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September 2023 by Stacey Tigges
Our 2yr old son son started at LPA at 16 weeks and we have had an excellent experience. Our daughter will also start attending at 16wks this fall. The staff and teachers genuinely care about our children and our son loves going to school! He comes home having learned something new almost every day. The app they use lets us follow along with his day through photos, videos and messages from his teachers.
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July 2023 by Aakehtee Parhmilnee
The worst. If you want to expose your child to discrimination, then go ahead. Very rude staff also, I asked one of the staff members a question at pickup and she screamed in my face. Literally yelling for no reason. They blatantly lied on my child and would not provide proof, because they wanted to get rid of him. Just an all around bad environment for a kid.
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May 2023 by Kelsey Leigh
Our son has been attending LPA for about 8 months and we are so pleased with the care he’s receiving. The teachers are so caring and I can tell they genuinely enjoy spending time with him. They’ve helped so much in his growth and development by teaching him how to eat like a “big kid” introducing him to all sorts of foods and also helping with crawling and walking. Our son is so happy every time we drop him off so I know he enjoys his time there! I never have to worry about the care he receives; I know when I drop him off, he’s in great hands!
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December 2022 by Dazsia Martin
So I am sharing my experience as I feel they didn’t handle my child in a very effective way. So I was getting repeated calls to pick up my child from school because of behavioral issues. Yet when I was being my kids to school every morning they would cry saying they didn’t want to do. ( mind you when they first start school they loved it ) I didn’t really think anything of it when I would drop them off because i just though maybe they were tired in the early mornings. On the last day my kids have attended the school I got a call to pick up my daughter because she “ hurt “ a teacher. I got to the school because in the background my daughter was screaming crying like she have been hurt. I get to the school and my child is still crying then the teacher from her class room comes in and she’s crying as well so as a concerned parent I asked what happen so the teacher could explain. The teacher then looks at the director ( jamie) and says “I’m too hurt to explain and I break” then walks out. My child is 4 years old, she’s not capable of hurting a grown adult to the point she’s unable to explain to the child’s parent what happened. None of it made sense.
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December 2022 by stinke owl
i actually went there when i was younger and one thing i vividly remember is coming in late for breakfast one day with my brother. we sat at a table as we normally would and were served bagels. at the time, considering how we were CHILDREN with limited palate, we did not want to eat what was given to us. not to mention they weren’t very soft. after throwing our food away, we were told if that were to happen again we would have to eat the food out of the trash. the adults who worked there rarely treated us with respect and were awful to be around.
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December 2022 by Lynnette Lyman
I took my kids to the location in St.Louis Park in the Spring of 2004 the teachers Nancy and Christy were rude and the first day they attended my Son got a pebble stuck in his forehead on the playground
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December 2022 by Thressa Fritz
Our daughter has been going to La Petite Academy of New Hope for a year now and we are SO happy we found La Petite! Although there are plenty of daycares closer to our home, we've decided to stay at La Petite for the following reasons:- Flexible schedule offerings- Live stream video of children's classroom- "Brightwheel" app with updates throughout the day (pictures, food, activities, potty breaks, etc.)- Children are not required to wear masks, but the staff does- ALL snacks and meals are provided + Incredible menu offerings to combat my parent guilt of serving mac and cheese WAY too much at home!- Diapers are also includedMy only concern is how excited my daughter is to be dropped off at La Petite each time...either they have brainwashed her, or our home life is horrible, or maybe she just REALLY loves it there ;)Even without a pandemic, the people who decide to focus their career on helping to raise other people's children are truly amazing individuals who deserve so much more gratitude and recognition than what they will ever see. Just like many of us, the team at La Petite has had a stressful year, but I feel that they always keep the children's needs at the core of everything they do, and that is what is most important to me.
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December 2022 by Journey Robinson
They are one size fits all with the children. They are very reactive instead of proactive. Instead of providing a fun loving environment to encourage the children in the right direction they rather complain to the parents as if their child is not doing normal toddler things. Lazy staff. Rude director. She’s controlling and power hungry. Their cut off time is like 8:30 or something but the director can still let your child in. I texted her telling her I ran into a train on the way and she would still let my daughter in. One day I ran into a train PLUS it was raining. She said she wasn’t letting my child in because I didn’t text her. Not because of procedures, or space, or lack of staff. Just because she has the power and felt like using it that day. Not a place geared towards helping the parents and loving the children. The director teaches the rest of the staff to be controlling instead of having compassion for children who need to learn and grow as their parents make a living. Don’t be fooled by their bubbly fake personalities. One of the staff yelled at my child. My child came home and told me. I asked the lady why she yelled and she said she used a stern voice but didn’t yell. My child said she was being really mean. I believe my child. If your child can remember to tell you something like that after a long day and a toddler size memory then it really happened plus things your child can’t remember to tell you. Or they make your child think certain things or forces are normal so that they don’t go home and tell their parents. My child was also being bullied but they never told me. My child finally told me. Yet they didn’t skip a beat trying to tell me every day that my child was sassy. She can be sassy. Whatever you are doing as a teacher you need to set boundaries and not use force. If children don’t respect you that’s your fault as a provider. And it probably means you did something to lose their trust and made them feel you’re against them. Especially if you are African America don’t send your child here. They don’t even want you there trust me. The director loves to say her friend is a black woman. It means nothing. The directors name is Jamie.
