Ms. Qiara was one of our daughters caregivers at the Cole Academy a few years ago. Our daughter…read morewas 3 months old and was with Ms. Qiara every weekday for over a year. She is amazing with babies and kids! She is one of those people who seem to be positive all the time, patient, and always looking out for the children under her care. We would recommend her without hesitation for any sort of infant care. A lot of other parents would speak very highly of her as well.

Serving Honolulu...Qiara is an experienced and former infant care teacher at the Cole Academy…read moreDowntown who now started her own program. As a local attorney in town, my family does not know what we would do without her! She has now cared for all three of my children and currently my nine month old. She is incredibly kind, patient and loving with children and truly possesses that "special touch" that allows her to connect with them. My children naturally refer to her as their "favorite Auntie". If you are looking for someone to trust with the care of your most loved one, you have found Qiara. She is responsible, dependable and is passionate about providing a safe environment where your baby will grow, learn and be showered with love!

Happy kids is a must for any vacation. I use them each time I come to Hawaii and I am never…read moredisappointed. This trip I reached out at the last minute during the Christmas break with very little hope of finding a suitable nanny. They assigned Brittany to us and she was a gem. My initial goal was to put my 5 year old to sleep and have a nanny watch guard in case he wakes up while me and my husband have some adult dinner. That didn't happen. Brittany came prepared to entertain my son in the hotel room for 5 hour (way past his bedtime). She came 3 days during our stay and my some waited for her like he waited for Santa. Standing by the door listening for footsteps. I can't say enough good things about Brittany and happy kids.

Hi Elle and Kelly, Brenda from your happy kids nanny…read moreservices was amazing, showed up on time, listened to our tips on our kids, gave us photo ID up front and bonded with our kids immediately giving us time and comfort to take an adult hike for 5 hours...and she gave us an opportunity to relax to ourselves as a couple and have 5 hours. Happy kids is a great middle man to coordinate the sitter and do all arranging and paperwork. Our children are special needs autistic, and Brenda showed up with a clear plastic carry bag with toys and she knew how to take care of the unique needs of autistic kids. Well worthy investment! Trust is essential when leaving your kids with strangers and even as a paranoid couple we felt 100% at ease with happy kids and Brenda. Michael Pondrom

Our daughter started at KA at 10 weeks old, very shortly after KA first opened, and (a blink…read morelater!) is now soon to graduate and head to preschool. KA has been spectacular through and through. The school is loving, nurturing, supportive, clean and full of fun activities. My daughter has thrived, with so many great friends and teachers, and so many fun things each day. She loves the play nook, book corner and circle time. Meals are all coordinated from a neighboring restaurant, so the kids eat well and with a healthy variety. They have a "book library" you can borrow from. AND They have parent-accessible cameras so you can check in on your kiddo through the day! We feel so lucky to have been a part of the KA 'Ohana and are so thankful. When I was dropping off my baby so I could head to work, I always knew that she would be loved, well fed, clean and cared for. After over 2.5yrs, they have done and been so much more. In addition to the amazing teachers, the management at KA are incredible. They are hands-on, friendly and accommodating, and truly care about the daycare and the children. When a child is hurt or sick or having a tough day, they will often be found on the laps of Ronna (the owner) or Keesha (the manager), so they can get some extra attention to help ease whatever the issue. We cannot recommend KA enough for your little one! Ps. Tell Keesha I say hi!!

We loved Kiddie Academy and sent both of our children there. The teachers and management are…read morecaring, professional, and helpful. They were all amazing and we especially loved Ms Kimmie and Ms Caitlyn, as well as Ms Keesha and the owner Ronna. My son was quite young when he began and I like that they kept the tiniest babies in their own room which (I think) helped reduce the number of times he got sick! We also had some behavioral challenges and greatly appreciated the level of communication, empathy, and willingness to try various approaches and solutions.

We had a wedding in Honolulu and wanted to bring our baby girl to the trip as well since she hasn't…read morebeen, but the wedding is kid-friendly so we had to find a sitter to watch her for one day. We were referred to Maliny from a mom travel group and ended up booking with her. At first, we were very worried because our baby had never been left with a non family member, especially in a new environment. We weren't sure how she would acted being with someone new and in a new place but Maliny reassured us she had a lot of experiences dealing with kids. From the moment she walked into our hotel room, our baby girl immediately warmed up. We chatted with Maliny for a bit before we left and felt very confident. During the whole time we were at the wedding, we got text and photo updates on how much fun they're having!! Maliny took her swimming, fed her dinner, keep her diapers clean and dry, showered her, and even put her to sleep. My baby could only sleep with me or her dad and I am sooo surprised Maliny was able to put her to sleep. I am so so happy to have found and went with Maliny. I wished she was in the Bay Area thank you so much Maliny!!! Whenever we're back in Honolulu, we'll be sure to contact you

