cook

preschool director

lead teacher

teaching assistant

education coordinator

Ladybird Academy

Ladybird corporate is out for themselves. It is made very clear that its all about money and how much we can keep in their pockets.  Teachers are not paid enough to deal with the garbage and the way they are treated on a day to day basis.  Classes are way over ratio and no one seems to care its all about how many children can we fit in this room to make more money which teachers do not see, but yet seems like higher ups always are on vacation. Classrooms are not provided with supplies needed even though a monthly request form gets put in. When stuff breaks around the school its always takes forever to be repaired, and its always the cheapest route which in turn turns out to usually be the wrong way. The children seem to have to take a backseat to the cleaning and decorations in classrooms( which i understand are important), but the children need to come before all that. Goals and demands from corporate are very unrealistic do to being over ratio and understaffed half the time.  Corporate does not realize that it is them causing wonderful, caring, amazing teachers to leave not all the directors. Teachers are tired of being treated with no respect yet expected to do a great job to keep corporate going. Feel like I am in prison not a preschool. Corporate needs to open their eyes and notice what is going on and do something about it before Ladybird runs itself into the ground. Stop paying people so much to sit in am office all day and complain about ridiculous stuff, and start paying the teachers who are actually doing all the work. Another thing is no sick days, really we work with children it is going to happen,  yet you need to drag yourself in because otherwise you lose a days pay and vacation time. People work in less demanding fields and get sick days and paid better for less work. We are making a difference in children's lives, but get treated like trash. Working for Ladybird was the worse choice I ever made.

I wouldn't wish my worst enemy to be an employee at Ladybird/Genius Child Academy EVER. The owners are cheap with their money and the food. They make you pay out of  your own pocket for EVERYTHING, even when it is mandated (i.e., fingerprinting, CPR/First Aid, uniform smocks, etc.). 

The turnover is INSANELY high (losing up to 8 teachers in one week and WALKING OUT). When you attempt to do the right thing and give a 2-week notice they scream at you and tell you to get out of the school. The owners make you weigh each piece of popcorn chicken and will only serve the children the minimum amount of food, which leaves the children hungry all of the time. They are pros at covering their behinds and making themselves always right and the families are always wrong. 

The children they enroll are simply dollar signs to the owners. The more they can enroll the more frequently the owners and corporate team can take cruises on their private jets and leave the teachers penniless because they don't pay them well at all. They also change the time clock and don't pay their employees for any overtime that they have rightly worked and earned. 

They MICROMANAGE more than I have every seen anyone do! The corporate team actually sits in their office, with bowls of popcorn, and watches schools on the giant TV that they have mounted and calls every 5 minutes dictating what they want the management or staff to do. You will actually get written up if your hair is not up in a ponytail! And they can hear you on audio/video so you have to be VERY CAREFUL about what you say when you are in the building. 

If you are considering working for this company then PLEASE RECONSIDER!!!!! DO NOT WORK FOR THEM!!!!!

When I was hired, the center was already in the process of being forcefully taken over by corporate, owner was in & out of court, but did eventually lose. After everything was official the quality of the center dropped like a lead ball. It all became about the money to the company. Classrooms were filled over the licensed capacity & children were shuffled to classrooms when they were not ready nor of age which would put teachers out of ratio & management just didn't care. I had no issues that the center is equipped with cameras, but I was very uneasy at the admission that someone from corporate actually sits & watches all day. 

  When it comes to food they are not part of a program so there are no requirements of portions. The infant room was supposed to be provided with baby food, but never was. The class lead was buying food from her own pocket with no expectation of being reimbursed. The children who were fed from the kitchen are given a very minimal portion; an example is a 2 year old was given 1/2 of a 6-8 inch pancake for breakfast or only 1/2 of a hot dog w/bun at lunch time. Canned veggie are served straight from the can without being warmed. 

 Lastly, teachers were expected to fill out their supply sheets over a month in advance, but then never received 1/2 of what was asked for. Then I was "scolded" that I wasn't following the curriculum. 

  The pay was decent, considering I have my CDA, but after being told I was up for a raise 2 different times & never was given. I loved my kids & most of the parents but I just couldn't handle the lack of respect & support from my management.

I would not recommend working at this childcare center. The biggest issue is the management culture. Staff are often treated disrespectfully, with concerns being dismissed, favoritism being shown, and certain employees being held to different standards than others. This creates a stressful work environment where many staff do not feel valued or supported.

The micromanagement is excessive and makes it difficult for teachers to do their jobs effectively. Rather than being trusted as professionals, staff often feel scrutinized over every small decision.

There are also concerns regarding kitchen and meal service. Food is frequently delivered late to classrooms, and meal portions often seem inadequate for growing children. The cook regularly prioritizes socializing over timely meal delivery, and there have been instances of unprofessional behavior, including walking through the center barefoot or in socks and playing loud music or videos that can be heard throughout the hallways.

The curriculum is another major concern. Many teachers have expressed frustration that it does not adequately support children’s learning and development and does not provide the educational quality families expect from a childcare program.

