My 4 year old son has been attending St. Mark's preschool and aftercare program since he was 18…read moremonths and it has been so great for him. He'll be starting kindergarten in August and he's very well prepared and ahead of the game because of the entire dedicated staff of St. Mark's. They provide progress reports and conferences for the parents, make learning truly fun for the kids, with themed weeks like camping week (during which Ms. Sarah set up an enormous tent in the classroom!) and Dr. Suess week. Every teacher is so hands on, the ratio is around 2 teachers per 4 kids and the class size is small. The administration dept. is kind enough to work with my unusual custody arrangement and go above and beyond to ensure the parents and children are happy. The school is also involved in a lot of charitable organizations for less privileged children, and they have book drives, Christmas pageants and more to make the school a community. Once kids are in a certain age group, they go on field trips to the fire station, parks etc. Sometimes only walking trips! It's safe clean and my son will enter elementary school knowing how to read. Even better? There are scholarship options available!!

My son just "graduated" from pre-k at St. Mark's, and we already miss it. His teachers were…read moreabsolutely wonderful; they really tailored their instruction to his abilities, which enabled him to maximize his learning. He had so many great experiences there -- fun & educational field trips, class events, visiting instructors, and so on. The school provides what in my opinion is the perfect balance of socialization and academic instruction. I'm sad he won't be going there any longer, but so thankful for the time he had with them.

My daughter went to Smarty Pants 12yrs ago and now my 4yr old goes. I can't begin to tell you how…read moremuch we love Smarty Pants.Ms.Long the owner really puts alot into her centers and she has the best graduations its a full production lol. The teachers don't just work there for a check they really love what they do and that's teach our babies.You know their a great daycare/prek because the waiting list be long to get in.I will always refer people there.Smarty Pants Rock

Wow. Condescending, aggressive, short-triggered, and threatening "discharge". To the owner: what…read moreyou said did not make me feel very happy, made me feel weary about my daughter being there, and I believe you can treat your customers better. I am a brand new customer, and here is my very first interaction with the owner: To give information on our parenting schedule, I asked (to her assistant), "can you write down your email for me to send to?" The assistant was happy to help and went to a surface to write it down. Owner needlessly replied: "[the email] is very easy, you can remember it. Your daughter kind of goes to Smarty Pants Preschool, it's just Smarty Pants Preschool @ (whatever popular email domain here) -- I would think you would remember that." Business Owners: how do you expect a parent to respond? My response, "I might not remember that. You don't have to judge me." She gave me an aggressive, glowing stare. And i watched her stare, waiting for what see had next to say or for the assistant to return. Then she says slowly, "Nnooo..." I asked to the assistant (who I thought was this lady's manager, "I would like to make a complaint on your worker here." (She was also very inappropriate with me on the phone yesterday, too, but that's a different story. Hey Smarty Pants! You have my permission to publicly release that phone call and of course sensor out my daughter's name. You can keep my name. I don't think you'd ever want that phone call to represent your company, to be frank!) She jumped up with excitement and said, "I'm the owner, very nice to meet you!" (Her hand extended to shake my hand.) -- I later asked for more information, but ya know what? I'll just look at sunbiz.org and see if there's another party I can send a copy of this to. I politely refused the condescending hand shake. It's a form of abuse, it's unnecessary, and I'm sure any customer would agree it is not a way to be introduced as the manner she presented. And I'm not interested in her ego--I'm interested in my daughter being in a safe, fun, abuse-free environment and what I can do to make the best of the day care. After that, she said something around the lines of her walking to the door to discharge my daughter. She presented to me the problems she had with: - my ex yelling at me outside of the establishment - she felt that we were blocking staff to leave. I double checked, and my ex and I were at the sidewalk clearly away from obstructing the door. - she had an issue with me calling the establishment about 5 minutes after that scene to make sure they had my information for future calls. And she was quite rude... I let that slide figuring, "this poor lady probably had a hard day." (The photo is when I called them and how long the conversation lasted -- so the owner can see after she claimed I can't be "calling at 6:15".) - she expressed that she said "no" because I had "inappropriately stared at her". We ended on a better note after the short talk and me receiving what I came for. On that ending, I said, "thank you. I will let you work on what you need to work on for yourself, and I am open to take any suggestions from you." Her reply, "*I* don't have anything to work on." Here we go again! I told her again what I had said, maybe a little differently, ("...you work...for yourself...and I am open...suggestions from you.", etc) -- and she appeared less triggered that time and seemed to get that I'm just a father looking to make sure they have info they need and I do, too. She had no suggestions for me. She extended her hand for a handshake, and I respectfully refused. I get it, some people get hurt by that, but I still have to respect my space for personal touch. I reframed the situation for her: she is basically asking for a touch, and I am not consenting/agreeing to it right now. As her being the owner of the establishment, I am happy to shake her hand when she has either resolved the emotional issues that she allowed to become associated with me, or when she simply disassociates those issues from me. For now, we agreed to set this instance to the side, and I will be listening to my daughter *very*, *extra* closely to be sure the owner's stress responses are not transferring to her staff and then transferring to my child. We are new there, and I have kept my daughter there because I do not believe that will happen, and so far I believe she is safe and will really enjoy her time. The owner then (at the end) helped me remember the situation with my personal/family number. My next step is the Better Business Bureau. I thought also to go to the land lord since we have nearly a 10 year relationship (just as long as smarty pants does), but I don't see how Smarty Pants can learn and grow from talking with the land lord. The land lord and I both understand that businesses have problems, owners get stressed, and people tend to allow the hurt of their past to make them too biased for their own good.

