Carlton Academy Day School

Our two sons have been coming here for about a month and my wife and I are extremely impressed. My youngest son is in the 6 to 12 month class and his teacher is amazing. He’s always excited to see her and she’s always excited to see him. We also like that we can watch him on their camera system. Are older boy is in the 2 to 3 year old class. He took some time to adjust but his teachers were very patient with him and gave him extra attention to assist in getting him comfortable. Both kids are changed many times a day and the staff and teachers and front office included all seem to know and care about the kids.

From day one, Carlton Academy and all of their employees have been awesome. There is a very close knit feel to go along with high end amenities that make it an amazing daycare. We truly appreciated all the help they provided while we transitioned into daycare. It’s the perfect combination of bells and whistles with family feel.

Low end teachers, and no curriculum. When discussing any concerns with Monica, she was very rude and acted like she knew better than the parents.

I am extremely happy with Carlton Academy. My 6 month old is currently attending and has been for the past two months. The staff is incredibly knowledgeable in child development and have set up a caring and loving environment for children and families. My sons first teacher was Ms. Catherine in the young infant room and we could not have loved her more. She would shower him in kisses every morning when we got there and every day before he left.
The I side of the school is equally as awesome as the staff. It is bright and colorful and filled with wonderful toys, activities, books, and learning centers. And how about the outside area! There is fun pirate themed play equipment in the older child area and then two other age appropriate outside areas for the little ones.
My older son has also spent some time there when his elementary school is out and he too has loved his time there. They have age appropriate and fun activities for 5 and 6 year olds.
I would definitely recommend this school to any of my friends and family.

My son has been at Carlton Academy for a couple years. Over that time there has been several small issues, but nothing that would prompt me to write a review or condemn the school to a one star rating. Things like very high turnover rate, poorly trained low paid staff or cleanliness. You see most of those issues in most other day schools and Carlton is no different. However a few months back I was home and getting my son ready for a bath. As I took off his shirt I discovered that my sons entire left side was bruised like he was in a street fight. Keep in mind he is 4 years old. When I asked him what happened he tells me that there are kids that are torturing him. I asked him if he told the teachers, he tells me that they ignore him and tell him he’s lying. The next day I go into the school and inform the school of the situation. I even showed them pictures of the bruises on his body. At first they seemed really concerned and tell me that they are going to look into right away. The next day they call me in for a meeting and when I sit down I’m expecting to hear the outcome and what they are going to do about it. Instead I hear that they interrogated my 4 year old son and say they think he is just being a problem child. They also tell me that they «uncovered» some questionable things that my son said. They told me he was talking about death. On a side note, I asked my son about the death comment later and he said he was talking about the video game he was playing and they made him die in the game by talking to him. I sat in this meeting in shock wondering what this all had to do with the bruises on my son. The next day after the meeting I was dropping off my son in his classroom, and one of the teachers starts giving me an attitude. I left and just laughed it off. Later that day his grandmother picks him up from school and the same teacher who neglected my son (and gave me an attitude) was now giving an attitude to his 70 year old grandmother. I went to the management and explained to them what was now going on and never heard from them. Needless to say we decided it was best to move to a new school. This opened up a whole new host of issues. Based on the schools policy, you must give one months notice in writing. Which seemed a bit long, but I still wanted to follow their policy. We gave notice in writing and that same day the owners wife calls me. She’s clearly angry on the phone and very confrontational, but indirectly. Then a week and a half later I get an email from the owner Michael. He says there’s a problem with my letter format and need to submit a new letter and the clock starts over and we supposedly owe more money. Clearly that was a feeble attempt to extort extra money, but we still complied since my son was there still and I didn’t want to create any further issues for him. Finally it was the last week and my son had only three days left. That morning I get another email from Michael saying that I had an outstanding balance of $ 17 and if it wasn’t paid today that my son will be kicked out and they will purse further action. Funny thing about this was that I paid in advance and had a bill showing I was paid in full. So I leave work and drop off the money. I send Michael a reply email letting him know that I paid the $ 17 asking him to not threaten my son and family with termination so the last three days just would go smooth. Well that prompted Micheal to threaten me with a slander law suit and tell me we were terminated effective now. So needless to say that I would not recommend this school to anyone. I’ve read other positive reviews which seem to be written by their management. But if you are looking for a school to abuse you and your child, well Carlton may be the place for you. Also they don’t really follow a curriculum. They will tell you they do, but really they just let the kids play all day. My son was in their VPK class and now is behind in his new VPK class.

I love this daycare! Awesome location, and they have top-​of-​the-​line everything; video cameras so all the parents can check in on the kids. And everything is new there! Not a grungy daycare like a lot of that I’ve seen.
I also love how the owners actually spend time there, shows that they really care about the business, the children, and parents. Highly recommend this place!!!

I pulled my sons from this school after numerous bad experiences. Although some of the teachers are great, the management isn’t. The place is very poorly run. The location is perfect if you work downtown like I do, but who cares about location when you’re constantly worrying about your child’s welfare? My little ones are now at another school in South Tampa and I’m amazed by the differences. I wouldn’t recommend Carlton Academy to anyone.

UPDATE AS OF MAY 2013: It has been a while since we left this school due to an out of state move, and I have to make new customers aware that things have changed at this school and not for the better. I have received numerous complaints from parents and teachers of this school regarding the management of Carlton Academy. Due to these complaints by trusted resources, I felt it was necessary to update my review based on the current state of affairs. I can no longer endorse this school. I would recommend strongly that parents in the market look to other providers. I personally witnessed issues myself, but at the time, chose to forgive. No more. GO ELSEWHERE!