard, the only reason this facility appears to have so many 5-star reviews is due to incentivized events. They encourage currently enrolled families to scan QR codes at the entrance and offer free week of childcare in exchange for positive reviews. That’s incredibly misleading. Classrooms are overcrowded to the point that 5-year-olds are sometimes placed with infants and younger children due to a lack of staff. The environment is loud and chaotic, with blaring music that makes it difficult for children to focus or rest. The facility prioritizes profit over the well-being of both staff and children. They charge all POC (Purchase of Care) parents $120/week, regardless of income, which is not how that program is supposed to work. They’ve been reported for this and in my opinion, operate with a money-hungry mindset. The staff are underpaid and overworked, while families are overcharged. The final straw for me was attending a graduation party hosted by the owner at Sunnybrae Mansion. Instead of focusing on the graduate, she used the event to promote her book and stage a public proposal—wearing a dramatic gown that made it feel like a personal spectacle. After that, her family left the guests outside in the heat, with insufficient food and drinks provided. The entire event felt self-serving and out of touch. Parents deserve better. Children deserve better. And staff deserve fair treatment.

I enjoy shells daycare. Shells daycare care for all 3 off my girls, ages 11,10,05. They are an excellent child care service

Weve had our daughter Charlee going to Shell’s since Sept 2023 and its been absolutely amazing! Shes been learning so much and loves the teachers and her new friends. I have nothing but great things to say about her school!

My two children have been going here since 6 weeks old. Since 2018. The staff is amazing! My kids look forward to coming into school. They have learned so much! Knew the alphabet numbers before they hit 2! I would recommend any one with children to come here. They go above and beyond.

I remember when this center opened and you look at Camden now, the community is so happy to have this center here it really looks great the staff is so friendly and Ms Lachell is very busy but she always have time to answer questions the kids are learning so much too