preschool teacher

lead teacher

daycare teacher

assistant teacher

child care teacher

The Childrens Courtyard

Positive things first: The kids and the teacher culture is amazing.  I developed so many close relationships with the kiddos in my class and am so fortunate for the opportunity to work with so many sweet, wonderful kids and their mostly great families (if you treat their kids right, the families will love you).  The other teachers are all very supportive of each other.  There is some drama that goes on, but for the most part, the teachers are a family and love one another.  

The only HUGE problem with this school, that ruins everything, is management.  The director has favorites and only cares about enrolling as many kids as possible and telling parents and other teachers whatever she needs to keep them happy and off her back about real issues that are going on.  Classrooms are stuffed to their limits and there is no concern for optimal child development environments or even safe environments in the classroom.  She comes across as very fake and you will learn to take every single thing she says with a grain of salt because it's most likely utter BS. The preschool manager is worthless.  Management will tell you again and again that if you need any kind of help (and you will because who wouldn't need help when you have as many kids possible stuffed in your room) to just call the office and ask.  Yeah right.  When there IS someone in the office, which is rare, they'll send some other teacher to "help" you.  Management is also very well aware of how much "help" the other teachers are that they'll send into your room are, but they don't care, as long as they don't  have to leave their chairs to help you themselves.  Also, try not to have to go to the bathroom because good luck getting someone to give you a bathroom break.  They're not concerned with quality of care or the quality of their teachers at all.  It's all about the money.  

Even the "accreditation" the school has is just ridiculous.  In the director's own words, "They're just concerned about how aesthetically pleasing the classrooms look."  It makes sense that management isn't concerned with the education (or lack thereof) the kids are getting when not even a prestigious accrediting agency cares about what is actually going on in the classrooms, but just about how it looks.

If you decide to take this job hoping that will help you gain experience in working with children, put all of your time and energy into the kiddos.  Keep your head down, do you best with the limited support and supplies you have, and then get out.  You will meet some great kids and teachers but staying too long will eventually kill your passion for kids.  You will not receive any training in child development, teaching skills, teaching activities, etc...you'll learn customer service.  You'll learn how to give touring parents a great tour of your classroom.  You'll learn that everything is rules rules rules and that rules come first, not the kids.

I have learned that the Day care environment has not changed in over 30 years since the last time I worked in a daycare. The pay is too low and expectations are too high.  The gap between corporate expectations and reality is very wide. The ratios are still too high for teachers to have by their self. Corporate leaders care more about their bottom line than their employees and more about liabilities than the children enrolled. Training was mainly about how to protect corporate interests by detailing everything employees must do or not do in order to make sure litigation actions are not an issue. There are too many rules and room for criticism rather than boosting moral among employees and that is why there remains a high turnover rate in this industry. Corporate leaders need to change their mindset if they want employees to act like professionals. They need to treat us like professionals and pay us like professionals. They should also pay overtime and give raises to those who stay longer than a year because that is a rarity in this career field. Obviously you must love children and be self motivated to work in a daycare. It is physically hard work to care for children aged 3 months to 4 years, mostly due to the high child/adult ratios. I personally love children and people so I love communicating with parents. This is a good job if you have no other options or need to work somewhere that  you can bring your child or children with you. However, at the Children’s courtyard, even with an employee discount of 60% for childcare, it is still quite expensive since your pay is so little. The only reason I started working here was because I substitute teach during the school year and needed an income during the Summer. It’s been a great Summer job because of the flexible hours and because I genuinely care about children receiving excellent care when they are at a daycare center each day, longer than they are at home. I was lucky enough not to have to put any of my 6 children in daycare except my oldest who came with me 32 years ago when I worked at a daycare. I would never recommend putting a child in a daycare environment if at all possible. I also do not recommend working in one unless you sincerely love children and communicating with people who may be very different than you. Definitely do not work at any daycare just for the paycheck because you will burnout easily and end up hating your job or quitting.

