Academy For Early Learning

Academy For Early Learning Early Childhood Education Programming in Wickenburg since 1998! Offering services for families with children 6 weeks through 12 years.

Academy for Early Learning, aka: Aunt Jeni's Child Care, has been a part of the lives of the children, and their families, in the Wickenburg area since 1998. We are proud of our longevity in the community. Our Director Karen Kelley, has been with the program since 2000. Karen leads a group of early childhood professionals that strive to offer the best care and education possible for all children.

The staff attend regularly continuing education opportunities to learn new and innovative ways to help children succeed. The staff at Academy for Early Learning are committed to creating a quality environment where all children feel comfortable, loved & are offered opportunities to develop through the stages of early childhood at their own pace. At Academy for Early Learning we believe consistency is essential for a child's success. Consistency starts with the people your child sees everyday, our core staff have been the same for the past 14 years. Academy for Early Learning is DHS licensed & DES certified. We are honored to be a part of First Things First through Quality First improving the quality of Early Childhood Education in Arizona. Working with Quality First we have access to improvement grants, pre school scholarships, nursing consultations, nutritional support, continuing educational opportunities for our staff and parents and so much more! At Academy for Early Learning, we LOVE what we do. We LOVE seeing the pride of accomplishment on our children's faces. We LOVE the bonds that our children make from birth. We LOVE being a part Wickenburg and it's surrounding communities. We LOVE that we have had the opportunity to see generations of children grow up to be successful adults! It takes a Village; and a Village is what we have with our resources, community ties and hundreds of families we are honored to have worked with! Thank You for stopping by to see what we are up to!

05/12/2026

Everyone is asking if we're open tomorrow! As of right now, we will be open. ADOT has opened one lane in each direction on highway 60 between Wickenburg and Phoenix.

Karen and most of our staff are just getting home this evening. As they had to stay at the High School until highway 60 opened. I believe I have a couple staff evacuated and staying at the High School tonight! Please be mindful of their time! Understand they had a very long, chaotic, stressful day today. Please do not text Karen, wait for her to text you or check here on Facebook and ask questions here. I will periodically check this account.

Reports indicate the fire has been held at about 90 acres. We will continue to watch the WatchDuty app to give us accurate information regarding the status of the Jone's Fire.

Using an abundance of caution, if the fire grows through the night, we will likely close for tomorrow. So, please keep yourself updated as well.

My greatest concern is for all your children and my staff. Today this fire grew very quickly. I do not want to be in a situation where we cannot get everyone evacuated if necessary! Wickenburg Schools will be closed tomorrow. We will have more children present. Today, Wickenburg Fire Department was able to quickly and safely evacuate us. For which we are so incredibly Thankful. If the fire grows quickly again, I don't know that the same thing could happen tomorrow.

If you are able to keep your children home tomorrow, please do. Karen Kelley will keep you posted via text. That sometimes takes a bit longer than checking on here. I will update here as I receive new information.

I appreciate all your help and patience with this situation.

Stay safe, Jeni

HUGE shout out to Sgt. Zach LaJeunesse with the Wickenburg Police Department for evacuating all our kiddos and staff so ...
05/12/2026

HUGE shout out to Sgt. Zach LaJeunesse with the Wickenburg Police Department for evacuating all our kiddos and staff so quickly and safely. We are so incredibly Thankful for all WPD, fire & rescue workers in Wickenburg right now. Prayers for all affected by this fire!

05/11/2026

**EVACUATION UPDATE**

All children and staff have safely made it to the Wickenburg Community Center. Please pick up your child, from the Wickenburg Community Center ASAP!

05/11/2026

**EMERGENCY UPDATE**

Wickenburg Fire Department is evacuating us! They are transporting all children and personal to the Wickenburg Community Center!

Please pick up your child from the Wickenburg Community Center ASAP!

05/11/2026
05/11/2026

****IMPORTANT INFORMATION****

Good afternoon parents!

Unfortunately, due to the fire on highway 60 in town, we need to start the evacuation process. The fire is approximately 2 miles north of our property. Putting the fire between town and us. The evacuation process will take several hours because Highway 60 is closed in both directions.

Karen has talked with ADOT. You will NOT be able to drive through town south on highway 60 to get to our center. ADOT gave the following instructions: take Vulture Mine out of town south towards I-10. Then take I-10 east to 303. Then take 303 north to grand/highway 60 and head north. Highway 60 is currently closed headed north. However, continue driving until you reach ADOT personnel, alert them you need to get through to pick up your child from Academy for Early Learning at mile marker 113. They will let you through if you are headed north on highway 60. Again, you will NOT be able to get past the fire coming south from Wickenburg on highway 60. This trip could take a couple hours. So, please develop a pick up plan now!

We are asking you to start this process out of caution. We have not been evacuated by the Fire Department yet. However, due to the length of time it will take parents to get to our property, we are asking you to be proactive about a pick up plan.

I will keep you updated here. Karen is calling each family. The fire is currently about 2 miles from our property. The fire department is very busy with this fire. Let's try to not become part of the problem.

Once you have your child, at this time, highway 60 is open headed south from our center.

Thank you, Jeni

07/02/2025

We will remain closed for Thursday July 3rd due to the Monarch Fire! As of right now the fire is ZERO % contained and burning close to the center. Should winds change, we are in direct line of fire!

We do not have the capabilities to immediately evacuated 57 children, should the fire change it's path.

Thank you for understanding we are acting in the best interest of your children AND my staff!

Stay Safe,
Jeni

07/01/2025

Our property has been escalated to a "Go" due to the Monarch Fire burning close.

We have safely evacuated all children & staff.

We will NOT be open tomorrow, Wednesday July 2nd, 2025.

We will keep you notified as to the status of operation hours for Thursday July 3rd.

Once we have an "All Clear" AND it is Safe for the children & staff to occupy our building, we will resume regular hours of operation.

Karen will keep all enrolled families updated via text. We will update here on FB when we get new information.

Thank you for your patience!
Jeni

Address

51020 Highway 60 (mile Marker 113 On Grand Avenue)
Wickenburg, AZ
85390

Opening Hours

Monday 7am - 5:30pm
Tuesday 7am - 5:30pm
Wednesday 7am - 5:30pm
Thursday 7am - 5:30pm
Friday 7am - 5:30pm

Telephone

+19286680410

Website

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