Neighborhood Academy, Inc.

We were only part of Neighborhood Academy for a short time. Very high turnover rate. Hardly ever saw the owners to discuss any issues. My child continuously had diaper rash and came home with bite marks. When asked management and teachers, they never knew when it happened or how it happened, etc. During our short stay, there were 3 administrators come and go. Just a bad all around experience for my child and us as parents. more

"Our children have been a part of Neighborhood Academy for about 2 1/2 years. From the Nursery 1 room to Preschool classes we have had an absolute wonderful experience. The owners and staff are truly committed to making the school a loving and learning environment. Ms. Jeanie, Ms. Michelle, Ms. Daila, and many others on staff hold a special place in my family's heart as they have cared for our children as if they were their own. in fact, I think when my children took their first steps or learned a new word or skill, the whole Neighborhood staff was just as excited as I was! The owner, Mr. William, even took the time to text me a video of my son's first steps there at the school. I know my children are in good hands when they are at school and that their best interest in in mind at all times. The Montessori curriculum has just been excellent for our children. Our preschooler constantly talks about her "jobs" at school and the new and exciting things she learns each day. Both children surprise us constantly with things they know that they learned at school. As a parent, I love the structure provided to the children, the daily reports on each child, the classroom cameras, and the continuous communication from the staff. However, the most comforting thing to me is seeing my children excited about going to school and running up to their teachers for a hug or going up to them with open arms and a giant smile each day. I would highly recommend this school to any parent looking for quality care and a sound curriculum to prepare their children for the future. I cant imagine a better place in Lubbock to entrust your little ones to." Tanya Miller more

My son has been at Neighborhood Academy for 9 months. My Daughter also joins afterschool. Our experience has been awesome! Management has always been respectful and courteous! Staff make the morning drop offs easy and smooth. Food is organic!! if my son is ever upset when mommy drops off, by the time I check in to the Watch Me Grow camera system in 5-10 minutes, he has already settled down and playing! I have recommended to all my friends and colleagues to bring their children to Neighborhood Academy. Thank you Neighborhood for all you do!! Dr. Shamima Sattar more

Before enrolling in this school, I would check the credentials of the owners. I was advised to do so and I was shocked at what I read on the Better Business Bureau, Texas Workforce Commission, Texas DFPS childcare licenses and Lubbock reviews websites. I am glad we chose to not follow through and allow our child to start at this daycare. more

Worst school in Lubbock with largest turnover rate. more

As a parent I just recently withdrew my child from this school after the 3rd teacher within a 3 month time period was fired. I do not have a single positive thing to say about the owners or director of this school. The teachers are wonderful but even they do not have anything nice to say about the owners. I could go on and on about the negative things but I will sum up into 3 short sentences. 1) The turn over rate for employees is out of control. 2) The male owner lies, you will NEVER get the truth when speaking to him. 3) The lady owner is a real witch who is never happy and very unorganized. I have heard from my own ears the female owner yell and ridicule her staff in front of other staff members and parents. Completely unprofessional. This school is a sinking ship and I am thankful our family is not a part of such a negative environment anymore. more

Horrible owners, would not recommend school. The owners do not care about the families and students at this school. In fact, the owners cancelled the pre-k graduation due to their own agenda of not wanting to "mess with it". Their words they said to the parents. Very disappointing. The owners did not even attend the so called "graduation reception" for the graduates or even bother to sign their diplomas. High turn over rate and every teacher has told us it's because the owners are "hard to work for". I would never recommend this school after the awful experience we had. Check the backgrounds of the owners, ask a lot of questions and check the montessori credentials as well. This school is a joke! more

I recently removed my 2 children from this school. Teachers are great, owners are awful. No organization from owners. Also, very dissatisfied they are one of the most expensive schools in town and did not even offer a graduation for the pre-k. After all of our family investments in this school it was very irritating that both owners blew off graduation for the families and students. They didn't even show up for the "so-called" reception party. Ask a lot of questions and check the background of the owners. I would never recommend this school to anyone. more

The Academy is a wonderful school.We have 2 children happily attending,great management team and friendly teachers. Highly recommended ,5 stars! more

I just moved to the Lubbock area and heard neighborhood was a Montessori school so I scheduled a tour. It is in a shopping strip. No windows in the younger classrooms. Every classroom the owner showed me, the kids were just playing while highschool looking girls sat on the ground. One of the 3 year old teachers had a degree in psychology and he knew nothing about the other teacher. Only one teacher is a montessori licensed teacher but they claim to be a montessori school. Looked A LOT like a daycare and less like a structured preschool. When I asked about the schedule for the day, he couldn't show me one on any of the classroom doors. Very unorganized and not worth $650/month. more

The employees are grossly underpayed and none of the teachers make the same amount. He pays them off of his own liking of them and possibly by how attacted he is to them. There will be equally qualified teachers (same college degrees and job history) that make completely different wages and if you are lucky they will pay you a few cents over minimum wage. This highly increases the turnover rate for teachers which in turn ruins the experience for the children. Most of the teachers arent even trained in teaching in a montessori school or even teaching period. The background checks are done after he allows the teachers in the classroom. Therefore he could have hired someone with a criminal background or even worse a person who had a history of child abuse and no one would know until weeks after he had hired them. The true sad story here is what the children are being deprived of. They are deprived of a stable and consistant teaching staff and the montessori title is a total joke. I would never send my children here. more

