Tadpole Prep, LLC

We have felt compelled to write this review for quite some time, but we didn’t want to respond out of frustration or emotion. We took several months to reflect before deciding to share our experience because we believe families deserve to make informed decisions, especially given the number of recent positive reviews after many years without new ones.

Our concerns were not with many of the teachers. Several genuinely loved and cared for our children, and we will always be grateful for the kindness they showed our family. Our concerns were primarily with the school’s leadership, oversight, and management.

After enrolling our children elsewhere, the differences made many of the issues we experienced at Tadpole even more apparent.

Communication between administration and parents was often lacking, and it was frequently unclear who was responsible for daily operations. We also observed occasions where the number of children appeared to exceed the staff available to supervise them appropriately.

We were also concerned by what we observed regarding policies and procedures. In our experience, practices were not always consistent with what we expected from a licensed childcare facility. At times, maintaining a positive social media presence seemed to take priority over addressing concerns within the school.

Although we were told lesson plans were being followed, they were never shared with us. We also regularly heard yelling directed toward children, including repeated phrases such as, “You get what you get, and don’t throw a fit.” It was upsetting to hear children spoken to that way.

We also felt favoritism existed toward families who had personal relationships with the owner. Ironically, we considered ourselves friends of the owner, yet that relationship did not prevent our son from suffering a severe injury while in the school’s care.

Our son sustained a traumatic degloving injury to his gums and jawline from exposed metal on a chain-link fence, requiring major surgery. When preparing to withdraw our children, we requested the incident report. Before submitting a public records request, we asked the owner for the official documentation she had submitted to the State of Florida as a mandated reporter. She responded, “As far as any official DCF documents needed, feel free to request them directly through DCF.”

The incident report we eventually received was very limited given the severity of the injury. It also stated our son “returned to school on 12/19/2026.” Since his injury occurred in 2023, it is difficult to understand how a report allegedly completed at that time could reference a date in 2026. We retained both the original report and the later corrected version.

Following the owner’s advice, we requested records directly from the State of Florida and were informed there were no incident reports on file regarding our son’s injury. Based on the information provided by the State and the documentation we later received, we have serious concerns about whether this incident was properly reported.

Our family also used our own health insurance to cover nearly $20,000 in medical expenses. Rather than discussing an insurance claim through the school’s policy, we instead received gifts left on our front porch. In hindsight, this felt like an attempt to discourage us from pursuing a claim.

Despite everything, there were teachers who truly cared for our children, and we remain thankful for them.

Leaving Tadpole was one of the best decisions our family made. We didn’t fully realize how much stress we had been carrying until we experienced a different school environment. Today we have greater peace of mind knowing our children are in a place where communication, accountability, and consistent procedures are priorities.

This review reflects our personal experience and the concerns that ultimately led us to seek a different environment for our children.

We want to clarify a few things regarding the “new” Google reviews that seemingly seem to minimize what happened to a CHILD in the care of a MANDATED childcare provider. There are several assumptions being made that are simply not accurate. Our Google reviews continue to be reported, so therefore cannot be seen publicly.

Our child was SEVERELY injured in Tadpole’s care in November of 2023, and while they say it was an “accident,” we will never know the truth, because rather than reporting this incident directly to the State of Florida IMMEDIATELY, like the owner and director, Lauren Ghaneie has a LEGAL responsibility, and quite frankly, moral responsibility to do so, she chose NOT to, and has chosen not to everyday since March of 2026 when this was brought to her attention.

And for the sake of the benefit of the doubt theory, maybe it was an oversight, maybe she was uneducated on the laws that she committed to following when opening a childcare business, or maybe it was that she was trying to hide a faulty installed fence. Unfortunately, we will never know, because she didn’t follow the proper processes and procedures that the state puts in place in order to protect children. By not reporting this Category 2 incident, she didn’t allow for a non-biased, thorough investigation to occur by her Licensing Supervisor. And the irony is, that she has a husband who is a lawyer, and is very familiar with the rule of laws.

Instead, what she did do—was when asked for these documents as we were exiting Tadpole Prep, the owner and her assistant director, Desiree Boyd, forged the incident report documents.

The fact that we continued at Tadpole Prep after this occurred, does not somehow negate or minimize what happened to our son. As parents, we did at the time, what we felt was best for our child. We didn’t think that there were people that would truly put the best interests of their business above the wellbeing of children.

We are writing this review at this time, because we feel now; that we have sufficient information to verify our concerns that this incident was not handled appropriately, only further confirmed by the Department of Children and Family services
Licensing Supervisor. If I was a parent considering to send my child here, I would want all types of reviews and perspectives.

And this is, after all, a review of a business. And the review of a business is based on one individual’s personal experience with that business. Our personal experience at this daycare may not be someone else’s. If all reviews matched, there’d be little point in having a reviews section at all. So while we are so thankful that other people have had a positive experience, We feel it is our duty as parents to share ours.

The sudden burst of “positive” experiences on Google of this business is rather ironic. Because everyone is certainly entitled to share their experience, however, when sudden positive reviews appear after years of nothing, it’s reasonable to question the timing, or the narrative trying to be created.
We also find it deeply disturbing that adults are so easy to minimize what happened to someone else’s child, yet had it happened to yours, and you learned of information later that raised questions about how the incident was handled, we imagine you’d have questions too. All parents deserve answers, accountability, and transparency when choosing who to trust to ensure the safety of their children. It begs the question, if you’re willing to go to lengths to hide this, what else are you willing to do when no one is watching?

Children are not fodder for minimization.

Suggesting that someone is trying “manipulate” by sharing facts and their own personal experience is very interesting. When you have the truth on your side, you have no reason to hide from it, question someone’s motives for bringing it to light, or try to discredit them for speaking about their experience. The facts speak for themselves.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion of Tadpole. In fact, when you choose to open a business of any kind, for profit or nonprofit, you open yourself up to the opinion of others. And you must be willing to accept feedback when there is an opportunity for improvement, but in this case, great lengths are being taken to flag reviews, remove care.com, and hide Facebook reviews. We appreciate both the positive and negative reviews of anything, and just because this was my experience doesn’t mean it will be someone else’s. Both things can be true.

I gave stars because I knew the place was safe and clean. However, the most important thing in childcare is communication and they do not communicate at all. The oldest group has no daily, weekly, OR monthly communication from teachers. They also do not consistently follow their own rules and do not bother with required DCF forms for injury and illness. I have personally been spoken to about other people's children which is more than inappropriate. The curriculum and daily activities that are advertised are not followed.