My son was only enrolled for two and half days!! On his first day at drop-off, there was only one…read morevery young staff member supervising 12+ children. The classroom was chaotic -- children were crying, screaming, and visibly overwhelmed -- and the staff member appeared nervous and unable to answer basic questions I had about my son's first day. I later messaged the director with concerns. The director falsely claimed more staff would be arriving at 8am when it was already 8:20am and still no one had arrived. At pickup that same day, I personally witnessed two older boys chasing and taunting my son on the playground. He ran up saying, "They're being bad boys," and later told me one of them punched him in the stomach. When I asked the staff member what happened, her explanation did not align with what I observed or what my son reported. On the second day, I picked him up and was told he had "just had an accident," but it was clear he had been sitting in soiled clothing for some time. A note was later entered in the Procare app stating that I declined a clothing change for my child, which is completely untrue. At no point did I decline anything. He was sent home in urine-soaked clothing. I had to bathe him immediately upon arriving home. After these incidents, I made an anonymous post in a local parent group simply stating that I had concerns about my son's first couple of days at a facility and was looking for recommendations. I did not name the center, did not name staff, and did not provide identifying details. Shortly after, the director messaged me stating my son was to be removed immediately due to a social media post. When I asked why he assumed it was me -- since the post was anonymous -- he claimed he "knew" because I had previously expressed concerns in the morning asking for a meeting. Mind you I have no expressed any concerns yet. I asked him to show me the post and provide proof it was mine, and he could not do so. Instead of addressing the supervision and documentation concerns I raised, my child was dismissed based on an assumption about an anonymous post that did not even identify the facility. As I asked the director to provide me with proof before kicking my son out, he stated he didn't have to and told me I was now trespassing. He is guilty and aware his staff is not qualified to be taking care of any children. At this point, I am extremely concerned about supervision, professionalism, and accountability. P.S. any response to this post from the staff will be that of false statements and claims. The director could not take accountability for his staff's negligence and therefore his only way out of his only solution to hide his negligence was to remove my child from their care facility after paying them $400 to enroll my Reports have been made and appointments have been made with the Kansas State department.

The Learning Center in Topeka, KS is the most unprofessional place I've ever been to in Topeka…read more They fed Banks- my four month old- ONCE in a 7.5 hour period. He ate twelve ounces when I picked up him up the first day he normally eats 8 oz. When you first walk in to the building, there fish tank is completely green which to me indicates one thing, laziness. When we went and toured the facility prior to enrolling him, the owner didn't show us anything and I had to ask all the questions. My baby gave the teacher the dirtiest look when dropping off on only the second day of care {he's NEVER done that with anyone before}, and I knew something was not right then. DJ and I went and picked him up two hours later. They corral all the kids at 5 pm into a little entrance way just sitting there waiting for parents to pick up for an hour {they close at six}, and they have a TV on to I assume entertain the babies in a INFANT room. I'm pretty sure they don't follow licensing in terms of teachers to babies ratio bc when I dropped banks off there were six car seats out front of the room, Banks made seven, and there were only two teachers present at the time {only three babies per teacher is allowed}. They are the only center in Topeka with infant openings for a reason. When I said my baby wouldn't be returning {I made up a reason bc I didn't have anything solid of funny business going on and just wanted to say goodbye quietly}, and asked for a refund of the week of care I prepaid for, the $100 deposit, and the $90 "supply fee", since my son only went two days {over $500 total}, the owner said no but she'd "waive the second week of care since they require a two week notice" this place is a joke and I would not send ANY if my kids here, plus the building is in really bad shape. Then I told her I was going to leave an honest review bc it's not right that she's not refunding me for AT LEAST the week I prepaid for, she blocks me so I can't leave a review {I wonder how many parents she has blocked reviews from now } - moral of the story is, this is the WORST center in Topeka and one that ends up on the news if you know what I mean. Do not recommend.