Schedule 7:45-4:45 yet not getting out most nights until 5:30-6:00
Lack of Organizational Management – short staffed – yet not conducting continuous interviews to become fully staffed. 
Little to no repercussions to those teachers who are constantly calling out, on their phones, sleeping on the job, or coming back from lunch late on a regular basis. 
Children being in the building without proper paperwork on file.
Teachers placed in rooms without proper qualifications
Administration discussing employee’s personal business with others – leading to rumors. 
Lack of Communication amongst Administration – 4 babies coming into the room without anyone knowing they were starting. Babies being enrolled when stated “There wasn’t room available” Being told that a child was only MWF for one month only to find out the same week they start that they are fulltime, and then needing care until November or December which in turn overbooked our room.
Favorites – teachers going home before others when it is supposed to be “first in, first out” 
Lead Teacher status – Hired to be Lead Teacher in a room because you needed someone strong to lead the team in that suite, yet I am the first one being pulled from the room to cover other rooms 
Placing teachers in other classrooms with little to no knowledge of the children in that room or being advised that a new child is starting in that classroom. 
Making sure that allergy/meal preference information is current. 
Lack of consistency in rooms, the moving of children back and forth, up and down the hallway every day. Leads to behavior issues because they do not know where they are going to be, when they are going to be there, for how long. Teachers become frustrated because of these very same issues and then you have teachers who are burnt out 
Meals are not appropriate for the Grow Fit Menu – ingredients being counted as components and not the whole item as a component. (e.g. pancakes made with milk and eggs being counted as a dairy and protein component instead of a grain component) causing no milk to be served with breakfast. 
Improper diaper/pull-up changing procedures.
Children being sat at tables to eat that have not been cleaned or sanitized.
Children's nap mats not being kept minimum 18" apart.

I worked at the ccy off six pines but they are all the same. Corporate is no help they are just all friends. 

Management never cared about anything important. They Would leave me with teachers that didn't do anything i would talk to them and they say they would talk to the teacher but they never do.

Management breaks lots of rules like putting kids in my class that were not walking and didn't provide me with cribs at nap time. Licencing told then that those kids couldn't be in my class so then they put 4 kids on with me.  We had a malfunction with the fire alarms and me and my assistant had to carry four kids and manage 13 kids all together and get them outside. We never practice fire drills so no one knew where to go. So frustrating that know one came to help. So this was so not safe. I went to talk to management about this and let them know that if they break a rule then I have to deal with it and it is not safe to have that many not walking. We could deal with two but that is it. But all they said is they didn't know that they enrolled four kids not walking when they see us going to grow fit every day carrying four kids. Stop lying.

Oh and don't get me started about bathroom breaks cause they never ever come. I never needed them because of i just didn't drink so I didn't have to go. But when I was no my period or starting my period they still didn't come and I would be bleeding all over myself. Not cool people.

Teaching supplies are a joke because their is none. Ever. How do you do art with no paper.

They have the most fantastic teachers and I loved them very much but they could be more fantastic if they were treated like human beings. They use what they got to make things work for the kids. But as much as those parents pay it is not worth it. 

How do you expect  you staff to follow important rule if you as managers break them. How do you expect your employees to care if you don't.  You set an example for your employees so follow the rules. 

I don't recommend working for ccy.

♦	Employed by the US Navy’s Child Youth Program as an Instructor, teaching 
classes on educational arts and crafts techniques, throughout varying developmental stages of childhood. Covering the tri-base region of Jacksonville, FL; including Kings Bay Submarine Base, Naval Air Station Jacksonville and Naval Station Mayport.

♦	Self-employed, Child Development Provider, contracted and licensed through
the United States Navy’s (CYP) Child Youth Program.
♦	Provided education and care to children aged 1-11 ensuring a safe environment
to grow emotionally and educationally.
♦	Created and customized an educational, imaginative and structured age 
	appropriate curriculum, utilizing weekly lesson plans designed to challenge, 
	educate and foster creativity in children.
♦	Incorporated extensive knowledge and background in music through lesson
plans, to introduce an early interest in the arts and inspire children to creatively express themselves.
♦	Tailored various educational techniques in teaching, according to age, including
baby sign language for the students.
♦	Adhered to USDA approved guidelines in meal planning, as to both provide
healthy food choices and instruct children on healthy eating practices.
♦	Applied the use of family style dining during meals, to create a comfortable, 
	secure environment, where children could feel at home, away from home.   
♦	Communicated with parents on a daily basis regarding their child’s education
             care, and disbursed yearly progress reports.
♦	Completed mandatory monthly training, pertaining to all aspects of child care, 
	to maintain licensure through the US Navy’s Child Youth Program.
♦	Served additionally, as a bookkeeper, accountant, human resources and administrator.

At first I really loved working for The Children’s Courtyard. But by the end of the summer I was overwhelmed, stressed and burnt out completely. The administration refused to communicate with their teachers about even the most important information. They lack the ability to give breaks, or assistance in anyway. If you have to use the restroom or have an emergency no one answers the phone to help and there is no planning for emergency situations at all. Schedules change daily, your one hour break may never actually happen, and if the person that takes over your class for your break is late you are expected to take a shorter break and come back at the scheduled time. Bathroom breaks are completely nonexistent here!!!! You go before you clock in or after but not On the clock. The lack the ability to effectively train new teachers and frequently hire under qualified teachers. The refuse to give performance reviews personally and instead send out memos for everyone with complaints aimed towards the general team rather than the individuals needing direction. They also conspire to get rid of anyone they dislike and will demote, cut hours, and make your job impossible until you quit rather than communicating their issues with you. There is never enough food for the children and they do not help with preparing a curriculum or activities in any classroom. 