Sad children. Bored teachers. Not at all a Montessori school. Carb heavy meals. Not sanitary. more

My child attented this school for around 6 months, at the time of placement choice of Neighborhood Academy was due to current availability. There are some lovely people at this daycare, especially the manager. However, our child was not happy and we left after witnessing a situation over the camera system which is considered child abuse. This was heartbreaking to see as a mother and very upsetting for the father to walk into. While it Neighborhood Academy does do some montessori methods, it is not truly montessori for the younger children. There is another daycare in Lubbock which is truly montessori and amazing. The food is ok, but not what I would serve my child (yes, I'm a little bit of a health nut). I did not like the fact that the mobile infants, toddlers and some young childrens rooms do not have any natural light. I would not send my child here again. more

I would strongly caution parents before choosing this daycare. Please ask smart questions about the background and qualifications of the people who work there and be mindful of the state of the facility when you take a tour. If it is a true Montessori environment you are seeking, this is not it. We made a terrible mistake allowing our children to go here, and after two days we realized the gravity of that mistake and pulled them out. We lost money over the decision but it was very clearly the right decision. Please make a better choice for your family- take to heart the reviews of this daycare and know there are better options out there. more

Good: This is the best daycare in town hands down. The owner is VERY caring and it shows. I don't know where some people get their information from. And second, to a previous reviewer, the webcams ALWAYS work - I'm on them every day. I have two children here and couldn't imagine sending them anywhere else. We moved my three year old here because we couldn't find another that cared enough. And sometimes he doesn't nap and that's ok. Maybe the woman whose kid wouldn't nap was being disruptive to the other kids. :). Bad: The only bad thing is it's a tad pricey, but really, you get what you pay for. I've been at centers that cost far less and what did I get? "Teachers" that disobeyed our wishes when potty training, foul mouthed kids, workers that did nothing but sit and gossip, some didn't know my child's name!!. Improvements: None.. Other: Seriously, this place rocks. They sometimes have "cooking classes" (think helping w/ rice krispie treats), plenty of outside time, scrapbooks sent home of what they're learning, always open lines of communication.. more

All three of our children are at "NA" and LOVE it. They RUN into the school every morning where they are greeted by smiling faces. Our 7 year-old started there when it opened and went through the entire program and now attends after-school care there;so yes, we went through the ownership change and survived. Imagine that! Our 4 year-old daughter knows every letter of the alphabet, can write every letter, knows how to fold clothes, sings songs in Spanish and I could go on and on about what she has learned at "NA." When we drop off our 1 year-old he is smiling and when we pick him up he is smiling. We have found all the teachers and the owner are all easy to talk to and eager to work with the parents. Every facility goes through ups and downs/teacher turnover and "NA" is no exception to this. However, in our opinion, "NA" just keeps getting better and better! We couldn't be happier! more

Neighborhood Academy is an exceptional place for my kids! I would reccommend it to anyone who really wants the best learning environment for their kids. I have been to MANY places around town and this is by far the best in Lubbock. Don't be mislead by negative comments on this or anyother site. Go there. Take a tour and see for yourself. I did and my kids have been there for a while now and love it! Remember, there are many facilities out there that would post just about anything on this site and others to keep you away from their competitor!!!! Don't fall for false information. Go and check it out for yourself. You'll be glad you did!!!!!! more

The owner is grossly incompitent and compensates at the expense of the employees and often unfortunately the children she is entrusted with. Specifically, she will pull teachers out of class and rotate teaches to complete her work and subsequently consistantly deprives the children of a stable learning environement. This often results in severe behavorial problems from otherwise "normal" children and diminishes their security and ability to learn. This is not an acredited Montessori school (not readily told). There is a strict dress code that all children must follow (except for the owners' children). Indeed, the owner's children constantly recieve special attention from the mother (owner/supervisor) and have been thrown out of multiple other pre-schools because they are so ill-behaved. more

I have had three children attend Neighborhood Academy until they were old enough to start school. This is an exceptional place! I love the Montessori program they teach. It helped prepare my children for Kindergarden. Each of my kids tested high when I enrolled them at All Saints Episcopal School. So, instead of putting them in Kindergarden, All Saints put them in their Pre-First class which is more advanced than Kindergarden. My friend's son also went to Neighborhood Academy. She enrolled him in public school. He is in the Gifted and Talented program public offers. She said he blew his Kindergarden teacher away at how advanced he was! Lubbock is very lucky that Becky Neighbors left being a TV news anchor to open Neighborhood Academy. It made all the difference in my childrens' performance in school and I know many others as well. more

Neighborhood Academy is by far the best child care option in Lubbock. In response to Melissa's post, yes, they are expensive but you are paying for quality child care. My son has been enrolled for almost 2 years and there has been very little staff turnaround. The class size is very small. There are only 8 children in each class for children under 18 months and there are two teachers. That is a 4 to 1 ratio ! Because they take fewer children, you have to pay a little more. I love the webcams in each room which allow me to check on my son throughout the day. The staff are all experienced and knowledgeable and many of them are certified teachers. I love the fact that they begin an academic curriculum begining with the 12 month olds. The Montesorri approach is used with children of every age, so the kids are constantly engaged and learning new things. As for the uniforms, almost every private school in the country requires children to wear uniforms. If you are looking for a regular daycare, look somewhere else. If you want excellent childcare and a private preschool look no further. more