LAA - Little Ambassadors Academy recent experience?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How disruptive is it to the two year olds to transition from cherrydale to different campus/teachers when they turn 3? it seems like that might not be so ideal.

My child started at Cherrydale and then transitioned and it was a non-issue. And I did not hear anything from the parents of my child's classmates about any issues with their children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks! How is the walk from Cherrydale to the playground? I read in the forums they use buggies but I also heard they use safety ropes. Do the kids have to walk along Lee highway at all? Am a little nervous about the busy road the school is on.

They barely walk along Lee Hwy. Mostly it’s down a side street and through a quiet neighborhood. For the youngest class (the ones that are not quite 2 when the school year starts) they start with buggies and transition to safety ropes during the year. Older classes just use safety ropes. Overall seems to be a safe, fun, experience for the kids (and not unlike how other preschools in the area do walks). So if you are nervous about the LAA walks, you probably will have to deal with similar concerns elsewhere.

The lack of windows is definitely a downside for LAA, however I think the quality of the teachers and care makes up for it. Our daughter was previously in a center with floor to ceiling windows, however that really doesn’t matter when the management of the center and the teachers is not great.

[Anonymous]

LAA is great! Sent all of my kids there. They did "graduate" in '19 though. I love Cissy and so happy to learn that she's still at Cherrydale. The walk to the park, I think, is a highlight of the kids' day.

Transitioning to the next campus was a non-event. Mine missed their teachers but all the kids went with them.

No windows = not a big deal. It's all well lit and they are outside a lot.

The Lauren I know is a wonderful person and administrator and I did have a significant issue that we worked out pretty quicikly.

That said, these last two years have been hard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a NP, not the previous poster who has had issues with Lauren and I agree that she is …difficult. The thing that’s strange to me is that if you ask this question on MONA, you will have people tripping all over themselves to tell you how wonderful the school is. And if anyone says anything negative about Lauren they are flamed. So she has many, many happy families. Have you toured both LAA and LB? I think you can tell the differences just in the 45 minute tour.

Because it actually is a great school. I'm not understanding how it is strange to you that many happy LAA parents want to share their positive experiences.

There was a parent on MONa who is actually a member of the executive board for Mona and shared her family had a less than positive experience at LAA. People jumped on her! It was uncomfortable. There is a lot of people treating to justify to themselves and others that they made the right choice. It was sad that they somehow had to negate that parents experience. We’re at another well known preschool where the Director is difficult but the teachers are good and kids are happy. Unfortunately it’s a common scenario

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a NP, not the previous poster who has had issues with Lauren and I agree that she is …difficult. The thing that’s strange to me is that if you ask this question on MONA, you will have people tripping all over themselves to tell you how wonderful the school is. And if anyone says anything negative about Lauren they are flamed. So she has many, many happy families. Have you toured both LAA and LB? I think you can tell the differences just in the 45 minute tour.

Because it actually is a great school. I'm not understanding how it is strange to you that many happy LAA parents want to share their positive experiences.

There was a parent on MONa who is actually a member of the executive board for Mona and shared her family had a less than positive experience at LAA. People jumped on her! It was uncomfortable. There is a lot of people treating to justify to themselves and others that they made the right choice. It was sad that they somehow had to negate that parents experience. We’re at another well known preschool where the Director is difficult but the teachers are good and kids are happy. Unfortunately it’s a common scenario

Huh? I don't have to justify anything. And neither do the many other LAA parents I know. We are all truly happy with LAA and we will be sad when our children "graduate". It's a gem of a school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a NP, not the previous poster who has had issues with Lauren and I agree that she is …difficult. The thing that’s strange to me is that if you ask this question on MONA, you will have people tripping all over themselves to tell you how wonderful the school is. And if anyone says anything negative about Lauren they are flamed. So she has many, many happy families. Have you toured both LAA and LB? I think you can tell the differences just in the 45 minute tour.

Because it actually is a great school. I'm not understanding how it is strange to you that many happy LAA parents want to share their positive experiences.

There was a parent on MONa who is actually a member of the executive board for Mona and shared her family had a less than positive experience at LAA. People jumped on her! It was uncomfortable. There is a lot of people treating to justify to themselves and others that they made the right choice. It was sad that they somehow had to negate that parents experience. We’re at another well known preschool where the Director is difficult but the teachers are good and kids are happy. Unfortunately it’s a common scenario

Huh? I don't have to justify anything. And neither do the many other LAA parents I know. We are all truly happy with LAA and we will be sad when our children "graduate". It's a gem of a school.

NP. Same here. Had two kids go through LAA, and we miss it! Wonderful school, and we never had any problems with the director, who I thought was perfectly nice and professional. I'm not in MONA anymore so I don't know what the controversy was about, but I was surprised to find this thread and see these negative reviews. Virtually everyone we know from our LAA days had a positive experience there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a NP, not the previous poster who has had issues with Lauren and I agree that she is …difficult. The thing that’s strange to me is that if you ask this question on MONA, you will have people tripping all over themselves to tell you how wonderful the school is. And if anyone says anything negative about Lauren they are flamed. So she has many, many happy families. Have you toured both LAA and LB? I think you can tell the differences just in the 45 minute tour.

Because it actually is a great school. I'm not understanding how it is strange to you that many happy LAA parents want to share their positive experiences.

There was a parent on MONa who is actually a member of the executive board for Mona and shared her family had a less than positive experience at LAA. People jumped on her! It was uncomfortable. There is a lot of people treating to justify to themselves and others that they made the right choice. It was sad that they somehow had to negate that parents experience. We’re at another well known preschool where the Director is difficult but the teachers are good and kids are happy. Unfortunately it’s a common scenario

Huh? I don't have to justify anything. And neither do the many other LAA parents I know. We are all truly happy with LAA and we will be sad when our children "graduate". It's a gem of a school.

Maybe both experiences can be true? Your family can have a wonderful experience and someone else’s can be less so. Our friends who have kids there love it because of the hours, especially. But we also know others who have been disappointed during covid (isn’t everyone?). We know other people who have been called about openings because they’re on the waitlist multiple times, so it’s not as sought after as before but that could also be covid.