Our family has been part of the Stepping Stone School community for nearly a decade, spanning three…read morechildren and multiple campuses, and I can honestly say they have been one of the greatest blessings to our family. My oldest son, Race, first attended Stepping Stone Hyde Park as a baby before transferring to the Wells Branch Parkway campus. Later, my younger son attended both Wells Branch and the Round Rock location. Throughout every transition, we were met with the same thing: caring teachers, strong leadership, consistency, structure, and genuine love for our children. At both Hyde Park and Wells Branch, Ms. Brenda and Ms. Jennifer played a huge role in our boys' lives. They created an environment where our children felt safe, supported, and excited to learn every day. When our family faced difficult seasons, they showed us incredible kindness and flexibility, helping provide stability for our children when we needed it most. At the Round Rock AW Grimes campus, Liz continued that same tradition of excellence. She was always accommodating, compassionate, and deeply invested in the well-being of the children and families she served. Now, years later, I have re-enrolled my daughter Hana at the Hyde Park campus, and I was thrilled to discover that Ms. Brenda is currently serving as interim principal there. When I told my oldest son that Hana would be attending Hyde Park and that Ms. Brenda was her principal, his immediate response was, "Aw, that makes me really happy." That simple comment spoke volumes. Years later, he still remembers the people who cared for him and made him feel loved. The Hyde Park campus has blossomed tremendously since my boys attended. It is clear how much thought, effort, and care have gone into improving the experience for both children and parents. From the moment we enrolled, Ms. Brenda made the process seamless and welcoming. Hana received a personalized Stepping Stone backpack, a teddy bear, and a book as a welcome gift, which was such a thoughtful touch. That teddy bear quickly became one of her favorite possessions. What continues to impress me most is the quality of the people. Hana's teachers are warm, attentive, and genuinely invested in the children. You can tell they care deeply about their development, happiness, and well-being. That level of commitment is something that cannot be faked, and it's something I've consistently experienced across every Stepping Stone campus we've attended. I also love the daily photo updates and communication, the STEM-focused curriculum, the outdoor play opportunities, and the summer Splash Days that keep the kids active, engaged, and having fun. The teachers and staff work together as a team, and it shows. Special recognition should also go to educators like Ms. Lisa at Wells Branch and Ms. Olga at AW Grimes, who has dedicated decades of her career to caring for children through Stepping Stone. That kind of longevity speaks volumes about the culture and values of the organization. Finding childcare is one of the most important decisions a parent can make. After experiencing Stepping Stone with three children over many years, I can confidently say that they have consistently exceeded our expectations. The level of care, communication, education, and support they provide is exceptional. They don't just care for children; they help shape them, support families through life's challenges, and create memories that last long after graduation. Thank you to Ms. Brenda, Ms. Jennifer, Liz, Ms. Lisa, and all of the incredible teachers who have loved, taught, and supported our children over the years. Our family is deeply grateful.

Our son started at stepping stone Hyde park when he was 5 months and almost a year later we are so…read moresad to leave (we are moving out of state). We love Calen the principal and Ms Karina in the infant room (along with a bunch of other amazing teachers). Stepping stone has been a safe, reliable and caring environment for our son and he is thriving. He is so happy, so active and loves his school and classmates. We are truly so sad to go and have can't thank stepping stone enough for the amazing experience. This location is adorable, has great hours, strong communication and overall an amazing place. We truly had an outstanding experience. I also love that they are open while many others are closed

