I thought I'd make good of my 8 year old's ipad addiction and sign him up for a coding class. I…read moresigned up for a brief tour while my son got to work and he came out asking to come back. The last thing my family needs is another activity, but I like the flexibility of Code Ninjas. We signed up for a monthly membership for 4 hours. You sign up ahead of time for a day/time that works for you so that you don't have to commit to the same time every week. As of now the options are 4, 5 or 6pm on the weekdays and 9, 10 or 11am on Saturdays.  I've learned that you just need to sign up at least a week ahead to grab the day/time you want. I would love to see more time options on weekends- later on Saturdays and Sunday times too. My son has been 4 times so far and seems to love it more each time. He submits the actual work he's doing so that I can see it and actually play the games he's creating. His 5 year old brother absolutely loves playing his big brothers games and is begging me to sign him up for coding too. They do have a class for junior coders, but it's more of a builder class (I believe on Sat mornings) vs coding on your own. The work they do is graded by senseis and they progress to new levels similar to how it works in karate (yellow belt, etc). That keeps him and his peers extra motivated, although he seems motivated by the work itself. He's also already asking about doing a roblox camp next summer and while we have time to decide on that one it's something we'll definitely check out.

They will opt you in for classes that they did not tell you about. You will get charged monthly if…read moreyou are unaware.

Took my 7 year old son here for an 8 year old bday party- really cool idea for a unique bday…read moreparty. They played Minecraft , and were guided by a couple of staff members . The kids all loved and talked about all they played even after they were done. Plus- they do camps and coding classes. Neat/unique!

Noggin Buiders Summer Camp is absolutely terrible! First of all, the rooms are very tiny, messy,…read moredirty, and cramped, which is unexpected given how expensive the price for the summer camp is ($600 for a week! There are cheaper and better summer camps). Not only that, there camp is boring, unuseful, and they follow the material that another university provided for them, and all they did was supply the parts. The instructors are unprofessional (high schoolers at a STEM academy? what?), and it was the worst summer camp ever. The stuff is unengaging and the experience from both the parent and the kid is terrible. Don't come here!

LOVED The Escape Room created just for kids! Ever since I went to an Escape Room with my husband,…read morethe kids have been begging to go to one. I could never find one that was appropriate for my kids (ages 4,6 and 8). This one in Northbrook Court was absolutely brilliant because it's designed for kids and involves math and science. We had a blast, did it with one other family (ages 3,5,6) and were down to the wire in solving the mystery for Professor Quarkenstein. The kids loved it so much they can't wait to come back and do another one!

So much fun! My jaw dropped when I saw my daughter so happy and engaged while enjoying the sensory…read moreactivities. She let loose like I've never seen before. I think I had as much fun as she did!

Art Party is the best! I cannot rave enough about the tremendous creativity and love that has gone…read moreinto this studio. My son and I both had the best time. We had the freedom to get messy and playful, while diving into self-expression and art. Thank you Jamie! Can't wait to come back!

One of my grand-darlings had her birthday bash here and it was a ton of fun for all involved…read more  There are a bunch of ninja stations for the kiddos to burn up much of their energy before a birthday celebration meal.  They get 2 hours of supervised fun and it is broken up into 80 minutes of ninja stations and then 40 minutes birthday meal time.  My daughter arranged everything and I was just one of several parent/grandparent photographers/observers basically. Maggie was the welcoming receptionist and she provided a gift t-shirt to the birthday girl (part of the BD package) and got everyone signed in and made sure they had all of their waiver forms signed haha.  This place isn't cheap (ballpark $600 for the birthday package per the daughter) but it seems you get what you pay for - a clean and well maintained facility, a staffer to direct the kids' activities and help serve food, plenty of fun ninja activities to choose from, a private room (there are 2 of them) for the birthday meal, and pizza (by Viccino's, a local favorite anyway) and fruit provided from a local vendor, plates and utensils, and most importantly - a big and grand blast of a time for all the kiddo participants and us by-standers as well.  Apparently, you can also bring your own food in, but there is a healthy $25 per entree charge for doing so, and besides it's an additional hassle.  There is a downstairs and upstairs party room and both are nice and spacious.  One of my grand-darlings has been here several times as a birthday party guest, and she has always had a great time.  I didn't pay, but I still can say a big thumbs up for this place!

Had my kids birthday party here - and everyone had an amazing time. This place is great for all…read moreages, which I loved! The staff was phenomenal and went above and beyond with making sure everything went smoothly. HIGHLY recommend this place to host an event!

The Coder School is a true gem to the North Shore, and especially Highland Park! They take the time…read moreto learn about the student and their interests to pair them up with a Coach that is geared specifically to their interests and skills! My son loves going every week, and has grown exponentially! Not only has he become more confident in his computer and coding skills, but it has also taught him how to think outside the box and to keep pushing when the first answer isn't correct! If your child even shows a modicum of interest in computers and coding, run, don't walk, to sign up for Code Coaching and Coder School! You will not be disappointed!

