Kiddie Academy's first Utah location exceeds Core State Standards

New Kiddie Academy^® of Herriman offers high-quality child care to address statewide shortage of licensed providers

HERRIMAN, Utah, April 11, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Kiddie Academy of Herriman, the first Utah location of nationally recognized Kiddie Academy^® Educational Child Care, is now open and offering a curriculum that exceeds all Utah Core State Standards for Early Learning. The independently owned and operated franchise location also meets a statewide need for high-quality child care in Utah, where licensed child care programs only serve about 36% of preschool children with working parents, according to Voices for Utah Children.

"As young parents, we lived through the struggles of finding exceptional child care in the Herriman area—somewhere that didn't just look after our children but also focused on their mental, physical and character development," said Dr. Drashti Kaneria, co-owner and operator of Kiddie Academy of Herriman.

The state-of-the-art child care facility, owned and operated by Drashti and her husband Dr. Shardul Kaneria, held its grand opening event on March 11. Dr. Drashti, formerly a dentist, and Dr. Shardul, formerly an educational neuroscientist and high school administrator, are originally from Melbourne, Australia and now call the Salt Lake Valley home. They are parents of two children and value the impact high quality early childhood education has on the social, emotional and cognitive development of young children.

Kiddie Academy's systemwide curriculum outperforms all early learning standards outlined by the Utah State Board of Education in the areas of mathematics, science and technology, approaches to learning, physical development and health, social and emotional development, social studies, language and literacy, and creative expression for children from birth through preschool. Kiddie Academy of Herriman is licensed to offer its curriculum to 160 children in the Salt Lake City area, where just 45% of child care needs are currently met.

"Thank you to Kiddie Academy for bringing high-quality care to Utah," said Abby Cox, first lady of Utah. "Utah parents will greatly benefit from exceptional communication in the form of live access to classroom cameras and detailed daily reports at the end of the day."

The 10,000 square-foot Kiddie Academy of Herriman is equipped with 10 classrooms, two large, age-appropriate playgrounds with a dedicated gardening zone and more. The Academy has brought 25 jobs to the community.

For more information, visit kiddieacademy.com/academies/herriman/.

About Kiddie Academy^®
Since its inception in 1981, the Kiddie Academy system has been recognized as a leading brand in educational child care. The company serves families and their children ages 6 weeks to 12 years old, offering full- and part-time care, before- and after-school care, and summer camp programs, through the Kiddie Academy system. Kiddie Academy's proprietary Life Essentials^® Curriculum, supporting programs, methods, activities, and techniques help prepare children for life. The company's philanthropic efforts, including support of national nonprofit Family Promise, take character education lessons learned in the classroom beyond Academy walls. Kiddie Academy Domestic Franchising, LLC has also received corporate accreditation from the globally recognized Cognia accreditation system, signifying its commitment to quality education and the highest standards in child care. For more information, visit kiddieacademy.com or find Kiddie Academy on Facebook at Facebook.com/KiddieAcademy.

About Kiddie Academy Domestic Franchising, LLC
Kiddie Academy Domestic Franchising, LLC is based in Maryland. There are currently more than 320 open Academies in the Kiddie Academy system, located in 36 states and the District of Columbia, serving more than 38,000 children. Each franchised location in the Kiddie Academy system is an independently owned and operated business. For more information, visit franchising.kiddieacademy.com.

Media Contact: 
Taylor Castillejo, APR
Tombras
[email protected]
865.257.0026

SOURCE Kiddie Academy