I worked for this company for only 5 months.  In the short time i was there, i saw too much.  The turnover is terrible, no one is happy and everyone is overworked due to not having enough staff.  The ratios for teacher to child are everywhere, staff pushes infants on strollers throughout the day to not have rooms overcrowded because of lack of teachers.  Children are shuffled around from room to room.  Teachers are on their own, no help and lack of assistants. I felt sorry for my children, they were always left hungry. Not enough food given and the food given was horrible. Examples of breakfast...  1 small biscuit and a boiled egg.  No seconds.  Lunch.... a boiled egg, cucumber slices, watermelon, No seconds.  There is no room for advancement or a raise, unless you want to accept less than 25 cents after a year.  I saw so many assistants, great teachers leave for over the stress of this job.  Forced to work over 10 hours a day, shuffled here and there, never kept in the room you were hired for.  Parents were so fed up with the way this place is that they left.  I myself decided it was time to go too.  I loved my kids and enjoyed being the Lead teacher, but there were so many issues that it was effecting my home life.  I was oveworked, we work with no breaks and your lucky if you get a restroom break, hold it until lunch. IF you decided to give this employer a chance, please be advised, you will be overworked and underpayed.

The Childrens Courtyard as a company is above average. They offer decent benefits and in most cases their compensation is fair. They expect their employees to be teachers not babysitters which is great. They have great curriculum for the kids which makes being a teacher a whole lot easier. They do trainings monthly and give plenty of room for advancement. They like to promote from within. I started out as an assistant teacher and worked my way up to being a School Age Manager. The most enjoyable part of the job is the kids and parents. While they can both be demanding and difficult at times the majority are kind and appreciative. The hardest part of the job is that their is a ton of paperwork. While it is enforced for good reason which is to keep the kids safe and encourage learning it becomes a lot to maintain when you are a teacher. My experience with management has been wonderful for the most part. I had a director and district manager for 5 years that were absolutely amazing and always willing to help. My last director wasnt so much but that happens anywhere you go. Overall i would say that The Childrens Courtyard is a great place to work if your looking for long term and advancement.

I chose to work at Children's Courtyard in an attempt to move forward within a company. After just a few weeks of working there, I realized that it was not the place for me.  The 'curriculum' was poorly written and the 'books' chosen were all written by the same few people.  One example of these books was Tilly the Triangle who did not like her shape, so she ate a lot of food to change it.  When she became a bigger, different shape, she did not like that either.  Then Tilly stopped eating all together in order to become a small triangle again. The children were taught 'work first, play second' which is not developmentally appropriate.  They were given homework assignments that needed to be returned and were made to do table top activities which meant sitting at tables doing math and literacy 'games' or writing exercises.

I really enjoyed the teachers that I worked with and my original director.  However, halfway through my time there, we received a new director.  Wonderful teachers were made to feel inadequate. The same time that I put my leave notice in, 3 other teachers quit as well.  This was almost a year ago and some positions have still not been filled.

Disclaimer: much of this could be due to the COVID-19 pandemic and overall national job shortages.

Let's start with the good. It's really nice working somewhere where my skills are valued and I can play a vital role in the workplace. My coworkers are kind and helpful, I haven't had any real issues with any of them. Management does a good job cheering me on, which feels good !

As for cons...Every week since I started has been chaotic. I've been told this is the worst it's been for our center and it should get better. I've yet to see it get better, but I'm hopeful. 

Unfortunately, I find myself doing the job or two or three people most days. Despite being hired for one specific job (and a tiring one at that), I was also doing classroom duties, helping admin and doing any clean up that our housekeeper couldn't do due to her also doing a lot of extra tasks. Even when I had to work 8 hour days as a part-time employee, I was rarely given suitable time to take a break or eat. 

The childcare industry as a whole is struggling. Out of all my past experiences, this center has been the best one to cope with.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Preschool teacher 19 salaries reported	$15.25 per hour
Lead teacher 6 salaries reported	$14.40 per hour
Daycare teacher 25 salaries reported	$16.74 per hour
Assistant teacher 3 salaries reported	$13.71 per hour
Child care teacher 11 salaries reported	$15.38 per hour

Working at The Children's Courtyard: Company Overview and Reviews

The Children's Courtyard

The Children's Courtyard Ratings

Popular jobs at The Children's Courtyard

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected