Our History
The Learning Tree was founded by Carol Gatewood in 1982. Carol opened The Learning Tree for reliable, dependable quality care for her own children. As a working mom, she understood the need for finding quality care she could depend on.
Carol is actively involved in quality assurance and improvements with our entire team of employees. She has a passion for mentoring people to their fullest potential.
Her grandchildren have attended The Learning Tree!
Her love for her family feeds our culture and inspires the staff to assure each child, parent and teacher is treated like a family member here!
Carol continues to mentor both Regional Directors, Karen Ballard and Andrea Majewski, as they both lead and manage the daily operations and quality at all locations.
Today, The Learning Tree has expanded to six locations: three in Livonia, one in Howell, one in South Lyon, and one in Lyon Township.
Five-Star Fresh Food Program
We order all produce and products from local, reputable, and quality companies. Our menus are custom designed and change with each season to reflect the fresh produce available. All meal, and most snack, items are prepared inside our own kitchen by on-site, full time chefs.
- Always whole grain
- Always Family Style Serving
- Always organic chicken
- Always organic eggs
- Always organic milk
- Always organic ‘Dirty Dozen’
*This lists the 12 items that should be purchased organic due to being the most contaminated and sprayed with pesticides.
Our Core Values
Every decision we make as a company is made with our core values in mind. Over the years, we have been able to lead our team and bring our Core Values to life within our centers, curriculum, and employee life at The Learning Tree.
Our Programs
We value offering the highest quality of care and education for your child. We have implemented a proven preschool curriculum guaranteed to prepare your child for kindergarten (and life long) school success!
Eco-Friendly Facilities
We are passionate about being green! You’ll find little to no plastics inside our daycare classrooms, cloth napkins and real dishes, a full garden, green cleaning products (Force of Nature), ZONO sanitization systems, and Young Living essential oil diffusers! Our list of eco-friendly features and benefits goes on and on.
Interactive Parent Reports
We provide you real-time updates on your child’s day. Parents can receive reports via a mobile app or by email. The best part of the app is you’ll get at least one photo of your child every day, so you can see what your child is learning.
