Amazing Explorers Academy Citrus Park, Tampa | Fees, Rankings, Address, Admission, Vacancies, Reviews & More

My daughter started at AEA in June 2023 when they first opened. It was amazing. Big clean classrooms, a camera to check in, an app to communicate with her teachers and other staff, plenty of activities, etc. It also felt like a family. Every time we did pick up and drop off everyone greeted our daughter by name, even teachers that didn’t work with her directly. We could tell she was really thriving and learning. They also took time to talk to and get to know my husband and I. Again, it was a family.

In Feb 2024, over the weekend, we were informed of sudden director and staff changes. From that moment everything went downhill. Cameras not working well, front door breaking, classrooms a mess, barely any updates or communication on the app, but most of all the kids were affected.

I would check in on the camera and would see chaos; kids running around the classroom, throwing toys, nap times being skipped all while their teacher would just be standing there. It was obvious all the kids that were usually behaved and used to structure and loving and caring teachers were acting out with the changes.

We gave it a chance for a month, but it didn’t get any better. She wasn’t learning anything new, not napping, and SO hungry when she got home. A LOT of families pulled out of AEA and even with just 6 kids (previously 12+ kids) in the classroom it seemed like that teacher couldn’t handle the kids.

What made our final decision to stop attending AEA was the increase of $100/month in the tuition AND lunch being pulled. Now they ask to pay for lunch (up to $50 a week) or bring cold lunch from home. What exactly are we paying for anymore?! $300+ for nothing.. It’s all very disappointing especially with how great it was before.

I wish I could give a great review, but with all the sudden changes, the inadequate teaching, increase in price, and the loss of the family feeling I can only give a warning to future families.

I usually don’t take time to write reviews but I’m going to this time because making sure your child is cared for is extremely important. We started at AEA in Citrus Park back when they first opened about 9 months ago. Truly, AEA was the best school around in my opinion. My son was so happy going there, loved all his teachers, the director was fantastic and it was worth the extra money to have some of the latest and greatest things a new school has to offer like cameras, an app, and a new clean environment. AEA felt like our second family.

Overnight, literally (and on a weekend I might add), everything changed. In the first week of February, they completely changed management at this school and you could immediately the following Monday feel that it was no longer about the kids and only about the bottom line. All the teachers we know and loved either quit or were let go and the new teachers didn’t even introduce themselves to us or recognize how disruptive an overnight change like this could impact the routine of a 2 year old. My son no longer was comforted when he couldn’t nap, was no longer played with (according to him directly) and teachers were no longer updating apps or sending pictures. Everyone was running around covering for the short staff and trying to figure out what the heck was going on. There was one day we couldn’t drop kids off until like, 9:30 because they “couldn’t open the front doors”. We left a week in to the mess because I truly didn’t feel like my son was taken care of there anymore. I keep in close touch with other AEA parents as well (current and prior) and everyone I’ve talked with shares the same feelings of how unfortunate it is that a school that felt like family went so downhill so quickly. I’m also told that after all of this, they’re raising rates, which really just goes to show it’s now just about lining pockets and not about the wellbeing of the child.

Everyone I was able to talk to were very nice. What caused me to remove my daughter from this school was when I first toured the school it was under different management. I was told their curriculum and their day to day schedules. There’s an app where you can see your child through the cameras and get updates through out the day. When I enrolled my daughter, the next week it was under new management. It has been messy, no teachers, my child wasn’t being taught anything, no updates on the app and I understand things happen but was also locked out of the school until 9:30am. I asked about why isn’t my daughter being taught anything. What I got was we have a curriculum and we are following it. I let her know i check the cameras and I never see them doing any work. Plus I ask my daughter what she learned today and her response is “ I didn’t learn anything we just had fun!” I was told they went over the calendar and had story time.Which to me isnt enough. I left a message the other day and never got a response either. What really pulled the trigger was with all the mess and no learning going on, they decided to raise the prices a week. You want us to pay extra and we’re not even getting what we originally paid for. I thought that was a bit much. Also my daughter let me know she had wet herself during nap time. I never received a call nor did she have a change a clothes. So my daughter was in wet bottoms until I picked her up. Next time a call would be nice. But it’s a very nice school and has potential to be a lot better. I hope they’re able to be better during this transition.