Assumption Parish School

I still remember my daughter's first day at Hope. She was 15 months then and wow..time sure does…read morefly. She is now ready to move on to elementary school this fall. We could have not found a better place for our daughter.Under Ms.PAM WORLEY's amazing leadership, her team of commendable, dedicated montessori teachers work wonders with the kids. I could go on and on about every single teacher at hope that has made such a positive impact on my daughter...a special mention to Ms. SASCHA and Ms. SYDNEY....you guys rock!!!! I thank everyone at Hope Montessori Academy,LSL as my daughter steps out of Hope as a confident smart kid ready to face the challenges ahead. I strongly recommend Hope LSL.

My child was enrolled here at Hope Montessori Academy half-time for a month with the intent of…read moretransitioning him to full-time at the end of July. We decided to pull him for several reasons. 1. He was often dirty after coming home. Most days, no one bothered to clean his face after lunch, which bugs me to no end. I've had experience with multiple daycares and a dirty-faced kid is often a sign of neglect in other parts of the school. Not sure who is at fault - the teachers, or the director who doesn't hold them accountable. A clean, happy kid is what I expect when I pick him up, and this expectation was often not met. 2. The staff knew that he still needed help potty training, but one of his teachers we talked to seemed to not mind - she said just bring in extra underwear and shorts. However, we were asked by the director and his other teachers on several occasions why he hadn't been potty-trained and why he was still having accidents. Clearly, the teachers don't communicate amongst each other their expectations for my child. 3. Depending on the day, your kid may not have the same teacher. This is to be expected sometimes, but not as frequently as it did while we were enrolled there. This is confusing for any child and makes it difficult for your child to build trust with their teachers, not to mention build trust with you as the parent. 4. I felt that, since we were half time, we got half time treatment, even knowing that our kid was going to be full time by the end of July. As discerning parents, you should know that not all kids are afforded the same level of care and treatment based on how much you're being billed for their services. 5. My kid was setup to fail on more than one occasion by teachers (and directors) whose judgment should be called into question. Example: my child (2 years old) had a fascination with a bird in one of the classrooms. If you're half time, you have to pick them up by 12:30 PM - no big deal. However, when I went there to pick him up he had been removed from his normal class and was the only kid in the same classroom as the bird. This made him very excitable. He happened to have an accident at the same time, so the teachers were trying to change him. Being that he was in an excitable state, he was running around and wouldn't let anyone pick him up. They finally gave up and told me to take him home as is, with a dirty diaper on. Clearly, the teachers and director used very poor judgment when removing him from his classroom to take him into this room. Further, they refused to change him - going back to the often-dirty face cited above, this was no real surprise. Just a little background: my kid was at a "traditional" daycare for several months before. As an example, our teachers told us that he was the only kid they've ever seen that never, ever hit another kid. Overall, they felt his behavior was pretty typical for a two-year old. I thought that this school could help elevate my child, but I was wrong. To be clear, I'm not blaming the Montessori system, which I believe is good for children and a great child development system. However, Hope's neglectful and misguided implementation of the system leaves a lot to be desired. If you send your kid there, buyer beware. Hope may have a gleaming exterior, but it serves as a shield to its true, dystopic nature.

The Soulard School

We love our school. The teaching is relevant to 21st century education - global themes,…read moreproject-based, grounded in the real world. There is a sliding scale, making it the only independent school that I know of that has kids from a wide range of income levels. It makes a difference.

I just enrolled my daughter in their kindergarten class. She comes home just beaming with…read moreexcitement on how wonderful her first days have been. Cooking with the school chef, playing w/the kids, and learning from her wonderful teachers. I highly suggest this school to anyone looking for an alternative to charter and or private schools in the metro area. Drop off is so convenient as they have you pull to the curb and they bring out your child to your car. They rarely have snow days and so your child is getting the most out of his/her education there. I love the art everywhere and the kids are all genuinely happy and the staff also. Enroll your child now.

Kirkwood West KinderCare

I have had my daughter at this KInderCare since she was six weeks old and have loved watching her…read moregrow and develop at her school. She is now over a year and I appreciate every teacher that she has had. Each teacher genuinely cares for her and loves her. I know when I leave her with the infant teachers in the morning that she is in safe hands and is well taken care of. Ms. Ruby and Ms. Jess have been so good to my daughter and always make me feel so comfortable dropping my child off in the morning. When I leave for work I have no doubts that my daughter is where she is supposed to be; learning, growing, and being loved by everyone at this KinderCare.

