Kiddie Academy Ribbon Cutting: It’s a Great Time to be a Kid!

Clifford the big red pup with a couple of his friends.

It’s a great time to be a kid, especially if you’re between the ages of six weeks and 12 years and live in or anywhere close to the city of La Verne, Calif.

That’s because owners Steven Paul and Paul Pieroth cut the ribbon on their new “green,” state-of-the-art Kiddie Academy Learning Center on Thursday. The dynamic young developers are also hosting a huge public open house at their new kid-friendly hub on Saturday, featuring karate demonstrations, story times, bounce houses, hot dogs on sticks, Hawaiian ices and all the ice cream you can eat.

The hours are from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday.

La Verne Kiddie Academy Director Debbie Lloyd is betting kids will especially fall in love with the spongy playground under the old oak tree. “Every inch of the playground is padded,” Lloyd said, bouncing lightly on the balls of her feet to illustrate the point.

The playground also features a chime pole and art easels.

Smiles all around at the Kiddie Academy.

Steven and Paul obviously thought of everything and spared no expense when building their kiddie Taj Mahal. They even have a laundry on site, and everything on the menu for the little tykes is organic.

Yet the price is less than other competing facilities, Lloyd said. “We’re priced under the competition,” she said, moments after helping cut the ribbon on Thursday. “Steven and Paul didn’t want any parent to walk away and say, ‘It’s a great facility, but I can’t afford it.’”

The range of activities for every age group is amazing. At the Kiddie Academy there’s no such thing as the terrible twos; it’s more like the terrific twos, as kids play with puzzles and play dough and expand their tiny, curious  minds with daily music, language and science appreciation.

Ernie Dorado, left, and owner Steven Paul, moments after the ribbon-cutting.

On Saturday, you can experience some of this kiddie nirvana for yourself by taking a free tour and learning more about the Academy’s full range of program and services.

From conception to completion, the Kiddie Academy took more than three years to build, but every inch of the center shows off Paul’s and Steven’s pride of ownership.

“It was a long time coming,” Pieroth said, “so we’re ecstatic that this day finally arrived.”

Local kids are ecstatic, too.

The Kiddie Academy is located at 931 Baseline Rd. in La Verne. For more information, call (909) 392-3333 or email lvkiddieacademy@gmail.com. Open house on Saturday runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Owner Paul Pieroth warmly welcomed everyone with open arms.