Maliny was absolutely amazing, my 2 1/2 year old grandson walked right away with her…read more Definitely will use her next time in Honolulu. Your family would be so lucky to have her!!! ALOHA

Nicole -business owner, is professional, honest, and knowledgeable when it comes to placing the…read moreright nanny with what a family is specifically looking for. I believe Nicole truly loves what she does because she puts forth so much effort into making sure both the nanny and the family are a good fit together. Nicole - thank you for all your help & dedication to such an important position! ALOHA, Aly

We are a working family that has twin girls age 10 now. We have had Dualas, Mommy's Helpers,…read moreAuPairs, Nannys & Babysitters. When we found out we were moving to Hawaii from California, we panicked. We no longer needed an AuPair..not even part time, but we also knew no one for a single reference! I was working West Coast hours and really just needed some morning help a couple of times a week (6-8am including drop offs) and Friday date nights (at least every other week). To top it off, we were accustomed to Spanish Speaking Nannies only. No doubt we were in trouble... That is, until we found Nicole. WOW. Talk about a MIRACLE right when we needed one. Not only was Nicole able to find a Spanish Speaking Nanny that available for mornings and date nights, but our nanny she was young, fun, loved to swim and she also loved to spend time at the beach,cook and teach about healthy eating. We lived at the Marriott in Waikiki for 60 days and this Nanny happen to live walking distance away so we used her way more than we expected and she was just a Saint. All we wanted and more! Fast forward two months. We received our household goods and moved into our house in Kailua. Bad news was that our Nanny was leaving the Island now unexpectedly. We knew we were in trouble but Nicole pulled through AGAIN! This time with a slightly older nanny that has literally taken on the role of Auntie/Grandma. Full of LIFE, full of FUN, a Professor Teaching Spanish, a Certified Nurse, a Mom and a local to Kailua. What more could we ask for? This current nanny has now become family and we are SO thankful for her and for Nicole and Paradise Nannys. We truly do not know what we would have done without Nicole's help. Having paid thousands for agencies and AuPairs, I can say that Nicole and her staff are just as professional if not more than any other service we have used. We have been in Oahu since June 1,2019 and will continue to use this service and hope this review helps other families moving to the Island or on Island already. Mahalo~ The Brand Family

Please be very careful about enrolling your child here. I was so excited when my child was able to…read moreget a spot at Cole. I overlooked a lot of things that bothered me for years because of that. I told myself I was too sensitive when the teacher in the infant class told me that my child was far behind developmentally and needed to be much farther along. I was point-blank asked if I was not doing enough at home to help further her along. (Now that I have a second child I see that what my first child lacked in gross motor skills at an early age she more than made up for in communication skills.) I told myself that maybe the teacher in the toddler class was right when, after a week of my daughter being bitten daily by another kid, I was asked if anything in our home life had changed to cause my daughter to want to get bitten. (Blaming the victim starts early, I guess). I told myself it was just another parent overreacting on the day that a father saw his daughter screaming from being cold. She had doused herself in water from the bathroom and was soaking wet and shivering when he stopped by. The sight he saw prompted him to have a very loud argument with the teachers in front of me and my kid. I really wish they had moved him away from the main classroom to have their discussion. From that day on for the next 6 months she was terrified of any new male she came across. But then she broke her toe and my vision finally shifted. At first, I only knew my side of the story. The side where I came to school to pick up my daughter and she was standing alone screaming. Now, I'll be the first to admit that she's a little dramatic. So I shrugged and grabbed her hand to lead her away. She crippled over in pain and clearly couldn't put any pressure on her foot. That's when I started to panic. I picked her up and raced her to the car where I took off her shoes to see what the problem was. The problem was her foot had been shoved into the shoe to the point where her baby toe had been folded at a 90-degree angle and broken. The toe was pinched right where it connects with the rest of the foot, cutting off circulation and turning blue. I was terrified she would lose the toe. After rushing her to a doctor and finding out her toe was in fact broken, we spent weeks splinting it until it was healed. We spoke to the school to find out their side of the story. At that point, there was a 70% chance that I would pull her out of the school after slowly looking at other daycare options. There was also a 30% chance that we would stay. It all depended on what the school told us. The school said they would view camera footage (I didn't know there were cameras!) and let us know what happened. They got back to us several days later. They said that her toe hadn't been broken. They said there was no sign of anyone coming near her prior to her crying. They said the reason she had been crying was that a father had come to pick up his kid and they cited the aforementioned male stranger anxiety. (That anxiety had finally gone away 3-months before her toe was broken, by the way.) Yes, despite the fact that we had medical proof that her toe was in fact broken and that I had seen that the cause of the broken toe was her toe being caught on something on a shoe that had been put on at the school by someone other than her parents, Cole opted to completely deny the fact that her toe was broken. That was their only response to our inquiry. At least they let us pull our daughter out of daycare the same day they came back with their "findings" (despite their rule of 30-day notice). They even paid us back for her last month of lunch that we had prepaid. Maybe they are just really generous to upset parents. I think it's more likely that they knew they had broken her toe and just wanted to hush us up and get us out of there.

