About Us
Who are we?
My name is Maria, owner of Clockwise Learning Center. Like most teenagers, I began babysitting at a young age. I was a nanny to two siblings under the age of two, during my summers off from high school. That is what I consider to be the start of my childcare career. I spent many years with the families that I nannied for and eventually had 6 kids in my home daily, at the age of 19. From there I worked for the Kindercare Learning center as Kindergarten teacher and finally, Assistant Director. I also spent some time working for the Daycare Association of Montgomery County. I have a Bachelors Degree in English and an Associates in ASL (Sign Language). I took a break from childcare to work in corporate America for a while, until I had my first child. I was sure at this time that I would put him in a childcare setting. My son was born with hearing loss and other health related issues, yet I still wanted him in school and I wanted to work. I never once considered being a stay at home mom. Why? Well, I wanted my own identity, other than someone's mother, and I knew that I would not like staying home. I toured several places in the Voorhees area and I just couldn't do it. I could not find an atmosphere that seemed warm and gave me that family feeling. This is when I knew that I had to open my own place. From this experience, Clockwise was born.
My intention for Clockwise was and always will be, to create an environment where when people walk in, they feel home. Let's face it, kids spend 8/10/12 hours at school. Shouldn't they feel as comfortable as they do at home? Of course they should. My top priority is the children and the staff. My staff is the backbone of the center and will become a very important part of your child's life. My goal is to make sure they enjoy coming to work and feel appreciate and valued, daily.
What do we do?
Our center is licensed by the State of NJ, just like every other center in the state, including your Malvern's, Goddard's, Primrose, etc. Call them what you want; PreK, School, Childcare, we are all controlled by the same governing body. The beauty in being a privately owned center is that we have the freedom to customize what we do to suit the children in our care at the time. Every classroom has a curriculum that we developed for the age of the class. Each new school year, as the months pass, we will make any and all adjustments needed to make sure the children remain engaged and are learning. We have sent Kindergarteners to First Grade already reading and have been able to push 3 of our Kindergarteners to first grade early, after not meeting the age requirement for the local school. My director of 11 years and 4 year old teacher, Karen, works along side of the other teachers to develop and implement any and all creative ideas that they bring to us that will keep the children engaged and learning.
Is it all about academics?
Absolutely not. Remember that the children you give birth to and send to school at a young age are the same children that you want to take out to restaurants. They are the same children that you want to become polite, mannerly, civilized. We can help. There are so many life skills to learn growing up that children have no idea about. How do they learn this? From the people around them: parents, teachers, grandparents. We create kind, independent, civilized humans. As early as possible, we introduce a schedule in all classes, including infants. We encourage kids to feed themselves, but keeping the food on the plate at the same time, putting away their own cups, throwing away their own trash, pushing in chairs, not walking on or throwing toys, sharing with each other, cleaning up, running outside only and maintaining proper indoor behavior. We want you to enjoy being around your children. I speak on this as a parent, more than a caregiver. I was able to take my children anywhere, without the use of an electronic device, without worrying if they were going to want to walk around a restaurant instead of staying in their seat, without wondering if they were going to have a melt down for not getting their way. Children are not children forever, so let us do our part to help you make sure their days are filled with love and adventure, all while creative teenagers and adults that we can be proud of.