Mathnasium

3.0

I think the system from Mathnasium is extremely good. My son attended Mathnasium in California for…read morea few years, and then we continued in St Louis. Unfortunately, the centers in St Louis are incredibly badly operated with almost no concern for the students or parents, in sharp contrast with my prior experiences and I wish the brand did a quality control of their franchises. I finally decided that we would quit after repeated issues of quality and normal standards of care, which is very bad for us because we loved the system. I will share below a subset of problems we had to deal with. Over the few years we attended the Ladue center, because their policy is to severely underpay their staff, almost all of the good instructors started leaving, replaced by nice but not nearly as motivated as the task would require. The center has kept telling us for many years that they are 'trying to hire' but obviously what they are ready to offer is completely insufficient for what a good tutor should earn. For $299 per month, we would hope that tutor would earn a decent compensation for tutoring a group of student but this is not the case. In fact, we had some great tutors when we joined and they all left because, as is now becoming all too common in other businesses, the center is offering unsustainable conditions that are only viable as a side gig. Because of this, we noticed that the center does not have the bandwidth to correctly track progress across grades, with severe missing topics that we discovered were not done well in the school assessments or tests. The reason for this is that the staff has almost no time to review what progress has been made in a manner that is customized to where a student is. I was appalled to see our son was not doing better than many students, and all students with other tutors did much, much better. The system works, but not if it's administered in a standardized manner to all but tutors who come and go. To add to these issues, but related, the center has implemented a taxing reservation system where appointments have to be reserved months in advance to have a decent spot. They close on one day of the week plus one day of the week-end, removing two more days which would be ideal for families and forcing kids to do their session after school. It is not unusual that one has to pick up a 6:30pm session. If we call them to reschedule, they will not answer the phone and send to an answering service that has to call back. The center main director Caitlin has no interest in resolving anything and, when confronted with repeated problems, just kept saying that she was sorry we felt this way and this was their policy, and that it was normal to make appointments. Certainly it is the prerogative of a business to manage their policies in any way they see fit, but this is irrelevant to the point I am raising that this business is only interested in making profits without any concern about the issues of parents and kids, in order to reduce quality to save on operating expenses. But I do not want to suggest any issue due to her, as I suspect she is like other employees being given no reasonable resources by the franchise owners to do a good job to resolve the issues that she uncovers. I called the main center and I hope there can be more quality control of the franchises, as I am not sure this is not the right image for the brand. In summary, I remain a great fan of Mathnasium, but unfortunately, if you would like good quality tutoring here in St Louis, a tutor will be more effective. I shared my concerns with other parents here in the area, and found that most of them did know about Mathnasium and dropped out for similar related reasons.

Our daughter started to get behind in math and since she started the program at Mathnasium, her…read morebasic math skills have not only improved, but she is also enjoying math more! Mathnasium is great because it is a low stress environment where the kids can work one on one with the tutors in an upbeat environment. Thankfully, no more boring rote memorization and tears. -Heather Kroeger

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Lcms

Both of my children went to this pre-school and LOVED it! I would highly recommend it.read more

Childtime of Wildwood

I have worked in childcare for over 3 years, and I can confidently say I've never experienced a…read moreteam as supportive and genuinely caring as this one. The staff truly prioritize the well-being of the teachers, children, and families, creating a positive and nurturing environment for everyone. The level of education and care provided here is remarkable--you simply won't find this kind of dedication everywhere. As both a parent and a staff member, I can say it's absolutely worth it.

Ja'nan Academy

Great people teaching great things!!! I have 2 students attending the school. They are doing well…read morein their studies.

Oak Brook Elementary School

4.5

This was freakin awesome, and the Pizza didn't taste like literal butt cheeks. I am kinda biased in…read morethe way I don't like school, but Mrs. Riege is an amazing teacher (mostly because she dealt with our crap) and I wish her blessing upon you.

This is a Wonderful School! My son has been going here since kindergarten. Every teacher each year…read morewas great! This will be his last school year here. He's going to make the most of it and Enjoy each day!!

Bethel Christian Academy

3.0