Our daughter is now 1 year old! Today!! And she's been at the Cole Academy for 9 months now…read more Wanted to updated my review and say that Cole Academy has been awesome. Miss Qiara and Miss Aida are so wonderful with our daughter, they truly are a big part of our daughter's life and I'm so thankful for them. Infant Room A is where it's at baby!! We are so happy with it that we just got a tattoo on our daughter back that says "INFANT ROOM A FOREVAH" as a reminder for the rest of her life. (I kid I kid) The director Miss Cassandra and associate director Miss Sara are also great. All the staff we encounter know our daughter's name and say hi to her whenever they see her. The days that Cole Academy are closed (which isn't often) line up with our company holidays so we almost never have to take off work either. We are very happy with Cole academy and I think it's an excellent value.

I'm so sad that the time has finally come to leave a review for Strode Montessori....because it…read moremeans both my children have aged out. We have been sending our kids to Strode since 2014 (the infant care centers in downtown) and we were so upset when our daughter aged out......but then they opened the preschool!!! It was perfect. We have been there since they opened their doors in 2016 and have watched them evolve. From the beginning, Ms Kelsey was there, and Pamela Strode, with quality care and love for our kids. Their resources have been expanding as time goes on and the units and events have gotten even more engaging and interesting. Now that my older child is on the verge of finishing 1st grade, I can see that Strode's evolution is in line with preparing them to be successful in kindergarten, with events that are very similar to those in elementary school. All the teachers are wonderful and caring, the facility is clean and the rules effectively keep the kids safe. If they did elementary school, we'd stay on for that, just like another reviewer said. They sent us off with wonderful memories and memorabilia. Both our kids got into one of the top private schools on the island, with our younger child waitlisted with the other two (we got our preference, though!). The Montessori philosophy and multi-age learning has been highly valuable. Pick up and drop off is secure and simple. If I could give Strode Montessori 10 stars out of 5, I would.

Went to a preview of this school, it's absolutely amazing! I had limited knowledge of Montessori…read moreschooling but it definitely seems to be focused on fostering curiosity and independence at a young age when the kids are in the critical development age. Kelsey is the director and she is absolutely amazing at her job and is passionate about the kids. The facility is sparkling clean and spacious and I saw an outdoor area they are going to build. The facility is secure and the staff seems to be top notch and are genuinely excited to be teaching kids, something you might be missing in many other schools out there. I can't wait till my daughter starts the next year!

We stayed at The Kahala Resort and had a wonderful experience with Aloha Sitters. They were able to…read moreaccommodate us last minute and provided care for both morning and evening, which was incredibly helpful. The sitters were attentive, engaging, and well prepared--bringing age-appropriate activities, books, and toys, taking the kids on walks around the resort, and keeping them happy and comfortable the entire time. A special thank you to Lauren for her amazing care and to Deborah, who coordinated everything quickly and professionally. Highly recommend Aloha Sitters for families visiting Oahu.

Even last minute they'll find a babysitter for you! They've come through every time I've needed…read morethem.

When it was time for me to return to work at 8 weeks, we struggled to find a daycare for my sons…read moreage that had an opening. By some miracle, stepping stones had an opening! Everyone was so friendly and knew my child's name and he loved them back. He smiled and got excited to spend his day with them and even saying goodbye, which to me was a good sign. This place was ALWAYS clean, never had any funky odors, and even the other parents where so friendly in passing. Toys, high chairs, counters, etc were always clean - I'm honestly not sure how they do it! Entry is gated with an access code and parking is located a short walk away. Teachers plan fun art activities with the children that get sent home for you to keep. Teachers update you throughout the day with diaper changes, feedings, and my favorite - photos - to see how their day is going, through Pro Care app. The ONLY reason we are no longer here, is because we couldn't afford it. We don't qualify for any kind of assistance and the cost was starting to add up for us. To the entire team at Stepping Stones Waipahu - we greatly appreciate the care you took of our miracle baby!

Im August it would have been a year and I wish my son could have stayed here longer but we had to…read moremove. The staff was amazing, caring and so attentive towards him, they have set the bar for what I expect from all other daycares in the future. They do everything to keep the parents involved from daily check-ins, giving curriculum updates, and sending daily updates of your baby. As a first-time mom, they put all my worries at ease and I always recommend this place to anyone who asks. I honestly don't know how they don't have a 5-star rating because the whole staff truly cares about their kids and provides an environment for them to grow safe and confident.