To Whom It May Concern,
My name is Meg Palladino. I have two children who attend Joyland Academy. Overall, I cannot fully express how happy we are with our overall experience at Joyland.
We have taken our oldest since August 2015 when she was 10 weeks old. As new parents, we were hesitant and nervous about leaving our brand new baby. But, with amazing communication throughout the day and a summary chart at the end of the day, we felt confident that our daughter was happy and VERY well taken care of. Ms. Joy sends photos via text throughout the day as our daughter did various daily activities. The summary chart at the end of the day allowed us to see when she ate and napped, two of the most important parts of a newborn’s day J. Ms. Joy, also, created Smileboxes that were slideshows highlighting daily events from all of the children at Joyland. These Smileboxes were shared with all of the families, as well as extended family. The grandparents loved them! We still have them all saved on our computer. And, now that our daughter is almost four, she loves to look back and watch herself as a baby!
One of my favorite forms of communication that Ms. Joy sends home are the assessment folders. She is so diligent and thorough with her the assessments and what she includes in the folder. I have talked with many other parents who attend different childcare facilities and they are extremely impressed and jealous of the assessment folders. I love to see how our children are progressing academically, artistically, and physically.
Finally, I know that Ms. Joy will respond to any text that I send her in a very timely manner. This is especially important if I am concerned about their health or have a change of schedule.
Overall, I can complement Ms. Joy enough on her parent communication on a daily basis. As an educator myself, I know it is difficult to communicate with parents every day. But, also as an educator and as a parent, I know it is imperative to the success and well-being of the students. Thank you Joyland Academy for always being the best!!!!!!!!
Sincerely,
Meg Palladino
Professor Christine Sargeant,
Thank you for providing this opportunity to share how Ms. Yolandra Parks, Owner, Joyland Academy pours love and learning into my daughter each day.
Miss Joy, as we lovingly call her, creates an environment where quality learning and care takes place in an exceptional way. My daughter began receiving care at Joyland when she was 13 weeks old and is now almost 3 years old. The family atmosphere and tone that Joy and her staff create allow the children to flourish and thrive. To an individual, they are each curious, bright, polite, loving and happy. When I arrive in the afternoon to pick up my daughter, it's not uncommon that the children greet me with a smile and a hug. It's as if, they all are our children!
A few exemplary aspects of the care that Joyland provides include:
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A regular and anticipated routine. There is a rhythm to the day that parents and the students have come to expect and they transition from one activity to another with ease - which helps mommies and daddies at home.
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Engaging learning activities - her linkage to CPCC provides opportunities for students to test curriculum and new ideas with our children. They in turn are exposed to multiple learning modules and instructors, thus increasing their ability to adapt to new people and different teaching styles.
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A family atmosphere. I believe that children at Joyland are loved like family. Joy and her staff often go above and beyond to provide exceptional care. All throughout the day, Joy sends photos and videos allowing families to feel a part of our child's day. She's extremely responsive and delivers messages to all parents equally - which is certainly a gift. Joy also is attuned to family events and when appropriate, shares with others so we can be aware.
Joy truly understands the needs of working parents and often puts herself in our shoes. Her empathy, wisdom and reliability builds a deep trust that frees me up to meet the demands of my work day without worrying about my child. Each day I know she is with her friends and teachers at Joyland learning the technical and adaptive skills to excel at anything she puts her mind to. I am certain that Joy's approach to early care and education will serve my child for years to come.
Sincerely,
Meka Sales
February 28, 2017
My children (Mali and Olutosin Hines) attended Joyland Daycare from the ages of 3 – 7 yrs for my daughter and age 8 wks – 3 yrs for my son. To say Joy became an extension of our family is an understatement. She was family. My children developed a wealth of knowledge during their early childhood years at Joyland Daycare. It was evident that Joy was not only knowledgeable, but very passionate about the importance of my children’s care and early education. My daughter brought home homework packets to be completed weekly and was blessed to become a fluent reader all at the age of 4 because Joy! My son learned about inertia at the age of 2! Nature walks, journaling of their findings, sight words, library visits, reading logs and much more are some of the lessons and memories I have of our experience at Joyland. She truly made the children feel special and subtly taught them how to be conscientious, confidence and pushed them to be the best of best.
From her studying my child’s first doodles and ensuring they developed into actual letters to text messages throughout the day with photos of the children’s activities along with multiple photo albums of photos, my children’s classwork and assessments; Joy is the epitome of what childcare/early childhood education should embody! She was truly designed for this!
Fyi, we only left Joyland because we move out of state. If we ever move back and my children are still of age; I will come knocking on Joyland’s door.
