This is a great school. Our daughter grew in many ways interacting and the teachers are solid. My niece will be going here too. I highly recommend it. Oh, did I mention they have goats??

This was my first experience with my children going to school and it has been wonderful! So many of the schools values align with ours; play based, lots of time outdoors, lots of open ended play opportunities, Concious parenting (focusing a lot on helping the kids learn emotional intelligence including learning how to regulate and express their emotions). The school also has a garden and goats. Mondays are “Farm School Mondays” where they work in the garden. The school feeds our children healthy breakfast and lunches for no additional costs to us (thanks to a grant they apply for). Mr. David, the chef has been wonderful and so accommodating for my gluten free, dairy free, and dye free children. The teachers and owner Ms. Cindy have been amazing- when I have a concern they really listen and have gone above and beyond to accommodate my requests (within reason). I have two very active boys and the school does not make them feel bad about being active, impulsive, and aggressive (as most boys are) but rather positively reinforce who they are and redirect (in a gentle way) behaviors that are not the best. We will be returning and highly recommend this school!

Both my 3 and 5 year old are attending preschool and Kindergarten here. We are very happy with the overall environment and community. The kids were very comfortable from day one. My daughter has not complained about mean kids like she did at her former VPK location because it's run like a family here and it's small enough to manage in that sense. It's definitely not the high stress or one size fits all environment of public school. As a former public school teacher, I can appreciate everything that FDA represents from an academic and social emotional learning perspective. I highly recommend First Discoveries Academy as an excellent alternative to public school! Thank you!

If you have a child w special needs this is not the place . They didn’t accept my child and they told me that I needed to get him a Aba therapist first which I did I got on a priority list did everything as they told me so they would accept my child but they still gave me the round around and kept saying will give you a call never got a call last time they told me the boss was out for vacation and they’d call me back it’s been almost a month not one email or call.

Wouldn't choose any other school for my children to have their first experience with school. From the teachers to the curriculum, my children thrived here and we are thankful for every second they attended here.

My daughters current school referred me to first discoveries due to some behavior concerns we needed extra help with. I took a tour and was told both my children could attend. Then found out later that they would not pick my son up despite being assured that they could. Had to scramble to find alternate care. My daughter has special care needs and I told them months in advance about her and what she would need. The referring school also sent an extensive report with the details. I completed the application given to me on the tour and they were more than happy to take my money and register my daughter. Great communication from them until after they’d taken my money. After that no one at the school would answer, ignored my emails, and would not answer me on bright wheel for an entire week when I was asking about the vpk calendar for this year. They do not follow the county schedule which was not mentioned to me on the tour and was not answered for an entire week of me calling and asking. Finally found out they start school a week later than the county but they assured me they could still take my daughter for the extra time so I could work. A few days later I get a call from the director of the program notifying me that not only can they not take my child the extra week, that they might not take her at all. The employee who completed her registration did it incorrectly and did not denote that she needed special support. Despite this being in no way my fault I was told that it was my mistake for failing to turn in the paper registration packet I’d been given as the director had written “inclusion” on the top. I was only given one packet and turned that one in along with her vpk certificate so I’m not sure how that was my mistake. I was told that there were a ton of hoops to jump through and I’d be paying out of pocket for the therapist at the school and unable to use my vpk voucher. In addition I was told they could only care for my daughter from 8-3 IF they could take her at all. Less than two weeks to the start of school as a single working mom with a special needs child where else am I going to find care? I cried and begged, offered to do whatever it took, I’m going to lose my job without child care. The director scheduled a stay and play for my daughter in the middle of my work day. I said I’d make it work and the very next day I got an email telling me not to bother taking time off work as they couldn’t take her at all. To say I’m angry is an understatement. The way they handled this situation should be criminal. To say you are an inclusive daycare offering “extended hours” and force working parents to pick up by 5 pm sharp is bad enough, but to bait and switch a struggling single parent and leave me stranded with no care for a child who is a challenge to place is just too much. Despite a multitude of communication errors AND admitting that it was HER employee’s mistake Cindy was completely unsympathetic and unwilling to work with me, even going so far as to blame me. If I could give zero stars I would, and will be telling anyone who will listen how poorly I was treated here when all I was trying to do was get my daughter the help she needs.

The staff here are absolute gems! My children attended a Waldorf school in Palm Harbor Florida and when we moved to the Brandon area we were looking for another play based learning program. I loved them spending a good deal of time outside in their beautiful play yard everyday compared to the public school they are in now. Play based learning is how children are supposed to learn. It honors where they are developmentally and I was so grateful to have found a school in this area who knows this. I love love love all of the teachers at this school. They are well educated and truly love the work that they do. It felt very much like being apart of a family. Because this school accepts children with delays and disabilities I felt that they were so much more educated on how to honor childrens feelings and guide them in a gentle and loving way. They were always taking new classes and teaching me new things to help support my kiddos. One of my children is hyperactive and was treated so well here. He would come home and practice the communication skills they were working on with him at school. First discoveries was a wonderful introduction to big school for my family. I plan to send me 2 year old when she is old enough.