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December 2021 by Joua Lee Grande
The daycare was not compassionate, child-centered, parent-partnered, or culturally-competent. We had a traumatizing first experience. We are a multi-cultural family putting our toddler in her first daycare, and we left with a painful experience.Red flags started with the contracts they wanted us to sign that had several inconsistencies including higher prices than we were originally told and yearly fee they never mentioned.Our child struggled to transition into daycare more than the other new kids. She became unrecognizable within days, having trauma-like behavior. It was very concerning to us.The daycare asked us to pick her up from school hours early daily when her crying became inconsolable. We agreed in order to support our child. They admitted their strategies weren't working but seemed uninterested in learning about our child and working with us to have a unique child-centered approach. They opted for a cry-it-out method where she was left to stand and stare at the door for hours by herself. They occasionally reminded her we'd be back later and left her there.On the final day of the week, I informed them we'd be a little late because she was struggling a lot. They would not allow her to be even minutes late and refused to take her. The corporate policy came before child needs. They were uninterested in what she was going through and how this experience was impacting her and offered zero flexibility.I expressed that it felt like they weren't willing to work with us to offer a compassionate and child-centered approach to our struggling child so she would not be traumatized by this transitional process. The head of the daycare became upset and made the conversation about herself. She accused us of demanding her attention all day every day and wanting "special treatment." Said she didn't have time to do her admin duties (because she preferred not to) and treated us like we were too demanding for politely asking for basic info other parents got that we never received (including the teachers' names so we can talk to our child about her teachers at home). She gaslighted us about sending us that info in our welcome packet (something we were never sent).She suggested we withdraw our child, so we did immediately. We were baffled and confused by all this. We were just a concerned family with a struggling child navigating daycare for the first time. Yet we were treated aggressively like an inconvenience and our kiddo like just a troubled kid they didn't know what to do with, meanwhile dismissing our expertise as her parents. We were always agreeable, patient and polite with them until I had to become direct about our concerns that final day. She did not like that.Don't know if they're understaffed or mismanaged. Don't know if the daycare lead just had something against us personally. We were only there one week and she never really got to know us.I regret not paying attention to the early red flags early. We are sad this was our first daycare experience and that our child is suffering as a result. We've been working with her, and she's been surrounded by adults who care about her human needs, and she's been slowly making a recovery every day.
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December 2021 by Katie Kraw
Love the staff and the location!
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December 2021 by Kara Haro
We are beyond happy with La Petite. The staff are so caring for our LO, and we are thrilled with the communication we receive through the app they use. We get updates about every bit of care she receives, plus pics and videos! We can even chat with her caregivers through the app. I’m especially happy with the focus on development that the caregivers pay attention to. Additionally, the management team is friendly and caring too! We feel like they are an extension of our family and we couldn’t be happier and more secure without decision to enroll our LO there.
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December 2021 by bindi senghani
Our 3 year old son started La Petite Academy- New Hope about a month ago and within the first weeks we could clearly see how much he had come along in leaps and bounds. From adding new words to his existing vocabulary to learning about planets we are beyond happy with the curriculum LPA sets for the class and love how it is helping him gear up for kindergarten. The staff and teachers have been amazing in settling him in and made him, and us, feel welcome and a part of the family from day one. Our toddler is so excited to leave the house every morning!The meals provided are creative and varied, it’s hard to compete at home!As parents, we love the schools app and live stream which provides us frequent updates throughout the day, it definitely puts our mind at ease.The decision to join LPA - New Hope has definitely been positive and beneficial for our whole family, not just our son!