My middle son went to this location when it was under old ownership and he really enjoyed it. Since…read morethen, it's come under new ownership in 2024 and I have to say this daycare has gotten better than ever! Staff are loving, friendly and communicate with parents well. My son has been going here for 2 years now and loves it. We love the teachers, love the owners Janis and Carri and couldn't say enough about what a blessing this place is. Christian owners, clean environment, they encourage good behavior with the kids and reward them for doing the right thing. Lots of educational activities, my son has learned so much here and I love knowing he is safe, loved and well cared for when I'm at work.

Hello, I am Carri the new director of Kids Coastal Academy, formerly The Kids Club. My sister…read moreJanis who is executive Director/Owner bought the center in October 2023. We are new to the area and have been working with children for over 20 years. Our family is a close Christian family that works together to bring a family feel with a great learning experience for your child/children. We have a lot of fun play with a great structured curriculum. Our goal is for your child to enjoy learning and to feel comfortable in their surroundings. We welcome new and old families to come check us out and meet our wonderful and experienced staff

My 2 year old has been attending this pre school for a few months now . Her teachers are kind , the…read moredirector is very involved and also very compassionate. We had a lot of questions before she started and they all were answered in a empathetic and professional manner.

I absolutely love and trust the staff at Smarty Pants Daycare. This is my first experience with a…read moredaycare. I enrolled my child there when he was about 12 weeks old. From the start they have been super friendly. They love the kids as if they are their own. It's so cute to watch them greet each other every day. What I love most are the updates via the apps. When he was little they were super detailed on feedings and changes. Everyday you receive at least one photo along with an agenda. One con, and shame on me for not inquiring, is that they assume you know what's going on. I really don't know many of the teachers names. I know a few that are at the front desk regularly. They provided a menu sample, but not clue if that changes on a weekly basis or what he's eating. I have no clue when he changes rooms, except the code in the app changes. I'm not complaining, but just note that you might have to be proactive with getting some info if you are concerned. They have been super helpful on milestone transitions. They'll let you know when it's time to change from a bottle, when they can have a blanket, eat at the daycare, etc. All in all I'd highly recommend this daycare. They are very transparent, it's easy to get updates, place is new and super clean, and it's such a warm and inviting place for the kids.