Inspire Early Education Freehold, New Jersey – Child Care Center

My daughter has been at Apple Hill since she was 7 months old. Our experience has been wonderful. The directors Ms. Helene & Ms. Selena are helpful, interactive and supportive. They know the name of every student in the school and know all of the parents.

Every teacher we have worked with has been the same: kind, loving and helpful. My daughter smiles every day when we arrive and never wants to leave. She is happy, clean, supported and learning so much every day.

I would recommend Apple Hill Academy to anyone looking for a healthy and loving atmosphere for their child!

The experience myself and my family continues to have with Apple Hill Academy is excellent (truly beyond my expectation). The Apple Hill team made our transition from one day care to their facility so easy. They were prompt in communicating via email and in returning phone calls. They made registering my son and the form completion super easy and accessible through the computer. When COVID hit, I was extremely impressed with the implementation of new safety features and procedures they put into place. My mind was truly put at ease, with the daily photos/daily reports/daily curriculum they provided. I knew my son was having fun, but also learning. I am so impressed with how much my son's vocabulary (he is a toddler - approaching 2 years old)has increased in such a short amount time. The entire Apple Team/Staff are all super friendly and professional. I can tell they truly enjoy being part of my sons life and daily routine. My son would come home with different arts and craft projects nearly everyday. The school is beautiful as well and recently updated. They truly offer so much and have created a truly amazing environment for both learning and fun!

When my son started daycare at Apple Hill Academy of Freehold at 6mo old it was nothing short of amazing. The love & attention my son recieved made us so comfortable as parents, especially with the non stop updates and photos we would receive in the provided app. This love & care from the same 5 or 6 teachers continued throughout his journey at Apple hill as he crawled, walked, ran, & learned… untill he turned about 2 & a half years old..

At this point, all Apple Hill Academy’s were bought by a large corporation based outside of the US that owns many different types of businesses, not just daycares. This particular one is INSPIRE early education. This is where things went south very quickly.

As of around June of this year, my son was bit very badly by a fellow child. This bite broke skin on all teeth through my son’s back and required medical attention. We were upset, but understand that kids bite at that age….

My son was than bit again FOUR more times over the course of 2 months apparently by the same child. We yelled, we begged, we argued, & were given nothing but false promises over and over again. They would tell us a solution that would never happen on more than one occasion. Told us the state licensing was involved and sending a shadow to handle it.. which after speaking with them, was a lie.

Throughout this entire experience my son’s teacher changed SIX TIMES….no structure, no stability, just the fastest turnover rate you’d ever seen. On top of teachers, the leadership turn over with directors has been a nightmare as well.

My son started potty training with teacher 1, then teacher 2, then 3, and now for some reason is scared to use a toilet… probably because there were times we would pick him up and he would be soaked in pee with underwear and beg me to change him.

The final month of August my son was sent home every single day with a very soiled diaper and not his diapers that we would sent in for him.

We were told that it would be best to move up to preschool class since he’s a bit advanced with speech and will thrive there (and that this would help with the concern of our son continuing to get bit as he would be separated from the biter)

On his second day of preschool, The kids go out to play before lunch, and then all the kids come back in to eat lunch except for my son. He was left outside. My son was found by another teacher who happened to be looking out her window on the side of the building ( or so we have been told. This is one of the three stories we were told.)

We asked for cameras to be reviewed to see how long he was outside because no one knows… and they don’t record. So we will never know if it was 5 mins or 50 mins.

Apple Hill Academy was phenomenal as well as the teachers that stayed. We love them and they were upset as my son left.

Inspire seems to be a frequent flyer as far a CSPS which is just so upsetting.

My son along with multiple other families have moved on. The flood of messages we have received from parents has been tremendous and it upsets me that we weren’t the only ones with this kind of experience.

I do believe that the leadership that is there now ( specifically Monica and Dana) are going to try their hardest to make changes but unfortunately after everything that has happened, we did not feel confident continuing to send him and I just don’t know if they are going to be able to turn that place around.

I have reached out to corporate to discuss our concerns and bring their attention to these matters and it has been absolute crickets.
Sent from my iPhone

From my baby’s first day till now he absolutely loves this place. I get the most adorable photos throughout the day, always with such big smiles. The director and teachers are wonderful.