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December 2021 by Stephanie Sommer
My son is 4.5 months old and has been going to La Petite Academy for a little over a month now! He is my first child and as you can imagine, finding a daycare to entrust your baby with is nerve wracking, but doing so during a pandemic and trying to figure out how to keep him safe is another level of stressful! What drew me to La Petite Academy right away is their small classroom sizes, the same teachers working in the classrooms for the children to develop relationships with, how they are prioritizing keeping their facility extremely clean and germ-free, the teachers and staff members wearing masks to protect the children, and their STEM school curriculum. After a month of him attending daycare at La Petite, I am SO happy we have chosen this facility to bring our son to. He is cared for so well, teachers from different age classrooms know him, the director is extremely communicative and responsive, they send multiple photos and updates throughout the day and provide a summary each day of how he's doing, you can view your child's classroom on a webcam to check in when you're missing them and want to see their face, and they truly go above and beyond for the children! Within the first two weeks, they had my son painting with mittens on and creating his first pieces of artwork to bring home! They even put a priority on children of all ages going outside when it's nice out which I absolutely love! I cannot say enough good things about La Petite and as a first-time parent, I feel so good about my son attending daycare here!
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December 2021 by Caitlin Lam
After watching our baby while working from home full time for 7 months, we finally felt that we needed to get our son enrolled in daycare. We were very hesitant to start daycare in the middle of a pandemic. We called virtually every daycare within a 15 mile radius from our home and decided that La Petite Academy of New Hope was the best fit for us. The main deciding factor was that it was one of two or three day cares that had live streaming all day long. Our son has now been at La Petite for a couple months and we could not be happier with our decision. The staff are all very nice and responsive. Our son gets so much attention and he learns so much at school. He is all smiles when we drop him off and when we pick him up. We get updates and pictures throughout the day and he has even brought home artwork already as an infant! I would highly recommend La Petite to anyone.
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September 2021 by Joua Lee G.
It was a really bad first daycare experience. They were not child-focused, family-compassionate, community-oriented or organized. They treated our family with very little regard. For a center that advertises working with each child based on their unique needs and welcoming communication with parents... They fell way short.Red flags started during the paperwork process: contracts stated different things than what they told us. This included a much higher daycare price and a large yearly fee they never told us about. No explanation was given for major inconsistencies.Our toddler had a hard time transitioning into this daycare, struggled more than other kids. Her demeanor changed drastically within days, and it concerned us.On day two, they shared that their strategies did not work on her. They had no other plans to support her. They asked us to pick her up hours early daily due to her crying. We agreed to do so. We never got access to teachers so we cannot speak about the teachers. Only access to the daycare head.We had to repeatedly, kindly ask for school info they sent other parents and didn't send us. We tried to ease our toddler's transition from home, wanted to help her understand what was happening and who her teachers are but couldn't because we didn't have basic info, not even teacher names. They eventually sent us some (not all) of the info, but seemed inconvenienced. We worked with what we had.They did not seem interested in learning much about our kiddo or taking a unique child-centered approach. They did a cry it out method, leaving her to stand alone at the door for hours by herself.Our child became somber and looked defeated. It broke our hearts. Getting dressed in the morning resulted in panic and crying. She became terrified of leaving the house, even to play. This was not normal. On Friday morning, I informed the school we would be a little late because she was having another tough morning. They did not care and would not take her after the 9:00am exact cut off. I found this to be unreasonable when they knew she was struggling and asked us to accommodate them picking up hours early daily. But they wouldn't accommodate even being minutes late. Corporate rules came before child needs.I messaged them that I was losing trust in their willingness to work with us to help my struggling child. The lead of the center called and claimed I called her and her staff "not human". The texts show that never happened. It was about having a human-centered, child-centered approach to my child, but she made it about herself. The conversation was not child-focused at all.She spoke down to us: accused me of expecting her to tend to me all day every day. Accused our family of expecting special treatment. Said she didn't have time for basic admin tasks even though that's her job. Gaslighted me: said she sent teacher names in the welcome packet. Acted like I was overly demanding for wanting info. We checked our emails, we never got a welcome packet. We were just a family new to daycare with a struggling child, wanting to know who her teachers were and other basic info, wanting to support our kiddo. It wasn't an unreasonable ask. It was info they already sent other parents but resisted sending us. She painted us as a demanding, difficult family instead. Our child did nothing wrong but the daycare lead suggested that we withdraw her. We took her up on this offer. Our parent friends were shocked hearing our experience, never saw this in their daycares. A child social worker expert & friend said my child's reaction was concerning and should have been taken more seriously by the daycare.Don't know if they are understaffed or mismanaged. Don't know if she treats other families this way or if she just had something against us. She didn't even know us. We left after the first week.Though they did not care how this affected our child, we do. She has trauma-like symptoms now. We are undoing the harm with intention and care, she is slowly thriving again.We wish we paid