One of the best after school and weekend workshops for our boys, 8 and 10. The boys are learning…read morebeyond their years, while having fun and feeling independent. The space is very cool, the teachers are awesome and the team's flexibility with our busy schedules has made it a favorite in our home.

We have had such a great experience with the Gardner school so far! Ms Allison is approachable,…read morekind, and transparent. My almost 4 year old loves going to school. His teachers ms. Kassy and ms Jess are very knowledgeable and caring. He has invited them for dinner multiple times haha! We have seen so much growth in our son in the few months that he's been there. Thank you to all the staff at the Gardner school :)

Had a terrible experience with the Gardner school…read more Pay attention if you want to enroll in this school as it has three major risks: 1. Lack of skilled teachers. 2. Really short of staff, only within a few days, we've seen a class with 1 teacher taking care of 16 students, also the director had to take care of the class and clean the kitchen by herself, therefore, refusing to talk to parents. 3. Manager in this school is very impatient and not friendly/professional upon issues. We'd been there only a few days until my daughter was bitten by a random kid full of blood on the face (still with scare after 3 months). Faculties were buck passing saying this happen in 2 secs without any possibility to stop that. Later we realized my daughter was bitten at two separate spots, which can't be done in 2 secs, at least they are lying and shirking off their negligence of duty. Nevertheless, we tried to work with the Director of the school trying to resolve/reduce risk in the future, the Director was very impatient not only documenting inaccurate incident reports but also refusing to make any accommodations. We requested multiple times for updating the report but only got "I will work to fulfill your request" yet never did it nor responding emails for 2+ months now. As we've hoped this school can improve itself in the future, but it's been a terrible experience for us.

Great teachers and an incredibly kind, welcoming staff. From the moment you walk in, you can feel…read morethat the school truly cares about the students and their success. The teachers are patient, knowledgeable, and genuinely invested in helping every child learn and grow. The staff is always friendly, helpful, and makes both parents and students feel comfortable. What stands out the most is how excited my kids are to go to school every single day. They come home happy, talking about what they learned, and looking forward to the next day. That alone says a lot about the positive environment the school has created. It is clear that the school focuses not only on academics but also on building confidence, character, and a love of learning. We are very grateful to be part of such a supportive and caring school community. I highly recommend this school to any family looking for a place where their children will feel valued, encouraged, and excited to learn.

If you are thinking of sending your child to Goddard Deerfield, please read this review and…read moreconsider other options. About us: Hard working blue collar parents of 2 kids and one more on the way in July 2022. Our daughter attended Goddard Deerfield for over 1 year and we initially enrolled our son to start in August of 2022. Problems: The owners of this location, Jane and Genia, consider your child a walking dollar sign and nothing else. They will put the economics of getting every dollar out of you rather than creating a safe environment for your child or respecting any of your parental concerns. The situation and response: Goddard's AC system had broken during a 90+ degree week. Goddard has no extra classrooms so their response was to have the children in the classroom at that temperature for 30-40 mins at a time. We decided to not send our daughter to school until the AC situation was fixed due to extreme heat and ventilation issues that could lead to spread of COVID (my wife is currently pregnant with a high risk pregnancy). The AC repair took over 9 days and no surprise, there was a COVID case in the classroom during this time. This left our daughter out of school where we had to pay for additional childcare for 2 weeks. We reached out to the owners for a credit of our tuition for the time and that is when Jane's true colors showed. Over a phone call a screaming and angry Jane claimed: -"AC breaking is an Act of God and that they had to pay $5,000 to repair it so they are not liable." -"It builds character for children to be in that heat because life isn't always perfect" -When I told her again that my wife was pregnant and our own doctor said this an unneeded risk. Jane claimed "COVID is overblown and it's just an excuse now. My sister in law had COVID during her pregnancy and was fine, so your wife shouldn't be worried" We were so shocked by this response. After that last bizarre call, my wife had a 1-1 in person conversation where Jane took ownership of the things she said but the damage had been done. We knew our daughter would not be safe in their hands and that ownership would potentially target our children. Even worse ownership behavior: Our daughter stopped attending Goddard in June and our son was enrolled for upcoming August start - we asked what the process is for terminating enrollment and how we would receive our refund of enrollment fees and they took that as an opportunity to immediately cancel his enrollment, keep the enrollment fees, and take money from another family to fill his spot. Not only did they not return the money, they cancelled his enrollment and filled his spot in a breach of their own enrollment document/parent handbook. We now have to consult a legal expert to recoup our fees. I am a small business owner myself and would never ever target or leave a negative review unless it was 100% necessary to warn others. There are other schools in the area that will look after your child, look elsewhere. During the last few months of dealing with Goddard I felt like a failure of a parent to have not seen the other red flags and cannot believe I allowed my child to be in the care of Goddard Deerfield. The worst part of it all is that this is all I know about, what about all the other things that may have happened while my daughter attended school here that owners with this character may have put their own business in front of my child or any child? If you think maybe this is a one off situation and your child could be okay, Google search "Goddard Deerfield Indeed reviews" to see how their own teachers review the school. It is very evident that this is a common theme. Reach out to me if you have concerns as I have documentation of all of this.