preschool teacher

assistant teacher

lead teacher

teacher

preschool director

Oakcrest Preparatory Academy

I want to start this off by saying that this was my experience, and others may have had a better experience than me. This is just me telling what I feel. I will always treasure the connections that I made while working here, but there are major changes that I feel need to be talked about. And I am sure that there may be someone from corporate that will say that everything that I have said is in someway my fault, but again, this is MY experience and they were not there for it. 

When I first started at this job, I loved it. I loved the kids, the environment, and my co workers. But the further I got into it, the more I realized that it felt like the corporate team did everything in their power to make the teachers' jobs harder. There are a lot of specifics I could go into, but overall, I felt that there was little to no staff support from the higher ups. We were always being watched on the cameras as if they just expected us to eventually do something wrong. And it felt suffocating. Always being scared of doing even the smallest thing wrong on their long long list of rules felt like I was in prison. You do not get to have a personality either. Everyone's in the same uniform, doing the same daily tasks... you can't even put stickers on your nametag to make it look fun. Which just seems like they don't want the job to be fun anyway. I was a lead teacher in one of the locations and I asked for help with transition times multiples times and no one ever came. Maybe once or twice did someone come in there to help me with the kids. Another thing that is not really my direct admins' faults but more of a corporate thing, is that you have to give a three week notice before you quit, which is insane. But also they take away everything you've earned when it comes to PTO in the last two weeks that you work there. Not to mention that if you do not give them three weeks you could get fined, and your last paycheck will be minimum wage instead of what you should have gotten. 
Also, if this is your first time working in childcare, I would suggest that you choose a different place. This place has rules out the you know what. Which is fine but they expect you to do every single thing, which again, would be fine if the admin actually wanted to help. 
Anyway, what I learned from this job is that it is not somewhere I would want to work long term. I will always love the kids that I had during the year that i spent there, but I promise there are other places that pay more, and care more. And if this stuff does not set off any alarms for you, then I think it will be a great fit.

They are definitely all talk during interview time. That all changes when you actually start working there. Flexibility is not given to you, they see you needing time off as you not caring about your job. Everyone in corporate are kiss ups to the owners. If this were a great school to work for, then they wouldn’t be losing as many people as they have as far as administrators go for all 3 locations in such a short amount of time. I appreciate structure but there is such thing as too much structure. You can’t have fun at this school. Too much micromanaging going on, the staff moral is at an all time low, there are no connections built between the workers. The school itself is great, their goals, mission and values and how they view the development of children are amazing. If the owners were different, that would make the school even greater. They run a business not a school. They take care of who they want to. They tell you that if there’s a better opportunity for you someone else they won’t treat you differently, that’s a lot because they will. Their communication with the staff sucks, their communication with the families suck. They don’t let directors tell parents when a teacher is leaving, they don’t let them tell families when directors or assistant directors leave, they don’t tell families when there’s a serious sickness in a classroom. 

Reading the reviews on this company, I can tell that none of these people work here anymore. For various reasons, many of which include certain people not showing up for work or being responsible adults, they blame the company for their own failures. I love working here and have been here for over 3 years. The owners have taken the time to build a school that service the community in a positive manner. The parents are awesome and supportive. The staff is great and there are so many good people that work between all 3 schools. Everyone has gotten a raise and the loyal employees that are still here are taken care of. They pay well for your time but do not expect for you to dictate your own rules. My only complaint is that many of the new staff miss work frequently and it causes the rest of us to cover for them. Being in childcare for as long as I have, this is an issue everywhere. Oakcrest isn't for everyone, mostly the people who have issues with structure and rules. This is the best preschool in Charlotte, hands down.