Update: 8/18/25
My child has been at this facility since he was 3 months old, and he is currently 4.5 years old. When this place was Applehill it was a wonderful school, Helene and Selena were amazing leaders who had the child’s best interest at heart. Teachers were supported and they communicated with you. Since Inspire (or kids and company… not sure who owns it anymore) took ownership of this school the quality has gone downhill quickly. Turn over rate is concerning, you can go a month and meet 3 new teachers, who last a week maybe two and then are never seen or spoken about again. Inspire has also hired and fired atleast 2 directors within this year. The inconsistency in this school is not good for young children who need stability, and it has most definitely affected my child with the lack thereof and I’m sure he’s not the only one. Communication is also a major issue. I do get updates throughout the day on their portal, but it’s very random with many revised mistakes. I might get 3 pictures, I might get none at all, or I might get a picture of a student who’s not even mine! Lots of times I’m told my child has refused food, but then updated 2 hours later that he did in-fact eat his food… and since Ms Selena has been gone I get absolutely no update from either the asst. director or Director of how my child has been throughout the day, and teachers are no help because the teachers who are at pick up haven’t been with your child all day, they were in a different classroom. I’ve been mostly in the dark about my child’s day to day, that was never the case with the previous owners.

The past two weeks though have been absolutely mind blowing in what is being allowed to occur in that school. My child along with another child were allowed to destroy 2 rooms, on two separate days within 1 week with multiple adults standing around both times allowing the behavior to escalate to almost out of control level. He was also allowed to stand on cabinets with wheels that are hip height, multiple times within these 2 weeks and because of their “no touch policy” they allowed it to continue until I showed up to remove him from the cabinets. It seems their policy overruled my child’s safety many times within those instances. Why wasn’t an adult stepping in and getting a handle on it by removing them and calming them down? Why stand there and do nothing? You are the people we rely on to care for our kids when we are unable, and you were unable to keep my child, or remove my child from a dangerous situation. My trust has been broken.

My child is no longer going to this school as of last Friday. We will miss the small amount of staff who have been there for the long haul and truly cared about the kids.

Switching my son from Kiddie Academy to Apple Hill was hands down one of the best decisions I made. He started Apple Hill in September 2021 (7 months old) not crawling barely rolling from tummy to back in as little as a month I saw him rolling more often and trying to crawl. My son had to have a helmet put on at the end of September for a flat spot on the side of his head which is one of the reasons I took him out of Kiddie ( they just left him in a swing or seat) Helene the director and Ms Amanda his teacher were so helpful with the transition and didn't mind having to take his helmet on and off every couple of hours. I get 3-4 pictures a day and he always seems like he is having the time of his life. Thank you everyone at Apple Hill for taking such amazing care of my son while I am stuck at work.

Updated 8/2025:
I’m extremely disappointed to be changing my review from 5 stars to 1. In the past 11 months, this daycare has gone steadily downhill. Since letting go of Helene, there’s been a constant turnover of directors—first Apple Hill, then Kids & Company, and now Inspire—and an equally high turnover of teachers who clearly are not getting the support they need.

Looking back, I should have left in September 2024 when the new preschool teacher left my son alone in the classroom while taking all the other children to the playground. Helene found him immediately, and while he wasn’t hurt, the incident was deeply concerning. I chose to stay because my son loved it there and Helene provided stability. When they fired her—placing the blame on her for that incident—I still stayed for the sake of consistency for my boys.

We love the assistant director, Selena, but things have completely deteriorated. For the safety of my children and my own peace of mind, I had to make the decision to leave. I gave the required 30 days’ notice, but these last two weeks have been especially difficult. My son has displayed behaviors at school—throwing toys, climbing furniture, using inappropriate language—that he never shows at home. My pediatrician suggested it could be related to his environment or possibly ADHD, but regardless, walking into the classroom on three separate occasions to see the directors standing by as he and another child destroy the room was unacceptable.

I understand my child is not perfect—he’s 4—but to stand and watch without guiding him to a safe space because “they aren’t allowed to physically handle my child” is not a solution. Today will be his last day, and Friday will be my younger child’s last day. Thankfully, my older child can go to the office with his father, because otherwise, I may have lost my job over the chaos this has caused.

This place is not what it used to be, and it’s heartbreaking to leave under these circumstances

Update to their response:
Following the incident, The daycare did not end care. However, after witnessing the directors standing on the opposite side of the room while my son was in a shopping cart, I immediately gathered all of his belongings and informed them that this would be his last day. I could no longer have peace of mind while at work, knowing my child might fall and be seriously injured—especially given that staff are no longer permitted to physically assist him. His last day would have been today, 8/15, regardless, as I had already initiated the withdrawal of both of my children. I really do hope things turn around for this daycare