My daughter loves going here. She gets so excited for "school" when we go. Staff very responsive to…read moreany requests and emails. Love Ms Rachel Ms Gina in the 3 year old room. So glad we found this daycare.

I have taken about four classes here, with two different teachers. My artistic ability is about…read moreaverage. I love looking at mosaics. Therefore, I took two mosaics arts courses. The instructor provided a detailed handout how you do everything, and she was very patient with the class. Later, on my own, I ordered a marble mosaics art kit from Italy, using the skills that I learned from the two classes. Later on, I took two embroidery classes from a different teacher. The two classes had beginner students, and students had some skills. The teacher was very, very understanding with my limited skills. I particularly love to do embroidery. I found a new hobby! If I had time, I would take a class from each of these instructors again.

I have supported the Arts Alliance for years through their craft shows and buying from their…read moreartists. I took my first class here a couple weeks ago to make a dried flower wreath. It was $70 for two hours. We literally did nothing for the first hour. We waited for two women to arrive 20 minutes late. We watched a slideshow about the artist's previous life running a daycare. Then we went around the room and took turns introducing ourselves. We were given a wreath and some sort of twine. There was no demonstration about how to connect the flowers to the wreath. We were given photos of different kinds of arrangements, but those flowers were not there. It was clear other people had taken classes before, and some were quite advanced. I had no idea and had never used a glue gun, as this was supposed to be open to all levels. The teacher would just say things like "attach the flowers in groups" but I didn't know how I was supposed to attach them? I was so frustrated and humiliated. I was going to throw my wreath out but another student took it home to use the materials. The teacher also mentioned another pressed flower class, and a student mentioned that she'd be taking it and was excited. The teacher mentioned they'd be doing advanced techniques bc wildflowers were so boring. The student said she'd never done this before, but the teacher completely blew her off and started talking about how exciting it would be to deconstruct a rose. I contacted the Arts Alliance about my concerns, and they just said that other people liked this teacher and that she was new, but they'd pass on my concerns. I asked for a refund, as $70 is quite a lot of money for me. There was no reply. I think the Arts Alliance is a fantastic place to support artists, I'd just avoid their classes.

I solicited Rachel's services for the birth of my second son, Griffin. Upon first meeting her I…read morefelt drawn to her calm demeanor and warm presence. She distributed an educational binder full of materials I found to be more honest and thorough than the information my OB had given me. For example, OB's won't distribute a list of medical interventions you may face during a hospital labor, but Rachel did. It was essential information I wish I was armed with during the hospital delivery of my first son. Emotionally, Rachel was very encouraging when I expressed doubts regarding my ability to tough-out a med-free labor. She helped instill the courage I needed to make the switch from the hospital to my local Birth Center. She helped me believe in myself and saw a strength in me I did not see. Physically, Rachel would have been an enormous help with pain management by providing soothing massage and counter pressure during labor. My labor was mercifully short, however, and I had to rely solely on my husband for pain relief during active labor. He did a great job providing this relief by utilizing the massage and counter pressure techniques that Rachel taught him. Thanks to her guidance, he was able to be an active participant in my labor instead of just a spectator! She was a calming, guiding voice during the pushing stage of my labor and very helpful with my initial breastfeed as well. Rachel will be all the things you need during the emotionally turbelent time of pregnancy and delivery. She will be a supportive friend, a motherly figure, an educator, an advisor, a listening ear, a guiding voice and a soldier ready to fight for you. She's a nurturing old soul with a backbone of steel. A beautiful doula both inside and out. You can't go wrong soliciting her services and I can't recommend her highly enough. I wish I had given myself the gift of a doula through my first labor!

I was referred to Rachel by my midwife since I had such bad anziety about labor. I was terrified of…read morethe pain as well as getting an epidural or an IV since I don't do well with needles. I'd cry thinking about having to deliver my baby and wasn't enjoying my pregnancy because of my anziety. My husband and I had VERY different views on labor. His answer to everything was. "Get an epidural, you'll be fine." He thought anyone who didn't want an epidural was crazy. He didn't see anything wrong with interventions and thought they were there and you should take full advantage of it. Originally I wasn't against interventions, I was just really scared of them because of the needles. Over the couple months of communicating with Rachel and reading the materials she suggested I decided I wanted to try to have a natural birth. My husband still maintained that his ideal labor would be a scheduled c section. With Rachel's help he finally was on board to give the natural birth a shot, although I'm pretty sure he didn't think it would actually happen. Rachel got through to him about the cycle of epdidural/pitocin and how once you start one intervention it just creates a snowball and odds are, you're getting more. I went into labor and I labored at home and got to the hospital at 10cm! After 2 hours of pushing, my daughter was born without any interventions! Rachel gave us the knowledge/tools to be able to labor at home as long as we did. I believe that made all the difference in being able to have a natural delivery. I would have had a VERY different labor if i wasn't for Rachel. At the hosptial she was great! With Rachel by my side I felt as if i could take on anything during labor. My husband is so happy we hired her. He said if we had another baby we'd do it the same way. She's worth every penny. Her posituve attitude can get you through anything! I think about my labor every day and couldn't be more happy with it!