Five Forks Academy

I am going to write a very true review here. The owner Ann is very nice and friendly. I really like the director. She was quite friendly as well. First off let me start off saying how in love I was with this place when we moved here four years ago. I had dreamt of sending my son here for his early education. Finally the time arrived, I went back to work, he needed to start pre-k. I enrolled him in the private pre-k program and was given quite the nice tour. My son held onto my hand the whole time. The teacher we were introduced to was very friendly and warm. My son quite liked her. Two weeks later she left and his new teacher should not have been a teacher at all. My son would rush me with panic every time I picked him up and dropping him off was horrific for both of us. I agreed that it would just take time. This center constantly combined classrooms, the teachers changed all the time. I really never knew who I was going to get the daily report from. Before I knew it, my 4 year old was trying to break out of this place. They had to lock the doors, and he would flee to any parent to take him home. The center called me because of his disruptive behavior, crying, and the fact that they couldn't get him to stop trying to get out of the play yard. They gave me a week. I dis-enrolled that morning. I found a new center that very morning, toured it. My son let go of my hand, played with the teachers and I was given the tour of the new center for 15 minutes all while he was having a blast. My son has night terrors and they consistently got worse after enrolling in this place and he would plead every day to not see his teacher. She shouldn't be teaching....and has absolutely no concept that each child is an individual not little robots. I am so glad that I took him out of there.

UPDATE 01/24/2018:

This review is actually to counter statements made by Ann W on 08/06/2015. I understand it has been over 2 years now. My son is in 1st grade and doing fantastic in his public school. I have never, ever, seen my son act out the way he did at FFA in the short time he was there. Ann did not mention in her comment, when I received the follow up phone call to my review on 08/04/2015 by the director at the time that the "well liked" teacher had been let go just days after I dis-enrolled my son. My son is not a tyrannical, spoiled, out of control child. He never was. But that Lorraine lady scarred him the whole time he was there. She was the problem, not my son. I could honestly care less how Ann W would like to defend the daycare. I just don't care. She can try to smear my son's behaviors all she wants but I know what happened between Lorraine and my son, because he never forgets. Take care!

I am Ann Weeks, Owner and Operator of Five Forks Academy. I would like to present facts that were not included in this review. The teacher did move to Virginia to be with her fiancé. The co-teacher was not "new" to the classroom or the child. Licensed centers are allowed to combine age groups the first hour and last hour of each day. There are 4 teachers who share the responsibility of supervising the Private Pre-K and Three year old children. Yes, the child would try to open the doors to the room to leave. We did lock the doors to prevent him from getting out. Yes, the child did approach every adult who entered the room and asked them to take him home. Yes, the child needed constant supervision and redirection. We are a large group setting and we were concerned that the child would slip between the playground gate and enter the parking lot unsupervised. The teacher is well liked by the other children in the class room. I disagree with the last statement "she shouldn't be teaching." I do hope that the family finds an environment that suits the needs of the child.

I am so glad that I did not make the mistake of enrolling my daughters in this school. I was so impressed during the tour and about to sign my older one up into their Georgia PreK program. It was all smiles until I explained that I was withdrawing her from a school she had started at the previous week. The director was trying to explain to me that it was impossible for a child to begin at another school after enrolling for Georgia Pre k because of some roster. I asked what steps needed to be taken? Wld I need a letter from the former school upon withdrawing her? Did I need to call someone somewhere? Could it really be impossible to move from one school to another? Supposing I moved house or changed my job and needed another school for my kid. I was pretty content listening to her explanations even though they seemed quite confusing and contradictory when the owner jumped in to our conversation and said that getting her added to their roster would require a lot of paperwork and talking on the phone and I quote "that is not worth my time". I was taken aback and told her that was a terrible thing to say. realizing that what she said was inappropriate she suddenly decided that actually the reason they could not take her was because there was a waiting list and proceeded to produce some imaginary list. Even the director dismissed that. I was furious at first but as I drove away from the facility I felt relieved that I had not made the mistake of enrolling either of them there.

This school is fantastic! From a personal level, the school is friendly and an open environment. It offers a lot of skills-building resources at your disposal.