I am very picky about where my daughter attends, and we had taken her out of two other places…read morebefore we found this amazing place 3-4 years ago. Could not be more pleased. The director is fantastic, friendly, and helpful. Our daughter loves her teachers and has grown and learned there. I could not be happier with our experience there and I feel at peace with our daughter being there. She's been there from infant to almost pre-K and we love it.

For a company that boasts inclusivity and diversity on their website, they sure didn't seem like…read moreit. When told it's a first come first serve facility, after finding out our child has special needs we were told we'd have to wait for 5 other tours (because of THEIR mistake) to be completed before having a spot available- and that's only if all five declined enrollment. Corporate's only course of action was to give us a day to see if it'd be a good fit. Even a "normal" kid would need more than a day to adjust. Why waste my time or my son's time with a director who seems like they'd look for any reason not just to accept him into their program? Ridiculous. I had high hopes and was seriously disappointed.

As a single dad this is the perfect place to take my son for swimming, and a little finish up with…read morethe play area. He's six, but started taking swim lessons at three. He's a little fish now. Doesn't need floaties though if he gets near dad he like suction cups to me. During open swim some of the parents simply drop their kids off while they go work out I assume. The life guards tend to be younger maybe high school so not super assertive. Sometimes you get rough play, but not often. They have two slides one for little kids, and one for larger. Great place for lessons! I go with a friend when my son's in school to workout. I feel the gym to be very clean, and properly maintained. Polite members and staff. Hot tub is great! Thankful for the facility!

Worst gym experience I've had in a long time. Was visiting town so called asking if they had kettle…read morebells; they responded saying they had a whole set. So wanting to get a good KB workout in, I go pay my $10 daily pass fee and go find their THREE kettle bells, up to 30 lbs... I immediately go back to the counter wanting a refund so I could go to a real gym(literally less than a minute) oh we can't give you a refund but we can give you a daily pass for later. After much frustration I try to workout there and started doing some cleans. After a couple drops of the bar(which were bumper weights and on a pad) the manager come over and asks not to drop the weights because they'll break. If you're really looking for a gym to lift and get a good workout, do not go to the SW YMCA in Topeka!!!

This school is incredible!! The teachers and staff are so caring and wonderful. They truly loved my…read moredaughter and cared for her like family. My daughter learned so much during her time here. Each week I was amazed at what was being taught in pre-k on top of the normal curriculum: chess tournaments, space week, music, animals and their habitats, etc. It was pretty amazing to have my 4yr old come home one day and tell me an elephant is an herbivore because "they only eat vegetables". We were in Topeka only temporarily and winded up extending our stay solely so that our daughter could finish pre-k and summer camp here. It was such a blessing to have found this school and are so thankful for the time our daughter was a student here. Thank you for all you guys do each and every day. We will miss y'all so much!

From the owner: St. Matthew Early Learning Center provides full day and half day preschool and childcare for…read morechildren ages 3-5 years old. We provide a summer camp program for school age children. We provide an age appropriate educations to support the each child to grow spiritually, academically and emotionally. We are licensed by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, and administered by the Director, the Pastor of St. Matthew and the St. Matthew Early Learning Center council.

Tina was amazing, she trained our hotel staff of 5. I went in expecting it to be a chore but it was…read morereally fun, highly recommend to anyone who needs CPR certification for their business or staff.

From the owner: CPR and first aid training certification for all who need it at an affordable price!read more

They were wonderful to my daughter and even went through training for her recent diabetes so they…read morecould help take care of her while there. I miss this place and wish I could send her back.

