Smart Kids Sam Newell

"Let me start off by saying I love this school so much!! This is hands down the best place! They truly and genuinely love these kids and they go above and beyond for them. Never heard anything bad come from any of the staff they are patient with them they work with them and the parents which I love. Parents are invited to participate in school activities and they really make you feel like family. My 3 children attend this school and they are so loved here by everyone, their previous daycare was horrible lots of incidents that occurred that got swept under the rug even my son getting extremely hurt to the point he had to go to urgent care. Smart kids has an app that they use to allow parents to see what is going on with their child. I can go on and on about smart kids but you won’t regret putting your child in the hands of the staff there, they are amazing. Thank you smart kids for all you do for our family we love you and look forward to growing with you as the years come :)"

"I have to commend the teachers and staff at this location. They’re nice and friendly and professional and my son loves going to school. There is a security pad out front that you need the code to get into the building. I have never had a concern with leaving my child as I know he’s in good hands. Thank you to all the staff and teachers for all you do! Especially Ms. Shawn and Ms. B! You guys rock!!"

"Your facility on Sam Newell Rd. In Charlotte is unsafe and the staff are unprofessional. I picked my nephew up on 5/25 for the first time. My sister warned me about the unprofessional staff. I was able to get into the building and walk throughout with absolutely no one around to check my ID, stop me, etc. When I got out back where the children were, 3 staff members are just sitting and talking--not monitoring children. My nephew ran to me and I could've just left, but I announced that I was taking him, at which time I was THEN asked if I'd taken him before and that they needed to see ID. We proceeded back into the building and I asked why wasn't there anyone at the front desk in the first place. I was told, "because there's no one here". I explained how unsafe it was that I could meander throughout the building with children present. She left us standing in the hallway, at which point I could've left, but I stayed. The highly unprofessional staff member not only couldn't get herself logged onto a computer to see if I was on the list for pickup, she didn't even know where the hard copy book was and had to call other staff member via phone. When she finally found it, I told her that the experience was extremely unprofessional and unsafe for children. As an educator I was appalled. This would never be acceptable in my school building. She proceeded to argue with me as if there were any logical reason why anyone would be able to walk into a building filled with children and literally take a child out. I heard inappropriate talk towards children like, "Get your tail down..." to 2-3yr olds. I wish I would've taken my phone out and recorded my experience."

"Apparently, Ms. Gina (Director) and Ms. Like (Assistant Director) likes to make decisions behind the parents back. Students are forbidden to bring their own water bottles and are forced to only drink the water that is provided by the school. This is something that definitely need to be brought up to the news."