Lets just start out by saying this is the best center I've ever stepped foot in! Everything is clean an well organized. It's not just a job or a daycare, we all come to work for the sake of taking care of the children an work together as if we are one big family! It's not just a job to us it's our life to make sure we do the duties the best to our ability an that the children stay happy! We show them tons of love and are constantly teaching them new things everyday!!!! I have never seen such a smart jr toddler room, these one year olds can tell me what state we live in, colors, shapes,numbers, an all sorts of other things. I have worked in plenty of facility's and none compare to Five Forks Academy. The directors an owner are always on guard to help an assist with whatever we may need! You're children are learning so much an it is our privilege to teach them. We love watching them grow with us an transition to other rooms through out our center!!!

Miss Angelica

PLEASE DON'T DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is a real post from a real parent.



The owner has a REALLY bad attitude and the Director's attitude changes every other day....much like the weather in Atlanta! My child likes a "few" teachers here but most of them are inexperienced and should not be working with small kids. Period. I really hate the fact that I ignored ALL of the negative comments I read about this daycare before bringing my child here. This daycare is the worst and I will find each and EVERY website I possibly can to warn parents about this school before making the WORST decision of you and your child's life.



P.S. If anyone comes on here to state anything different, I will be more than happy to back-up my review with "ACTUAL FACTS" on how I came to the following conclusion.

One of a Kind, Truly AMAZING experience!

Five Forks Academy, both facility and staff set themselves aside from every other daycare I’ve heard about or visited. They are definitely without a doubt #1 in our books.

Our son, who will be 2 years old in November, has been with Five Forks since 8 weeks old. He has grown in so many aspects of his life. The care and learning experience given to him from infanthood through to toddler surpasses anything we could ever imagine. Growing up, I always wanted to be stay at home mom because I was terrified of the idea of leaving my child with anyone else. The staff at Five Forks has completely put my mind at ease and now I could never imagine my boy anywhere else. He has been given so much and we have the peace of mind that day to day he will be in wonderful hands and protected to the max all while learning and growing his knowledge and imagination to the extreme.

What’s even more, Ann, Teri, Carol and each teacher on the staff interact, play and read with each of the kids on a daily basis. The kids learn to be respectful and courteous to others all while learning to sing their ABCs and count in Spanish!

In our opinion, Five Forks should be at the top of everyone’s mind when choosing a daycare for their child. We absolutely love Five Forks Academy and God-willing will NEVER go anywhere else. We recommend this school to anyone wanting to provide their child/children with the utmost top notch education and care possible.

Nothing comes close.

~Very satified parents!~

I am confused as to the negative remarks that I've read in regards to this daycare. I honestly think that competing daycares are posting those. This is one of the best daycares in this vicinity of Gwinnett.



I am very much a parent there, no outside relationship with the staff to steer me from stating the following, and you are free to email me at eborrero002@gmail.com to ask any questions. I am very passionate about this because when I had my daughter who is now 9 I had to switch her 4x because of such high turn overs, inexperienced kids watching kids, rude staff (please see Discovery Point in Snellville if you want to experience what a rude owner really is), and in that same case mistreatment of my child. So you can imagine that after having my son, I was VERY particular about where I placed him.



I was introduced to FFA from another mom that spoke very highly of them. I went to visit and fell in love. 1. the infant room where I needed to place my son in at that time had the same 2 women that had take care of her kids when they went there. The ratio in that room is kept lower than state requirements, and the ladies are wonderful, nurturing women. Great pick for that room. My son is 3 and in pre-k3 and I dread moving him anywhere else. Moving from Boston with no family, the FFI staff, Mrs. Anne and Mrs. Terri have become an extended part of my family. I have lost my job and through these various ups and downs they have always extended themselves to us and worked with us until I got myself back on my feet. They all know us and give us updates the moment we walk in. Their concern is genuine and I appreciate this group of people. The facility and grounds are impeccable!!!!!!!! When I drop off my son, he reaches for the teachers, which says a lot about how loved they make him feel, and when I went through a questionnaire for his classroom and asked who his best friend to play with in class, he mentioned 3 kids and the teacher.