Best,
Tomeka Hines
My name is Doris Kongnso a parent to Samuel and Zipporah Okole. My kids have been with Joyland since 2014 and it has been a wonderful journey. I will say without hesitation that Joyland Academy is the best daycare ever. I feel so comfortable leaving my kids at her daycare; she makes my kids feels at home.
First of all her communication skills are wonderful, it starts from when i drop my kids till when I picked them. When I drop them, I get a picture of their morning routine, like breakfast, studying, in fact every activities. She will send pictures and video of their nap and what they eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner, which daycare does that. I am so so happy my kids are in her daycare.
Joyland will notify you of every event on the calendar before hand and everything to the best interest of the kids. I received text messages on daily basis on the activities of the kids, this makes me feels so comfortable especially when I am at work. She will send details of everything the kids are doing, and here I will say it loud that my 3 year old son can read so well thanks to Joyland.
According to my Son Samuel, he want to go to Joyland everyday including Saturdays and Sundays that is how much he loves his daycare. I will proudly recommend Joyland to every parent looking for a daycare. I am so happy I found Joyland.
We love her so much and pray that God continue to give her the wisdom and strength to keep doing what she is doing.
Thanks,
Doris Kongnso
To Whom it May Concern,
I am writing this letter in praise of Joyland communication and partnership with parents. As reference, we have been with Joyland for over 8 years.
One of the best things about Joyland is that they communicate with parents in many different ways, depending on the subject, the circumstances and the way parents prefer communication (based on what is easiest with their specific circumstances during the day). Mode and ease of communication is absolutely foundational to partnership and communication. Without open/consistent lines, it does not matter “what” is communicated. Luckily for us, Joyland is WONDERFUL about communicating how parents prefer.
Joyland is great about programmatic/consistent communication about calendars, events, and policies via email (for us). This is great because if we need to refer back to these communications, we can simply go back through our email for an electronic copy vs. trying to find a piece of paper which will inevitably get lost.
On a daily basis, Joyland will communicate with us primarily over text message (which is our preference). We will get updates on activities, meals, and status through photographs and text.
The most important thing is that Joyland is always available and responsive if we call or text. It is one thing to communicate OUT to parents, but it’s just as (if not more) important to be available in case parents need to communicate with Joyland.
Regarding the subject matter of any communications, specifically concerns, Joyland is always open to discussion and finding ways to resolve issues in a way that are acceptable to parents as well as caretakers. There is no defensiveness or awkwardness when issues are raised because their priority is best-interest of the children.
In summary, Joyland is great at programmatic and daily communication because they are willing to communicate in different ways depending on the needs/preferences of the parents. If/when issues are raised, they address them in a compassionate and professional manner.
We love Joyland!
Regards,
Andrea R. Acosta
Deirdre Scott-Jones
Dear Ms, Sargeant,
Yolandra Joy Parks, owner and operator of Joyland Academy, was a GODSEND to our family, and daughter, her former student, Carys Scott-Jones. She fostered a love of learning and nurtured Carys’s inquisitive nature (that has yet to fade) during Carys’s years at Joyland Academy, which spanned from when Carys was only a few months old, until she started kindergarten at Elizabeth Traditional Elementary School. We truly were sad to have to change Carys to a different school, as we rightly knew that she would not encounter teachers and educational content/strategies/interventions as invested and valuable, respectively, as those at Joyland Academy.
Joy was able to quickly and easily partner to build a relationship with our entire family while Carys was her student. While Carys was enrolled at Joyland, Joy used text messages to communicate with us throughout the day on the go. She also used phone calls, emailed reports, as well as emailed photo collages and presentations to communicate with us. The photo collages she sent allowed us to see our daughter grow, as well as all the different educational interventions she was benefitting from, while we were away at work. We have an encyclopedic collection of photos of Carys growing over her first years, all because of Joy! Joy was always cheerful, professional, flexible, and always took or MADE the time to speak with us face to face at length about what Carys was learning, doing, liking, disliking, etc. She got to know US, not just Carys, which helped all of our interactions with Carys, and helped us be better parents. We have continued to keep in touch since Carys’s departure, and often get adorable updates about her current students, as well as about students that were in Carys’s cohort, which are great, in that we can share them with Carys and she can see how her friends are growing, too.
We miss Joy and Joyland Academy! I recommend her to anyone I know of who is seeking a childcare provider, regardless of their location within Charlotte, as I truly have never seen or heard of a provider as caring, attentive, nurturing, dedicated, creative, learned, and amazing as Joy, and know that their child(ren) would be in the BEST of care.
Warmest regards,
Deirdre Scott-Jones