I called their office number after hearing a rumor that they had closed. The message is the director’s voice stating that they are no longer in business. I drove by earlier today and found they had the shelving and some equipment but that there wasn’t anyone there and it was dark. As mentioned in some of the comments of my earlier posts, their website had been locked down for about a week and a half now.
I have no idea what the reasons are behind the closure. I will say it is pretty amazing what the power of a blog can do. I can’t really take all the credit for this, but only because I don’t know why they ended up closing. 
I really have no ill feelings towards anyone personally, but someone who is in a position to take care of our beautiful children should be under the highest scrutiny and realize that such a business needs to be run with integrity and consistency, not to mention following the standards and practices set forth by the State Government and other agencies.
To those who may have anonymously taken some part in this situation, thank you. It’s you folks that really make us parents feel safe about leaving our children in the hands of other people. My hope is that others who have experienced this sort of problem, whether in child care or otherwise, will make the effort to bring forward these issues. Be careful not to exaggerate or “slander” by being untrue. Remember, blogging is a new force and it can be a powerful tool.
-Timmy
I spoke with the Department of Health Services this morning and was explained they were shutdown because they were not licensed. Preschools are exempt from licensing, however they watched kids for more than 4 hours per day, therefore, they had to go through licensing and failed to do so. I was under the impression they were licensed and I feel like I was completely deceived. Luckily, I was not owed any money and my child is now happily in Kindergarten.
Thank you for your thoughts and opinions. Please refrain from engaging in spam on this blog.
Thank you..
-Tim
**Warning! I know, this is sooo very long, I left out what I could, so bear with me**
So, I know that this has long blown over, but I would still love to add what I know about these people. I came across your blog because I used to work for Tiffany and new she dreamed of opening an enormous facility (the plagiarism was always a central part), and so I periodically google the family, to see what progress they might have made, and what threat they were posing to AF.
I started working for Tiffany Jensen the Fall of ‘04 when she ran T.J. ’s Tots out of a rented house on state street in Lindon. I have to say that I had many concerns about the way Tiffany, her mother and her father ran things, but I didn’t want to quit, since that way I’d lose all influence. I’ll try to list some of my concerns, as an employee.
1) Meals. The children were allowed the food given them on their plates, no seconds (the only exceptions were her son and daughter). State has mandates about the time allowed between meals/snacks. I believe it’s something like, the children must be fed every 4 hours at least. TJ’s Tots would serve breakfast at 6:30, when they had 1 child, then no morning snack, and lunch at noon. Then, though snack was scheduled for 3, no snack would be given, on a vast majority of the days, until 4:30 or later (once the numbers were down.)
2) Outside Time. The state requires 30 minutes a day of outside time, for all children. When I first started working we went out all the time, we even had meals outside (I caught on later that was to keep the kids from getting things dirty inside, not because it was good for them.) When the weather got colder, or any time it rained though, we did not go out, ever. As soon as the snow came we were inside all day long, in their tiny front play room, with nearly 16 children. And I’m not kidding, the state would have given that room a max. cap. of maybe 10. Maybe. Anyway, the babies and toddlers weren’t allowed outside at all, all year.
3) Toys. Tiffany had gone to great lengths to stock the toy shelves with lots of toys. She also had lots of great craft things, bins full of fun crafts for every holiday. BUT, the children were not allowed to even play in 2 of the rooms ( I later became the toddler head teacher, and we were allowed to play in 1 of those rooms, leaving the other still untouched, except for on days when I got Tiffany to give us permission to switch rooms for a while.) The craft things stayed piled in the closet of her office and the kids were rarely allowed to use up her materials. Tiffany had a lot of great ideas. She really new how to dream up great things for a daycare, but she was far too self centered to implement any of those ideas.
4) Staffing. We were short handed. Always. The poor lady who worked in the back with the babies was constantly left by herself to take care of 2x what was legal. I can’t go into detail for this, because it’s been too long, and I’m sure to get my numbers wrong, but I remember thinking about how badly we needed another person working, and wanting to ask for a lunch break, but knowing we were already too short handed.
5) Rulon. I know that if I were to give this more thought I would be able to recall many more things from those 7-8 months, 4 years ago, but I don’t have it in me. So, I’ll end with what I can remember of my last days at Tj’s Tots. Tiffany’s father was always at the school as a driver, and an extra hand when necessary. They knew well enough not to make him any kind of class room teacher, because that would creep any parent out. So they tried to make it look like he wasn’t needed for teacher:child ratios, but he really was. Anyhow, in March or April of ‘05 Tiffany and her mother Carol went to a training up in Salt Lake. I was delighted, thinking they could use it, but a bit concerned, since that meant there would be 2 teachers left at the school, and then her Dad, Rulon. That is not enough for a center that is open from 6-6 m-f. That’s not even enough for just part of the day. Anyhow, with them being gone, and Rulon being a man, I was coming in from morning to close, so parents, again, wouldn’t be creeped out. There were 2 little boys who we used to watch. They were relatively new, a 1 yr old, and a 4-5 yr old. Their mother was in the military, and was on assignment, and their Dad was left at home to care for them. Late in the week, when the other teacher had gone home, I was in the back with the babies and toddlers, and Rulon was alone up front with the preschoolers. I heard Rulon yelling at a child from Tiffany’s office, w/ the door shut. I went and opened that door to find Rulon inches from the face of that 4 yr old boy, and had to tell him that he needed to back off. Rulon left, and went back to the preschool room as if nothing had happened. Now, I remember that this little boy had been in time out for much of the day, sitting by himself in the kitchen. So, that night I was surprised when the boys’ mother came to pick them up (her 1st time at the facility, she had just come home) and she was very upset wehn she got to me in the back of the building with her 1 yr old. (I’m soo sorry that this is all so long, i won;t be offended if you delete it.) Anyhow, I guess she had been told when she arrived that her children were rotten and had always been rotten, and that they weren’t welcome anymore. Now, I don’t know anything about payments, or what kind of scheduling conflicts they may have been having, but I can tell you that those 2 boys were sweethearts. And I can honestly say that any misbehavior in the school by any of the kids we had there could have been cured by something to do! I was always amazed at how good they were through their boredom, cooped up in that little room. Anyway, I told the mother that was ridiculous, I was openly cold to Rulon that night, and went the following Mon. to make a complaint to whichever bureau it is you have to go to, I remember it was in Provo. Anyway, I told them about everything I knew, and the following day I was told that due to their numbers being low, I was being let go. (????) I had intended to quit, so that was fine, but the reason made no sense. Anyhow, when I went back a few weeks later to get my check they weren’t expecting me, and I happened to notice a paper in the entryway saying they would be closing in a matter of days… Tiffany’s mom tried to cover it up a moment later, but I had already seen. Anyhow, I don’t know the real reason why they closed that time, like it’s a bit of a mystery why they closed again this time, but I really hope I had some small part then, like I hope you were lucky enough to have some part now. They just don’t belong near other people’s kids.
Thank you very much, Anne! This is an incredible story and gives extra punch to what we witnessed earlier this fall. I really wonder what keeps the State from keeping her on record somehow. I appreciate your post. Thanks for visiting!
-Timmy
Yes, definitely thank you for the post. It seems that they are going to keep trying the same game over and over, but not if we as parents don’t stand for it!
- Steve-o