Kids are pure with no Ill intentions, and my son's reaction to the staff is the most important validation I need in order to know that this is a great facility with even better people, and I promise I would not give this type of review had I not felt this strongly about it and wanted to make sure that it received the praise that it truly deserves!

I am really taken aback by the negative reviews on here. My son, now 2 1/2 years old has attended Five Forks Academy since he was 12 weeks old (June 2010) and I couldn't be happier with where he spends most of his waking hours everyday. It is the next best place to him being at home with me. He is currently in the big 2's little 3's classroom and at least half of his classmates also began attending FFA as infants so they have grown up together. He gets two hot well balanced meals each day which is more than I can say for myself. I am currently pregnant with my second child, due December 2012, and he will also attend FFA once I return to work.



The staff is wonderful and has always gone above and beyond for my son and our family. There is really low staff turnover, which provides consistency and stability for all of the children. My son loves all of his teachers and constantly talks about them at home, and it is always good things!

I'd have to agree with Janie49, it seems quite strange to me that after so many negative reviews, extremely positive reviews seem to pop up all within the same few days. I think the staff/administration more than likely caught wind of the bad reviews and decided to give fake reviews in order change people's minds. PLEASE, if you are a parent, do NOT send your child to this facility. This place will treat you wonderfully when you are touring and promise all these great things, but you will eventually be treated terribly and even worse, so will your child(ren). As far as comments regarding the Director, it's true, she is a heartless and rude individual who does not care about children in the least. Ask about her credentials...you will find out that the only thing she has is "years of experience". I think the director of a daycare should at least have some type of degree/credential, no? As far as the teachers, they are HORRIBLE! My child was constantly dirty, sick, and unhappy and I blame the careless teachers for this. Horrible experience, do NOT recommend and I find it quite pathetic that the staff has to make up fake reviews...

My son is a very unique individual, very different from my daughter who never has a problem fitting in. He is very independant and has always been a home body. When he was younger he had a VERY BAD experience in a day care facility. It was traumatic for him. It has been a few years since then and he started GA Pre-K this year at FIVE FORKS ACADEMY. I was apprehensive and nervous about sending him becasue of his past experience in daycare and his unique "overly independent" personality. Let me say that after the first two weeks of setteling in he has a LOVE for school that I never dreamed he would have. He LOVES his teachers and I have never felt the tug of "Please Mommy don't leave me here", that I have felt in the past. Not only are we happy with the center, the staff, the director, and all that is offered here, but we are also very happy with the children that our child is exposed to each day. It is obvious that parents who ARE selective of the best schools have chosen this school as you can see it in the behavior of their children. I am a firm believer that many day care centers struggle with behavioral issues from children who are out of control or negelcted at home. It is obviousl that this can be hard on staff and the other children who are exposed to very unruly children on a daily basis. I personally do not want my child in a school where other children are out of hand and teachers are stressed from dealing with constant issues. So again, I want to say that we are very pleased with the school and are happy that we found a place that we can trust. A place that our son can be happy and learn. A place where other parents who are genuinly concerned about finding the best for their children have also come to trust. You will not find a better center than Five Forks Academy!!!

I looked at several places repeatedly and visited Five Forks Academy several times before I enrolled my daughter. I was struggling with the idea of putting my daughter in daycare, just because I wasn't ready, but every time I visited I always walked away with a good feeling and I knew that this was exactly the kind of place I wanted to leave her if I had to leave her. I love Five Forks Academy. They are truly like a family. It is obvious that they love their jobs and the children. I can not say enough great things about Five Forks Academy. My daughter is learning so much and the staff is simply amazing. I know that since I have to leave her I am leaving my precious gift in good hands.

Our two year old daughter has attended FFA for seven months. I have my B.S. and M.Ed. in Early Childhood Education and I am a kindergarten teacher at a local elementary school. Therefore, my husband and I are very particular about early education. We visited several schools in the area before selecting FFA for our daughter. On our tour, I was very impressed with the Owner's knowledge of child development and felt the teachers, facilities and students overall happiness and engagement spoke for themselves. We feel comfortable and happy leaving our daughter in their care each day.



