Paradise Christian School and Development Center, which has a site in Hialeah and another just east of Doral (the Paradise Tailwinds Development Center), started inconspicuously enough.

(Left to Right) Dr. Eileen Fluney-Perez, Zoraida Springer, and Genevieve Pared of the Paradise Tailwinds Development Center.

Founder and Executive Director Dr. Eileen Fluney-Perez noticed the lack of a pre-schooling facility at her own church, and went ahead and started a day care center right there in the garage of that church (hence the  “Christian” title—the schools are now non-denominational). Her mother, Zoraida Springer, helped with the initial project and still serves as an administrator at the schools.

Paradise Tailwinds has its own building, but is situated in the FAA complex just off of the Palmetto Expressway on NW 58th Street.

Not surprisingly, their location and their affiliation has enabled them to keep the most stringent safety standards, with an electronic gate around the facility, video cameras in every room, and two doors through which you must be buzzed in order to enter.

And registration is open to all families—a perfect fit for working parents who are residents of Doral.

Better yet, Paradise Tailwinds (like its sister school, Paradise Christian) is certified by the National Academy of Early Childhood Programs (NAEYC).

The Academy administers the only national, voluntary, professionally sponsored accreditation system for all types of schools and child care centers. It also requires they follow strict teacher to student ratios.

Doral Community Councilman Odel Torres is effusive in his praise of Paradise Tailwinds.

“It is a wonderful facility and a great asset to the community. It is safe and secure, gated and controlled, which gives peace of mind to the parents… All in all, it is one of the best programs there is—NAEYC certified and having won the Gold Seal Award,” Torres said.

The curriculum of the schools is designed to emphasize mental, social, physical, and emotional growth, and they go about that in a variety of ways.

For instance, the centers utilize tools from as modern as computers, which are located in every classroom, to those as ancient as the Bible, which is taught with an emphasis rather than traditional emphasis.

“At Tailwinds, we don’t have a specific Bible study class like we do at Paradise Christian, but the Bible is still used to teach moral citizenship. After all, it played a major role in shaping western value systems, and can be used to teach the children important lessons... In terms of the computers, in this day and age it is important that children are exposed to technology at an early age so that they don’t become intimidated by it,” Pared said.

Pared designed the curriculum to emphasize heavy parental involvement, which she stresses can help aid in early childhood development. Each student has a daily progress sheet which is in a folder in each child’s backpack and nearly every holiday is marked by a special event of some sort, like their recent Thanksgiving meal with the families of each student.

And special needs children are welcomed at Paradise Tailwinds, a rarity amongst early childhood centers.

“We think it’s important for both groups, those with and those without special needs, to interact. It really teaches the children to learn from each other. For those without special needs it is through assisting those that need you and learning the satisfaction that can come from that, and for those with it is clear that integrating them into society early on, while still meeting their needs, can be a huge boost for them,” Pared said.

Obviously, the staff has undergone extensive training in order to be able to accommodate those children,

Paradise Tailwinds also offers quality child-care beyond typical school hours. The school itself is open from 8:30-4:00, for children 8 weeks through Pre-Kindergarten, with half day students and full day students.

Before school care that can be arranged from 5:45 AM on, and the center is open for afterschool care until 8:00 at night for children through age 12.

They are also open on the weekends, a service that very few centers will offer.

“When a student is interested in enrolling, we meet with the parents beforehand and find out what their child care needs are, and then we can work out hours and that sort of thing. Then we can further accommodate them down the road should it become necessary,” Pared said.

If you’d like to find out more about enrolling your child at Paradise Tailwinds, you can reach them at 305 716 1772.