I would strongly suggest staying away from this facility at all costs. In the less than one year…read morethat our daughter attended this school, the following occurred. * A teacher instigated an altercation with a parent with absolutely no recourse from school management. * 9/16/22: I witnessed an assistant alone with 8 children, screaming at one child in his face to sit down or she would make him sit down. The "solution" was for this assistant to never be alone with children again and she was "coached". I subsequently witnessed this assistant alone with children again on 9/23/22 and she was ultimately moved to another age group on 9/30/22. One can only assume so that I wouldn't witness her interacting with children alone again. * Marked disorganization and inconsistency within the jellyfish room specifically. * Our daughter was bitten twice. * Our daughter sat in soiled diapers for too long resulting in painful diaper rash, even complaining to her dad on occasion at pick up that her booty hurt and she really needed her diaper changed - something she's never asked for until our time at CCOA. * I've picked her up twice with pus pouring out of her ear that teachers did not notice. * I witnessed a teacher wipe our daughter back to front on several occasions (this did not improve even after I brought it to management's attention). * The jellyfish classroom had two teachers abruptly depart without notice. * Numerous personal items went missing despite being labeled with our daughter's name. * Numerous items that were not our daughter's were sent home with her. This shows the disorganization of the room. * Labeled children's bins in the wrong cubbies with wrong personal items in them. Again, showing the disorganization of the room and of the teachers this school chose to hire. * Unclear and inconsistent instructions for splash pad days leading to miscommunication and frustration. * Very rare (less than once a week) photos of our daughter despite repeated pleas for frequent pictures. * A few months ago, I witnessed a mother drop her infant off with a teacher who was strolling the other infants around in the large multi-baby stroller. The teacher said that she would just hold the baby because the last available seat had a broken seatbelt. When I came back around the corner after dropping our daughter off, the mother was gone and that baby was "strapped" into the broken seat. Unacceptable and dangerous. Again, choose another daycare provider for your children.

It makes me sad to have to write this review but I'm hoping what happened to us at the Children's…read moreCenter of Austin, Westlake doesn't happen to another family. My son attended the Children Center of Austin, Westlake location from mid January to mid April, 2024. He was 6-9 months old while there. Our top priority has always been the safety and well-being of our son, yet incidents underscored our concerns regarding his safety while under the care of CCOA. Our son was diagnosed with severe food allergies and had a few occasions of anaphylactic shock. Luckily never while at daycare but for the third time in a month, our son was placed in a different classroom without us knowing, the substitute teacher was NOT aware of his anaphylactic allergies and did NOT know the location of his Epi-pen. Senior management's response was to keep changing policies with the latest one being that they wanted his Epi-pen to be located outside the classroom, such as at the front desk or office, but there were many occasions when we've arrived and found no one at the front desk or office -- this left us deeply troubled and indicated a sever lack of understanding about the urgency of anaphylactic allergies. Furthermore, the continued misidentification of our son as another kids name by staff members added to our concerns. This oversight continued to reflect a lack of attention to detail. Senior leaderships response was 'we can understand the teachers continued mistake as your son and the other kid do look similar.' The similarities are that our kids both have the same eye color and hair color. There were MANY other smaller issues: sent home wearing other kids diapers and clothes, terrible diaper rash on multiple occasions (even after raising concerns from our doctor to Senior Management), using other kids diaper cream on our kid, photos loaded to the app that were not our child, misrepresentation of what our kid ate listed on the app... the list goes on. We exhausted all avenues in attempting to resolve these issues with Senior Management but unfortunately, issues continued to arise, leaving us with no choice but to prioritize our son's safety above all else and leave. We cannot recommend this school as a safe environment for children. The evident deficiencies in leadership undermine their ability to create a secure and nurturing setting. Until meaningful changes are made at the leadership level, we fear these issues will persist, ultimately impacting the well-being of the children under their care.

School too old nothing new we went on tour and we really didn't like it it is anticuadra as they…read morewould move but they canceled the plans and this school is really all old, carpets the painting of the rooms blue things on the blackboards nothing nice. I would really recommend remodeling and that there is more space in the classrooms that there is modernity really having that old-fashioned I would not feel comfortable leaving my daughter there if you see that there are good teachers but I really make too much money for the school look like this. Apart from going through the middle of a "living room" and now there will be 2 rooms in the middle I really don't recommend it for that

Avoid this childcare center. The director, Jasmin, treats staff with zero respect, creating a toxic…read moreenvironment. The owner, Monica, allows it to happen without addressing it. When my child attended, they were unhappy about staying--likely because of the negative atmosphere. Until leadership changes, this is not a safe or supportive place for children or staff.