I feel the pros to FFA are: friendliness, safety, facilities, nutrition, quality of care, age appropriate learning activities, their willingness to understand teachers schedules/holidays, incorporation of songs and movement into the daily schedule, no tv or movie watching, offering special days (pj day, dress up day, stone soup day), celebrating many fun holidays throughout the year, outdoor play, "family style" dining in the cafe', low ratios, staff uniforms, electronic check in/out system, keypad entry, ability to pay monthly online, and always answering the phone when I call!



I feel the cons to FFA are: not offering events that build community among the parents (I would love to get to know my daughter's friends and their parents), not requiring staff to have a degree in education, not holding parent conferences to review my child's development, not performing a social/emotional/behavioral/cognitive assessment and/or checklist based on the curriculum they are using, not compiling a portfolio for my child showcasing her strengths and weaknesses, not requiring teachers to send home weekly lesson plans and enrichment activities that parents can implement at home to reinforce what is being learned at school, and not well designated/organized learning environments (drama, home living, library, blocks, sand/water tables, math, science, community) with a wealth of age appropriate materials in the 2 and 3 year old classrooms.



Overall, I am VERY happy with the care my daughter receives at FFA. From the time I pick her up in the afternoon until she goes to bed at night, she sings songs she has learned, talks about her friends, her teachers and her fun day! At 2, she knows her colors, shapes, several letters, several letter sounds, the days of the week, the months of the year, all the nursery rhymes, and she can count in English and Spanish from 1-10!

I have read through some of the comments that have been posted and the one about the staff being inadequate and poor and mean director is false. I have 3 children and we have been at the school since it has opened. The Director has been there as well and my children love her. They do not want to go to the classroom, they stay with her in the front, and she takes them when they are of comfort. It is costly, however I feel peace when I leave my children and know they are in good hands, and when I pick them up, they are always happy and not ready to go home. The teachers can provide me with information that allows me to know what I need to do as a parent and the best part... There is no tv watching without parent permission. This school is great and the classrooms are filling up. The staff are always doing tours and I always see new families enrolling. I have made a couple $$ with referrals. Go check it out and you'll see the bad postings are false... I love this school and won't go anywhere else. If my children are happy, I'm happy!!

We currently have a 15 month old and a 5 year old (enrolled in GA-PreK) at Five Forks Academy. The administration is wonderful, I feel that they truly care for my children and their well-being and I have never worried. The baby room is completely wonderful! There are not many baby rooms with staff who have been working with babies for as many years as these ladies have--simply amazing! If you're looking for high quality child care in a great facility--check them out!

We struggled with the decision regarding whether to sign our 4 year old up for private pre-k or public pre-k with Five Forks Academy, but we ultimately decided on FFA. We have been so pleased with our decision. We love the facility and we have been so impressed with our son' s teachers. They have gotten to know our son on a personal level and I must say the education has surpassed what my daughter received when she was in private pre-k. I find the staff and teachers very responsive to any concerns and can recommend FFA without qualification.



I would also like to add that I am not a teacher or staff member at the school and contrary to suggestions by others, this review was not influenced by or made up by the staff at the school.

I've had my children at FFA since 2008 and have always trusted the teachers with whom I leave my children every day. Children are honest too and mine love this place and the people who work there. I didn't give 5 stars since no place is perfect and could always use improvement but knowing about the other facilities in the area, this is the best for my family.

Well, It's pretty obvious that these overly positive reviews were written by the staff. I have since taken my child out of this facility due to the rudeness and lack of care by the staff and director. I've seen way too much. Some people are meant to work with children while others are not. The latter applies here.

We have been at FFA for almost 6 years. We love the staff, directors, and owner. They are always friendly and very caring with the children. I am a teacher, so education is priority for me and my family and we are quite pleased with what our two sons have learned in their care. My three year old is well on his way to read, and can count easily to 60. They have hands on activities every day. The teachers in the baby rooms and after care teachers are great as well. We would recommend the facility to everybody!