Creative Kids Academy Apple Valley

My daughter loves her teachers at CKA! She started just after she turned one, and just after the COVID procedures we're out in place. I was nervous about sending her to a new school and not being able to see her in a new setting. But, the staff made us feel welcome and they do their best to maintain a sense of community despite all distance. We are really happy with our choice!

We have been pleased overall with the child care services provided by Creative Kids Academy in Apple Valley for our two children the past two years. While there have been some ups and downs with high turnover, CKA has some of the most genuine and caring employees, many of whom certainly see their role in our children's lives as more than just a job. CKA really cares about whether or not a new hire will fit well with their team and their mentality, which might mean waiting for the right person to fill a vacancy; we try to be understanding as parents during those times. This commitment to caring staff is the most notable difference we have seen in comparison with other child care centers. CKA employees love the kids they care for and it shows. CKA does a good job creating lesson plans for each age group and tries to help children reach those developmental milestones, while also respecting the parents' wishes by focusing on anything specific they have asked for their child. While this isn't a perfect system, as long as parents are proactive about any requests or concerns, the staff usually does their best to accommodate. Sometimes certain things need to be repeated multiple times if the staff are not familiar with your child, and at one point communication between staff was not stellar when CKA was trying to fill open positions. Again, this is something we try to be patient with, but can be frustrating when you must repeat something multiple times before you see follow through. However, this will likely happen no matter where you send your children and CKA is certainly not the worst when it comes to this. We have also been very impressed with the activities CKA-Apple Valley has planned throughout the year. They are constantly putting together fun arts and crafts as well as events such as guest visitors, bounce houses, and holiday celebrations. CKA is a smaller center in an older building that may not have all the bells and whistles some of the new child care centers have, but we have found this aspect of a facility can be overrated, and does not necessarily translate to a higher quality of care for children. CKA-Apple Valley has large classrooms with plenty of toys, a large motor room, and two playgrounds, all of which are well maintained and cared for. There is always room for growth, and one troublesome area CKA could improve upon is making sure to use proper grammar and spelling on lesson plans, projects, and worksheets. We see one too many errors of this nature on a regular basis (ex. using the wrong “their/there/they’re” on a child’s take home art project). While the children have a lot of fun when at daycare, we want to make sure the quality of education they are receiving is up to par as well. At the end of the day CKA-Apple Valley is one of the best centers in the area and we would recommend them to any and all!

They care about your kids like they are their own. My kids are very happy every day when I pick them up.

Great place for Pre-K! The teachers care about what the students are learning, and tailor the curriculum to what will be taught in Kindergarten. Also, my son has fun with the many activities they do on a daily basis. Not to mention, the office staff/directors are very flexible! Thank you CKA Apple Valley!

We love CKA! They genuinely care about our child and have been so supportive of our family. They prepare their own food on site, without the cost of an on-site chef. They use the cloth diapers we send with our daughter, and they do not have any screens or devices on site. I think it is great that our kiddo can run around without distracted teachers taking 3-5 photos of each child and texting me each time she has a diaper change. If I had to do it all over, I would select them again.