I have tried my best to handle this situation quietly, tactfully, and calmly, one on one with the…read moredirector. But in light of recent events and the unprofessional behavior of the director, I will be speaking publicly about my experience with Bright Circle Preschool in Topeka. I loved this school. Past tense being key here. When I toured the school and researched reviews and recommendations, I was impressed. They explained their curriculum and the Montessori practices, and my daughter felt comfortable leaving my side and going to play. I enrolled her and things were going great. My daughter made friends and was learning and excelling academically. Then December rolled around. At pick up, I was told that my daughter was extremely upset and "was acting uncontrollable" for most of the day. To the point that they considered calling me to come get her. They didn't, and this is completely out of character for her. I got her home and got her ready for a bath so she is clean and ready for her school Christmas concert that evening. She gets undressed and in the tub. Then I see the small, but very there amount of dried blood present in her underwear. I ask her what happened and she tells me she doesn't want to talk about it. I immediately take her to Children's Mercy in KC. The whole drive, I'm asking her all the questions, "did someone touch you? Who hurt you? What happened?" And frantically trying to get in touch with the school to find out why and how my daughter got these injuries in their care. When I finally got in touch with the director, Betsey Litscher, I was met with only, "I don't knows." We spend 11 hours in the hospital where my poor daughter endured a full physical sexual assault examination, swabbing, sedation, sleep deprivation, no food for hours, missed her first Christmas concert and was questioned repeatedly about this thing that never should have happened. Something did in fact happen and a teacher there at the time witnessed this. I still don't, and probably never will, know the whole story or if this is even what happened. This teacher saw a child with her hands down my daughter's pants and went on to inform no one. And then no one informed me. They helped my daughter go to the bathroom and never told me about the blood on her underwear. Then I had to call the director REPEATEDLY to try to get to the bottom of why I was not notified of any incident and to set up a meeting between myself, the teacher who witnessed this, and the director. It took over a week. At first, Betsey was defensive, argumentative, and dismissive. I lost it a little, as I think most moms would at this point. I also demanded cameras be put up and Betsey assured me numerous times that cameras would be put up, and that this was a fluke accident that will never be tolerated or let happen again. None of my questions were answered by either of them, but shortly after this meeting the teacher was no longer working at the school. Somehow I was swindled into believing Betsey's concern and tears shed for my baby's experience were sincere. I was promised that communication would be improved and that I could trust them moving forward. WRONG MOVE. I should have pulled her out right then and never looked back. Since then, I have had numerous issues with the lack of communication, and strange bruises and injuries on my child while not getting an incident report. Now the most recent unfortunate event. I should mention, I don't know this person through personal interaction and I don't have any ill will toward them. I was told two weeks ago that someone had been hired there to teach. Someone that I know, and someone who is known to me and would cause a conflict of interest. Betsey confirms that my daughter will be in this person's care regularly. I tell her I'm not comfortable with that considering the very real chance that this person could mistreat my child because of the relationship. Apparently that's not a conflict of interest. Fine. If that were all, I would have pulled my daughter out and enrolled her elsewhere quietly. But unfortunately, that's not the major concern. This person has had child abuse allegations brought against her, a since dropped aggravated battery charge, dcf calls made about her alleged drug abuse (we actually were unaware of this until Betsey told me that this person told her this herself) and told my husband herself, that she was let go from another childcare facility for, "pushing a kid". Another parent has gone to school with this person and has chosen to remove their child from Bright Circle as well because of the lack of regard for the safety of her child, and how she was treated by Betsey when she raised concerns about this person as well. All this being said, I believe that since Betsey has been made aware of these allegations, and whether substantiated or not, she is stripping parents of their right to make the best decisions to protect and care for their children. If someone knew of such serious allegat

In an effort to find daycare for my son, I stumbled across Handprint's information through…read moreChildcare Aware. It was the first center that offers day and night care plus it's Christian based! This would've been perfect for the needs of my family. I called and was instantly hung up on. I tried calling again to leave a voicemail--the voice mailbox is full. So I keep calling, I imagine Mary must've thought I was a spam caller, but she knows the only way people can reach her is by phone, per her website, the web referrals lag. By the fifth call this woman finally answers and has one of the most disrespectful attitudes I've ever come across!! "Call me back in the middle of August that way you won't be buggin' me." It amazes me that you even have families that you care for at all. I'm sure my family and I will be fine without you. Thanks for showing your true colors and making it an easy CROSS OFF as I go through this childcare list.