Get ready if your a person who is ready to be ridiculed buy there management. My co-worker and I were here due to we cared about furthering students education. We had are bags searched with out reason on multiple times. We are signaled out all the time as we believed structor was good for student ages 3-2 and this company believed in no structure. Toys that were given to the students was sad. You pay all this top dollar for these kids to learn. Well your student is not going to learn with a naked baby doll or puzzles you can't complete as pieces are missing. Teachers care about the students but management is a different story. They try to win over the teachers with food and gifts but the mental stress they but on can not compare. Just don't work here save the time until that very short director moves on and the tall gal as well. Just wait till different management goes in.  

Oakcrest has a nice building however, there are a lot of things they need to fix within the company. First you have to pay for both your uniforms which they are very strict on. No colors only neutral colors, you have to pay for a sweater/jacket cannot wear outside sweaters or jackets. They need more benefits only have med/dental/vision coverage however, the med is not god and that doesn’t cover much, no 401(k) no disability benefits. Also if you are a teacher that enjoys creating their own lesson plans this is not the place for you. You’re basically going to do whatever they ask also can’t rearrange room very cookie cutter. You need a doctors excuse for any absence that is not approved PTO. Everything counts against you for your raise being late and unexcused absence and if no two weeks notice they will take half your pay. You pay for any type of trainings they don’t even cover CPR.

They are severely understaffed and the other teachers are forced to work for the missing staff. Every week another teacher quits - if not more. The children are switched around rooms to be able to follow the state ratios. They claim their ratios are lower than the state ratios but because of missing teachers, they usually follow state ratios. The director and assistant director quit their jobs because the owners are not running the place very effectively. Although they don’t have the staff, they still get new kids. Some rooms are not working sinks, toilets for months. There are kids in the school who are very disturbing and dangerous to other kids and teachers but the management doesn’t do anything about it- even though parents of other kids complaining about them.  If I had young kids, I would never send them to this school. 

I worked at Oakcrest Preparatory Academy for over a year as a teacher, and my experience was far from what I had hoped for. While the facility is clean and the children are delightful, the work environment leaves a lot to be desired. Management imposes an extremely rigid set of rules and micromanages every aspect of the job, leaving little room for professional autonomy or creative teaching methods. The constant surveillance and overly strict policies create a stressful atmosphere that makes it hard to feel trusted or supported. Despite my passion for early childhood education, I felt undervalued and overwhelmed by an inflexible system that prioritized conformity over innovation. If you’re looking for a workplace that fosters teacher growth and values creative input, I would recommend considering other opportunities.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The kids and some teachers are really only the best part of working there. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Everyday was stressful. No support from administration and it felt like you were suffocating. Phones had to be locked up everyday (you couldn’t even wear watches) and you had no freedom when it came to lesson plans and crafts. We always never had enough materials for our plans and would have to ask for more but sometimes would never get them. Asking for bathroom breaks was impossible. Admin would say it would take a minute but would never come. Overall, the whole job is just stressful. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Toxic and unhelpful. No support whatsoever.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Nothing. You’re micromanaged all day long. You have no creative freedom to be a teacher. You’re watched on cameras to make sure you’re completing your daily check list. It’s uncomfortable. 


What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Feeling like you’re being watched your entire shift and having that feeling that you’re constantly doing something incorrect. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Cult like feeling. They want us to be looked at as teachers, but make you wear uniforms that make you seem so belittled. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Come in. Follow your daily checklist.

There’s a lot of gossip and drama that goes on here, as well as favoritism and constant micromanagement. If you aren’t a favorite of management, expect to be called into the office over every little thing. And yes… they are ALWAYS WATCHING YOU 24/7. They create new rules every week as well, what was ok yesterday is suddenly not allowed today. They pay new floaters as much or sometimes more then lead/assistant teachers that have been there for a while. The only thing really great about this job was the kids. I wouldn’t recommend working here unless you like drama and being criticized and watched 24/7.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Preschool teacher 14 salaries reported	$19.39 per hour
Assistant teacher 2 salaries reported	$17.75 per hour
Lead teacher 12 salaries reported	$19.63 per hour
Teacher 5 salaries reported	$18.40 per hour
Preschool director 2 salaries reported	$65,632 per year

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