I spent many summers here. Some of the best summers of my life. The counseling staff were great we had lots of activities and had a lot of fun. I would like to go back in time and do it all over again.

My favorite place as a kid I’m sad that it is closing down

I was hoping to not have to write this review but since getting jerked around by Jard since July 2nd about my refund I will now have to share my experience since Happy Acres can't seem to make it right. I was warned by a friend to not send my kids there for camp after she had a poor experience- I should have listened. This was my email back on 7/2: I originally did a tour of the property before camp started. I was told that the kids would be doing zip line, playing with the animals, kayak, swimming, archery, and fishing, First day: I pick up my kids and my son says that he got to go fishing for a little bit and the remainder of the day he was stuck on the playground. There was no swimming, no archery, no petting animals, just sitting on a play ground all day. My daughter was in horse camp so her experience was different. My son now does not want to go back. I told him I would talk to someone on the next day. Day two: I drop my kids and speak to someone at the front. I asked if my son would get to see the animals and pet them. She said the counselors were not "certified" for the animals but said at some point in the week they would do a barn tour and my son could see the animals but not touch. I told her that was different information than what was told to me during the camp tour. I asked about the other activities and she said that they would be doing them at some point. I said my son sat on a playground all day yesterday and I would like for that to not happen again. I asked about pool time, she said the front desk girl was busy yesterday and could not be lifeguard but assured me they would swim today. I picked my son up at the end of the day and was told that he got to fish for a bit and then was stuck on the playground the entire day again. No swimming, no other activities AGAIN. This is unacceptable to me. I did not pay all this money to have my son sit on a playground plus it seems wildly different than what you advertise and discuss on the camp tour. My son said "mama, please dont send me back here". I said I am not. I will not have my child sitting all day, how boring is that?! I had two other friends that booked their children that week. One of them, called and spoke to someone on the phone about what was going on and was told that the camp counselors would be checked on hourly to ensure they are doing their jobs and taking the kids to different activities. Sorry but this is too late for me. I have lost trust and so has my son. I will not be sending my kids back. After I sent this email Jard reached out and called me and offered to refund me but said he needed 30 days to pay. I waited. I followed up and then he said he needed another 30 days, I followed up again and he told me again they don't have the money and need more time. I followed up again on 9/14 and Jard said he would mail me a check. I received nothing. today 10/3 I followed up today only to be told Jard is not dealing with Happy Acres anymore. I will add that I had my kids signed up in June for a week and another week in July. I was requesting a refund only for the upcoming July week. I did not request a refund for both weeks. What a joke. I will NEVER send my kids here and I will NEVER recommend them to anyone.

I signed up my daughter for pre-k for school year 2024-2025. Then one month before school started I get an email saying that the preschool has been cancelled. Here we are 2 months after I got the cancellation email and I have yet to receive my $100 registration fee back even after I have sent in a couple of follow up emails. Very unprofessional and sketchy..

My wife and I are so glad there is a place like this for children here in Jax! Our daughter absolutely loves coming here for camp! She has so much fun with all the activities they do here!

I am the only parent named Dawn who has kids at Happy Acres this summer. The previous review written by someone named “Dawn” was not a parent at the camp. I have had some issues with the previous director but am happy to learn that they are currently under new management and working to fix the mess she left behind. My daughter loves her time at summer camp.

PLEASE READ THE NEWS ARTICLES AND REVIEWS… I usually ignore reviews because i feel like people only write them when they’re mad. but this place is an absolute joke. The summer camp was extremely unorganized under the Director Kanye and no one knew anything. No lake play, no activities and counselors telling kids they don’t know what going on. And some parents have even tried getting a refund but have been refused by the owners… also tired of having dcf call me over the building issues.. it seems like the owners refuse to spend money on the property to fix things. i will never take my kids here ever again. Please don’t make my mistake

DO NOT SEND YOUR KINDERGARTENER HERE. THIS IS NOT A MONTESSORI PROGRAM AND SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED. Sent my daughter to summer camp and found out about their new kindergarten program. When it first started it seemed to be decent but it did not last long. In October they had two teachers walk out and one get fired. They never told anyone there would be any changes. They never hired another kindergarten teacher. They advertise as a Montessori school when they are just a dangerously understaffed daycare. The director says she is also the kindergarten teacher but I ask my daughter every day if Kendall taught her and she says no. Kendall even told me one day she has so much paperwork to do she will be teaching starting next week. That week never came and we're going on almost 3 months now. I feel like we have been scammed, lied to and cheated and now my daughter has half a year to make up. They blend the classes of pre k and kindergarten and say the older kids teach the younger kids, my daughter has regressed since being here. I don't know what else to do besides take my daughter out which is really sad because if they actually hired enough staff and spent a little money to remove the rotting deck and unsafe play ground equipment and had enough people watching the kids when they visit the barn or playing outside, it might be decent. They are in no way a kindergarten and its not okay to lie to people and cheat their kids out of an education just because Florida's standards for kindergarten have changed and they want to scam people. I was looking forward to sending her to camp again but we will never be back.

Stay far away from this place! My granddaughter was there this past summer and had a terrible experience. The young counselors they have are inexperienced and don’t watch the children closely. My granddaughter came home every day with bug bites everywhere even though we sent plenty of bug spray with her, she experienced bullying from the counselors and other children and the list goes on!

My daughter has just finished her 4th summer of camp at Happy Acres! She made such a special group of friends this year, and just didn’t want to leave each day! We absolutely love it there, and always so good to know I’m leaving her someplace safe and wholesome like a good ol’ unplugged 80s camp ;) And Ms Kendal had done a fantastic job in getting all the processes streamlined. It’s just a great place with fantastic people.