Kiddy Junction Academy

Horrible experience for my child. I wish I had considered the negative reviews here before enroling my ward at their Div 3. We had met the Principle at Div 3 and was assured that my child will be taken care. Her sweet words were only till the time we paid our security deposits. The moment we paid it few days into joining, they started their indifferent attitude towards my child. Let him cry for hours. Kept complaining about his whinning, dependency upon them that he requires more attention. Such was their experience at handling 2.5 years small kid. Till they got money, they kept saying 'he is doing good' and kept sharing happy fake pictures. PLEASE DO NOT let your child attend this school if you know that he/she will need extra help in the beginning. You can find young teachers almost fresh out of institutes responsible for young kids there. They are more like young nannies. On one occassion, while my son kept crying badly, the principle kept on whining herself about how handful my child was in front of other kids & parents. Imagine, such is the person responsible for so many kids. While we paid fees for 2 months, my son went for 20 days only. They wanted to get rid of our child as he was seemingly more consuming of their time but waited for the sweet money. ABSOLUTELY NO VALUES and RESPECT for their profession. He is wonderfully doing great now and is taken care by matured & experienced teachers. Do not ruin your child's formative years. We did not find the play area kids friendly either. Go check it out by yourself. Do not go by their sweet talk & smiles. Ask them in detail of the curriculum, we did not find any montessori materials there. Ask them the Reggio curriculum. They just want a child who can do independent play from beginning and play with other kids at centre wholetime to pass time. How is it possible for 2.5 years old child when other kids are strangers to himand look forward to teachers for comfort. This Daycare might serve parents who are in desperate need for one to get back to their business/job. A kid's first experience of going to school should not be like what we had been through. Any business that runs for the sake of only money & no values, eventually shuts down. God bless these souls!

My son attended KJA for one year. We were specifically looking for a Montessori preschool for him. KJA claims to offer a mix of Montessori and Reggio teaching so we jumped at the opportunity when a spot opened up for him after 2 years of being on the waitlist which we paid $100+ to be on. The teachers are really caring and warm, and my son made a lot of friends and became more social and vocal during his year there. However, he is 4 years old now and can barely draw a straight line, doesn’t know how to draw a square or rectangle, cannot count beyond 10 and does not know how to write his own name. I understand every child’s skill development level is different but these are very basic skills that I would expect him to learn in one year of being at a highly rated “Montessori” school. We had raised our concerns during midterm review and the principal and teacher agreed that he could use more “workbook” time and they said they would address that in the 2nd half of the year. From what we observed, nothing improved and it really makes me question what he learned the entire year. KJA is a fantastic DAYCARE but that’s it…it’s a daycare. If you want your child to learn something, then this is not the school. For kids under 5, they mostly play. We are removing my son from KJA and moving him back to Montessori World even though it is just a half day school, we feel he will get more out of it then full day “daycare”. Also, we didn’t appreciate that the school kept asking parents to donate new toys and books every month in addition to providing a “supplies kit” at the beginning of the year that costed us $100+. There was an “award ceremony” at the end of the year where parents and the child’s siblings had to buy tickets to attend and it felt like we were just subsidising the graduation ceremony for the graduating kids. My overall experience with KJA is that they run it like a business, to which I give them credit for because they were very creative in their money making schemes.

Terrible experience for my son. Do not, I repeat DO NOT let your kid attend this school if you know that he/she will need extra help. My son was left to cry on his own without anyone to comfort him. All the teacher did was sit at the sofa and constantly complaining about how he was a handful. We switched school the moment we could and I didn't even hear a single complain from his new school. Plus, the KDJ isn't exactly kids friendly, they have real hammer, nails, screws the whole set, that a typical 3-4 year old have no business being ten foot near the stuff yet alone play with it. All in all no parents should experience what I went through. Do not be fooled by their cool uniforms. The service provided is just not up to par and a kid first experience going to school should not have been like that. I just hope there's a zero star so I can rate them on what they truly are. A big fat ZERO!

I'm going to preface this review with the disclaimer that our son did not end up attending Kiddy Junction Academy, the reason being that it would add a crazy two hours of commuting to our everyday. With that said, we met with them several times and communicated with them over four months waiting for a space to open up. They were so amazing that we were tempted to brave that commute because of how impressed we were with their directors, teachers, facilities, and philosophy. In the end, we sadly relinquished our spot for this Fall due to the commute, but I wanted to write this to thank them for the time they took touring us through their lovingly curated facilities, and the genuine interest they took in our son...and probably every child that goes through their doors. Their program is remarkable. I witnessed the respect and affection they had for the children, firsthand. We loved how the children ate on real dishes on white linens, slept in a room that is only ever for sleep, the child-led learning based approach to curriculum that constantly changes based on the childrens' ever-evolving interests, and last but not least, the empathy and support we, as the parents, felt from them. Honestly, if this place is an option for you, it's definitely worth checking out. It really felt like something special.

Came to Kiddy Junction on a high recommendation from a family friend. The facility and the tour was very nice, we put down a deposit/application fee for our daughter to go on a waiting list. We've only heard back from them once regarding availability and there had been no further communication. Further inquiry regarding the application fee/waiting list submitted using their form on the website also yield no response.

Since our kids started going to KJA, they have been made to feel welcome and part of this family away from home. We have been more than pleased at the combined efforts of the dedicated teachers who help to draw out our children's shy personalities and help them gain self-confidence despite a language barrier. Everyday, the students are fed a nutritious breakfast, lunch and snack made from scratch by the school's dedicated chef. As working parents, the hours of operation are more flexible than many full-day preschools in Vancouver, and the location and security of the premises are a bonus. Knowing that our children are learning daily in a loving, fun, and caring environment gives us peace of mind in the hours that we are away from them.

Words cannot express the thanks that my family has for every Kiddy Junction Academy early childhood teacher and staff person that was part of my son for 1 year. We enrolled at Kiddy Junction Academy in 2013 when John was 3 and a half year old. Since then he has grown and matured into an amazing, intelligent young little man.

Definitely an awesome decision for childcare! Kiddy Junction provided a safe, encouraging, and versatile environment for my son to play, learn and explore. After only a few months of enrollment at KJA, he has become more independent, neat, patient, and learned how to eat neatly by himself, play independently for half hour at a time, and walk by himself without fussing when we go out. All the learning and independence we tried hard to reinforce at home seems to be learned effortlessly at KJA by following examples in the calm environment. There are always lots of educational toys, arts and crafts activities to keep him interested and engaged. All the teachers are very patient and loving, they respect the children's differences. Kids there are calm and playful. It is very nice to see my son has made lots of friends, and often are having too much fun to go home when we pick him up at end of the day. With almost a decade of experience, Shaun and Melissa are very hands on. The daycare is run very smoothly. They continue to choose good programs and activities such as yoga, various field trips during the summer camp, visits from the lizards guy etc. to broaden the kids' exposure to new experiences. We feel very fortunate and could not be happier!

I've had my twins attend both the preschool and daycare locations had to go back to work full time so switched to full time care and I couldn't be happier with the level of quality and service at KJA. On top of having a loving and caring place to leave my kids the past two years, I really feel they are very well prepared for Kindergarten.. I've already refferred several friends but I really can't say enough good things about them!

Choosing Kiddy Junction Academy was the right decision for my child. Although my daughter has only been here for less than a month, both my daughter and I feel a warm welcome from all the staffs of the academy. During the first month of school, my daughter has learned a lot. She now becomes more independent and takes more responsibility at home than before. Every day when my daughter comes home, she has some exciting and fun stories to tell me about things than happened at school. My daughter has met many new friends at the academy already and she likes the staffs as well.