Dianna Pharr has been an absolutely amazing advocate for our entire family over the last 3.5 years…read more(and counting). It is no exaggeration to say that her guidance, assistance, & advocacy have been nothing short of life-changing! I would give her advocacy services ten stars if I could! We are a family with four children, ranging in age from preschool to high school. All four of our children have multiple chronic illnesses or disabilities, from the common to the incredibly rare. Adding to the complexity, three of our children are also gifted, making them "twice exceptional" - and also making the task of attaining help for them exponentially harder. When Dianna first began to help us, only one of our four children was even receiving Special Education or 504 services. Accommodations for that one child were woefully inadequate, and our attempts to qualify the others for ANY help whatsoever had all hit a brick wall. I'd naively assumed that my diligent efforts to volunteer & to "work within the system" would get our children all the help they needed - & that my own knowledge as a law tutor would keep our family from being taken advantage of. But my efforts were getting us nowhere. Once Dianna began to review our children's situations, it immediately became clear that our School District was not fulfilling its moral or statutory obligations. She helped me to gather & review records; instructed me in how to create a paper trail of goodwill & good faith efforts; & encouraged me to find my voice. She has patiently led me on an intensive crash course on both the broad strokes & the intricacies of Special Education law. Once-foreign acronyms & concepts like IDEA, FAPE, FERPA, IEE, ESY, FBA, BIP, OCR, Homebound, & Related Services now roll off my tongue. With Dianna's help, we have navigated the fraught Child Find process. Despite the School District's repeated rejections for services when *I* had sought help on my own, now that Dianna is assisting us, all four children are fully qualified for Special Education services. No parent wants to "fight" their school district - just as no parent wants to "fight" to prove that their child rightfully requires Special Education services. But sometimes it's our job to take up that fight, because it's what our children desperately need & deserve in order to flourish within the educational setting. It's hard to admit that - however patient & well-intentioned we are in dealing with the schools we love - our children nevertheless cannot get the education they need without these modifications & accommodations. It's hard to admit that we can't always trust that our School Districts will act in our children's best interests. We'd all like to believe that we can navigate these negotiations on our own, using goodwill & persistence. But more often than not, once we've run into delays & denials, we need a knowledgeable & experienced professional to help us. Dianna has BEEN that expert voice for our family. She has tirelessly participated in countless ARDs, phone conferences, physician consultations, 504 meetings, & informal prep sessions. When we needed an attorney, she connected us with an amazing education lawyer & even came along - all while continuing to monitor our situation & educate us further SO THAT WE CAN HELP OURSELVES. She has loved and fought for our children as though they were her own. Dianna has ferociously supported our family at every turn. When we have come to her overwhelmed, frustrated, discouraged, or afraid, she has listened carefully - & then doubled her efforts to champion our cause. When our situation within our School District deteriorated, she has helped us weigh whether to request mediation or file due process. She has even guided us in filing formal grievances with the Texas Education Agency and the US Department of Education - and she has offered testimony to support us in those proce. At every step of the way, Dianna has stood with us, shoulder-to-shoulder, as we have navigated an incredibly difficult journey. Her knowledge is so vast that I still find myself looking to her for advice, even though she has ALWAYS worked her hardest to create self-confidence and the personal knowledge to conduct these meetings on our own. Dianna has been beyond generous with her time & her passion. She is absolutely brilliant at understanding education law - but her advocacy actually springs from a deep devotion to helping children and families. She most definitely isn't advocating for money or for glory - she's in it because it is her calling to HELP children and families. We honestly can't imagine where our children or our family would be without her. Update: Since I first wrote this review, Dianna has helped us to achieve full Special Education eligibility & appropriate services for ALL FOUR of our children. We are beyond grateful!

There simply is no better advocate for children than Dianna Pharr! She is relentless and works…read moretirelessly for her clients. She is the of the highest ethical and moral character. Dianna is simply put an angel on earth.

My daughter started at Twin Oak Montessori School when she was 3 years and 10 months old and has…read morenow graduated at 5 years old. Our family moved to the US from another country, and her English level was very basic. I was worried about her adaptation without knowing the language. I'm so happy that I found Twin Oak because, over this period, she has quickly become fluent in English, made many friends, and looks forward to coming to school every day. The wonderful people from the school helped my daughter adapt to a new culture so easily. All the teachers, especially Miss Chuti and Miss Alina, have been incredibly kind and friendly to Nika. They really love children, and this is incredibly valuable to me. My heart always swells with happiness when I see my daughter smiling and happy after school. I love the educational program, which includes many topics such as science, math, new vocabulary, creative projects, and physical exercises like bicycling, splash days, and dance. Additionally, I appreciate how they support parents and lift my mood every morning when I drop off my kids. I'm so grateful to the Team! Sofia, mom of Nika