The best part of the center is the children. The teachers work hard and genuinely care about them. Unfortunately, poor leadership, favoritism, and a lack of professionalism make it difficult for both staff and children to thrive.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Building relationships with the kids and their families 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
I had a very concerning experience working with this daycare. There were ongoing behavioral issues with a specific child that I repeatedly brought to management’s attention. Unfortunately, these concerns were not taken seriously, and little to no action was taken to ensure the safety and well-being of the other children in the classroom. It became increasingly clear that maintaining enrollment and revenue was being prioritized over addressing serious safety concerns. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
My experience with management at this daycare was disappointing. There was a clear pattern of favoritism, which created an unfair and uncomfortable work environment for staff. Concerns were not addressed equally, and some employees were consistently treated better than others.

More concerning was the lack of support for teacher well-being. Staff health—both mental and physical—did not seem to be a priority. It often felt like concerns were only taken seriously after a teacher had reached a breaking point, rather than being addressed proactively.

A workplace that cares for children should also care for the people responsible for them. I hope management reflects on this and takes meaningful steps to create a more supportive and fair environment for their staff.

This location opened up in december and is already down 3 employees because of how things are ran over there. All 3 employees quit on their own because of how mistreated they’ve felt. Myself being one of them. This school isn’t about the children, more so blinding these parents to think it’s a good school so they can enroll their kids and for the management to get their “number up”. Nothing is organized. All the teachers are best friends so they gossip and talk to each other all day rather than pay attention to the children. Manager gossips and throws everyone’s business around. The teachers dig their dirty hands in the kids snack/lunches. Manager expects you to suck up to her and if you don’t, you’re unnoticed. You miss a day because you’re sick or your kid is sick? Oh, threaten to be terminated. Teachers don’t clean their room fully and wonder why these kids are always sick. Half the teachers talk to the children so disrespectful, it amazes me how they are still there. but like i said, it’s not about the children here. I have a kid of my own and wouldn’t trust a day of him being there without me. I truly hope one day they realize how to run a school correctly because out of any school i’ve worked for, this is by far the most awful. Definitely wouldn’t recommend this place.

My coworkers were amazing. Corporate took the human out of management. Management seemed like they had common sense, and a genuine love for PROPLE. Corporate starged coming in for a week at a time and suddenly everything was numbers, and not names or faces or personalities. They have potential to be one of the strongest, most solid preschool academies out there; they preach giving parents and students the most. But "the most" doesn't always have to be cramming 30 activities and 5 play rooms all day every day. Sometimes it's showing the parents that kids are genuinely learning, and what that looks like for a 2 year old versus a 4 year old. They treated the teachers like rpbots and the students like they were able to function like a 10 year old at 2 years old. That takes away their childhood in so many ways and can burden their biggest developmental phase in ways we won't be able to understand for maybe another decade. I hope they change, truly.

I’ve worked here for almost several years and the franchise LB are fine but once we went corporate it went downhill. It’s horrible and they don’t care about the staff at all. We are asked to work super long hours and we get paid nothing. Younger staff get treated worse than older staff because the management is usually close friends with the older staff. You will be stuck over ratio EVERY day and management does nothing. 

DCF ratios and rules are not followed
As a teacher you get NO supplies for the activities on lesson plan your suppose to do but get in trouble if you don’t complete that activity on the lesson plan. So just prepare to have to buy everything you need with your own money.

Management takes advantage of hard working teachers and will fill the classrooms for money purposes and not based on what works best for the school. No matter what location you go to they are all usually horrible and are always understaffed because they only care about money and not the quality of the school. 

in this place the administration does not consider their teachers, the school is full full classes are all full, they do not have enough staff to support the teacher, every day a new child arrives the classes full in their capacity, and the corporation only interest that the school is full because they have more money in their pocket, there is no option the teacher has needs because they do not have a teacher is exhausting day to day in that place should consider and value their work staff so they do not leave and change teachers every week or month, I could not recommend this place, the teachers are very good companions but the complete administration lacks professionalism and more affection to children and their employees because it is impossible to give quality to students is impossible to full and difficult that is every classroom and they do not care just the money and more money so I can not continue working in that place because my ethics and my life my health is first 😩

I worked for this company for over a year. Long hours, over ratio, poor management. Rooms are way over capacity, but no one cares because the children are merely dollar signs and the staff are slaves to those dollar signs. The director just keeps enrolling kids even though she is fully aware that the school is understaffed and over capacity. I would often times be left alone with 15 two year olds and nobody would offer help. Coworkers at this school are only there to gossip and not actually teach the children. Many classrooms do not have certified lead teachers, only assistants taking on the role of leads. You are promised a raise after three months, but will never get it. The school never has the necessary supplies, making it hard to do anything on the curriculum during the school day. Corporate is so rude and nastyThe worst company I have ever worked for, and I would not recommend it to ANYONE!!!!

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Cook 4 salaries reported	$16.25 per hour
Preschool director 5 salaries reported	$52,500 per year
Lead teacher 6 salaries reported	$16.48 per hour
Teaching assistant 2 salaries reported	$16.38 per hour
Education coordinator 2 salaries reported	$16.00 per hour

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