Jhana Pardue knew her son Noah wasn’t getting everything he could out of the daycare/learning center he was attending. He was unhappy, and so was she.
So, Jhana started looking around, visiting every childcare facility she could, and then walked into The Learning Experience Academy of Early Education near her home in Lakewood Ranch. “I remember it was a Friday,’’ she says. “I loved it.”
Jhana (the “J” is silent) was on her way to the airport for a trip to Texas, and she filled out the registration forms on the airplane ride. By the time Monday rolled around, she was dropping little Noah off for his first day.
“Fast forward two years, and here I am,’’ Jhana says, from her office at her own The Learning Experience (TLE) of New Tampa, located across County Line Rd. from the SuperTarget, behind L.A. Fitness.
That’s right – Jhana, who volunteered when she wasn’t working at her accounting job, and Noah, her precocious almost-2-year-old at the time, loved TLE so much, that the Pardues decided to buy their own franchise.
“I love children,” Jhana says. “I always wanted to do something and I knew accounting wasn’t fulfilling everything with me anymore. I was looking forward to volunteering more than going to work. So one day, I told my husband, ‘Why not do this?’”
New Kids On The Block
Jhana opened the New Tampa location on July 17. As a former Cory Lake Isles and Heritage Isles resident from 2011-13, she knew the area well, and was thrilled to have the opportunity to build her TLE there.
Opening day capped a whirlwind year. The Pardues signed their franchise papers in Feb. of 2016, and immediately afterwards, Jhana enrolled at State College of Florida in Bradenton to earn her Early Childhood Education Associate of Arts (A.A.) degree, to go with her Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in Accounting & Business Administration from the University of Central Florida in Orlando.
The New Tampa location isn’t much different from the TLE that Jhana fell in love with. She says she was initially struck by the colors of the Lakewood Ranch facility, the brightness, the atmosphere, the soft children’s music and even the smell – which was always fresh and clean.
It was the curriculum, however, that nudged her to pursue her own franchise.
For Noah, and many other children, it is a perfect fit.
“He is discovery-based, he is really hands on, and The Learning Experience is designed that way to let our children explore the different learning styles,’’ Jhana says. “Noah adapted well, because he was able to be himself. The other school he went to wanted him to learn one way.”
The Learning Experience was founded by Michael and Linda Weissman in 1980 with a single location in Boca Raton, and was built on teaching through cognitive, physical and social principles; or as Jhana says, “Learn, Play and Grow.”
When it comes to learning, TLE uses the proprietary Learning Experience Academic Program (L.E.A.P.) that Jhana says was written by educators with more than 25 years of experience. It guarantees that children will graduate with “exceptional core academic skills.”
The curriculum was written around what TLE feels are the six stages of development – Infant (6 weeks to 1 year old), Toddler (1-2 years old), Tawdler (2-2-½ years old), Prepper (2-½ to 3 years old), Preschooler (3-5 years old), and Kindergartner (5 years old, but not offered at all locations, including Jhana’s).
L.E.A.P. includes sign language for infants and toddlers, a phonics program and even foreign language programs. Mandarin is taught for one year, as well as Spanish.
“It’s definitely one of the things that sets us apart,’’ Jhana says.
L.E.A.P. workbooks include a journal, an interactive book and Fun With Phonics, which is specifically designed to teach reading to 3- and 4-year-olds.
According to Jhana, nine out of 10 children who leave TLE’s Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten (VPK) program head off to kindergarten able to read. “And, we’re trying to get to 100 percent,’’ she says.
Children take part in activities that promote a healthy and active lifestyle. TLE offers eight enrichment programs for children, like Yippee 4 Yoga, Suddenly Science, Dancing Feet, Talent Sprouts and Super Soccer.
A 65-inch interactive, computerized SMART Board is currently being installed in one of the classrooms as well.
Jhana takes great pride in ensuring TLE’s curriculum is used and applied. She says that is not always the case at other learning centers, where the curriculum sometimes serves as more of a rough outline.
And, mascots like Flexi Flamingo (P.E.), Lionstein (Science) and Bubbles the Elephant — the leader of the mascots — help lead the children through their day.
“We learn through play,” Jhana says. “The children think they are playing, but they are actually learning. We do this through small group activities, more 1-on-1 interaction and more individualized teaching.”
Happy Employees, Happy Kids
All lead teachers are required to have their Child Development Associate (CDA) certificate, which is equivalent to an early childhood education A.A degree, Jhana says. Assistant teachers have to complete 45 hours of Florida Department of Children & Families (DCF) Child Care Training.
In less than two months, TLE already has enrolled 90 children, and has a staff of 15. TLE’s 1-to-6 child-to-teacher ratio exceeds state requirements.
“Most classes are overstaffed,’’ Jhana says. “We exceed state ratios, but I’d rather have the extra help.”
Meadow Pointe resident Amy Rath was working for another childcare/learning center when she drove by TLE’s construction site for the first time. She looked online to see what TLE had to offer, and was impressed with the curriculum.
“I said in the back of my mind, I’m going to be director of that school one day,” Amy says. After a few interviews, she was hired.
“I hadn’t even posted the position when Miss Go-Getter over here started emailing,’’ Jhana says, laughing.
Peace Of Mind
Melissa De Oleo was another passerby on County Line Rd. who was eagerly awaiting the opening of TLE. She had been looking for a place for her 1-½ -yr.-old son London when construction began, “and I started stalking the place,’’ she jokes.
She drove to TLE locations in Palm Harbor and Brandon for a tour, and says that she was hooked.
“I love that they have a curriculum and are teaching instead of just taking care of them,’’ Melissa says.
Although she says that London cried the first few days he was away from his mother, he now gleefully run towards the mural of Bubbles that greets visitors, to say hi, and then to his teacher Rebecca.
“He loves it here,’’ she says.
And, Melissa says she also loves the secure nature of the facility. Parents cannot enter without their assigned key fob, and have to sign in at two different places to get their child. Getting back to the classrooms also requires a key fob, and the playground out back is protected by 8-foot-high privacy fences.
There are cameras in every room, and in the office used by Amy and Jhana, there is a 32-inch television to monitor 16 security cameras (above, left).
The first few days after dropping London off, Melissa would hang back and watch her son on the monitor. When he began interacting with other kids, she jokes that it was a “miracle.”
She also receives pictures and updates on everything from what London ate to the last time he went to the bathroom to what he learned during the day, all in real time via TLE’s smartphone app.
“Basically, I know everything that he is doing,’’ she says.
Which, at the moment, happened to be sleeping. Melissa was there to pick London up at 12:30 p.m., but instead of waking him up to bring him to his mother, she was allowed to wait until he woke up on his own.
“That’s really nice,’’ she says.
To learn more about The Learning Experience of New Tampa, located at 20780 Trout Creek Dr., visit TheLearningExperience.com/our-centers/fl/tampa/new-tampa or call (813) 534-6364.