I love the Twin Oaks Montessori experience for my child. She joined at 18 months and just turned 3…read more She loves going to Twin Oaks every day, loves her teachers, and loves her friends. They may be more traditional (no screens, no digital communication), but I actually enjoy that. I don't need photos of her everyday. I can tell she's learning and engaged by the things she tells and shows us at home and how happy she is to see her teachers and friends each day at drop-off. I appreciate that the teachers are spending their time with my child actually teaching and guiding. My daughter knows her numbers, colors, shapes - even a song that names all the planets. She gets exposed to foreign languages (Spanish, French, Japanese, ASL), music, yoga, other cultures and countries, and so much more. There are some older reviews that mention coloring sheets, but we haven't experienced that. One of the teachers who has been there for roughly 2 years is an artist herself and helps the children with a guided (every child makes their version of the same image) or self-expressive (every child creates what they would like) each week. We even have some framed up in our child's room. I highly recommend Twin Oaks.

Didactica has been a wonderful and loving community to join! We moved to Austin with our 14 month…read moreold son and immediately enrolled him in full time care with Didactica. We had such a great experience with Miss Glady, Nelly and Erika in his first classroom. He has now transitioned to the one of the older classrooms and we absolutely love Miss Julie. Each morning he has a smile on his face when we talk about going to school and seeing all his friends and Miss Julie. It has been amazing seeing his language skills develop at Didactica and understanding so much Spanish before the age of 2! We now have our 5 month old baby girl enrolled as well and she has been with Miss Yisel since she was just 2 months old. We know she is safe, happy and loved in the classroom and is always welcomed with a smile! Miss Eva, the assistant director, has always been great at communicating with us and clearly loves the school and children! We are so fortunate to have found Didactica for our family!

Our 1 year old just started going to Didactica and despite me being anxious about letting her go,…read moreMiss Gladys and her classroom have been so wonderful at ensuring our girl is happy and taken care of. We get photos and updates all day long which help with knowing she's doing alright, and they are soooo friendly and supportive of how we can best help her feel the happiest when she's there!!

If I could leave zero stars, that's what I would rate this location. This review is towards the…read moreadministrative staff (principal included) not the teachers. My experience with this daycare was incredibly frustrating and, frankly, concerning. After taking a tour, I followed up with the principal and received no response for nearly two weeks. I had to go out of my way to track down enrollment staff just to get basic questions answered. Even then, communication was disorganized and incomplete. No one followed up with me on pending items. I had to keep reaching out myself just to get updates. What made this experience worse was the final response: I was told the classroom "may not be a good fit," with absolutely no clear or professional explanation as to why. After being ignored, having to chase down information, and then receiving a vague dismissal, the entire situation felt dismissive and questionable. As a single parent and a person of color, this experience did not feel equitable or respectful. At best, this reflects extremely poor communication and lack of professionalism. At worst, it raises concerns about bias in how families are treated.

We are so lucky to have found Paragon Prep Preschool for our daughter! As first time parents, we…read morewere so nervous to find a great daycare that would take good care of her while also being interactive and educational. We hit the jackpot! The infant room, led by Ms. Alisha, Ms. Betty and Ms. Eunice, is the best! They all love and care for the babies as if they were their own. They do SO MANY different activities and even include them during scheduled STEM, Spanish and music time. Every other teacher and administrator we have interacted with had always been a positive experience. They know all the children by name and make you feel like you're at home. We are really grateful for everyone there and look forward to seeing our daughter grow at Paragon.

When we moved to Austin it was a scramble to find quality childcare. I am so thankful that we found…read moreGLCM. The staff has been flexible, loving, and generous. Both of my children have been at GLCM for 3 years and GLCM has been one of our favorite parts of being in Austin. -Consistent staff presence (some have been employed there for decades), -Won't break the bank (non-profit and church-led means low-cost and high quality). -Loving staff. Our son went through quite a traumatic first year of life with a hospital stay and eating difficulties. GLCM staff was willing and able to help with concern and love.

My two children collectively attended GLCM from 2014 to 2020. It's a wonderful school with warm and…read moreexperienced teachers and staff, and they do an excellent job preparing children for kindergarten and beyond. I would highly recommend GLCM to any parent.