We're relocating our family to Northern Virginia, and leaving Austin Children's Academy is…read moregenuinely one of the hardest parts of this move. Our son Benjamin has been a student here, and the growth we've watched in him during his time at ACA has been incredible. The teachers and staff didn't just teach Benjamin important skills like potty training and using utensils on his own -- they did it with so much patience and care that he hit these milestones happily and confidently. As a parent, watching your child grow through these big "firsts" is special, and we always felt like ACA's team was as invested in those moments as we were. What really sets this school apart is the sense of family. From the teachers to the entire staff, everyone made us feel like we belonged to a community, not just a daycare. Benjamin was loved and cared for every single day, and that kind of warmth is hard to find. If you're considering ACA for your child, don't hesitate. We are beyond grateful for everything this school has done for Benjamin and our family, and we'll carry these memories with us wherever we go. Thank you, ACA -- you'll always have a piece of our hearts.

Both my sons received quality and education and care at ACA. It's a nurturing and well structured…read moreand safe environment to trust your children in.

I would have never found this program without the recommendation from the director of the…read morepre-school program at st. George's (near cherrywood, where we used to live). I am forever thankful for that recommendation. My son will be starting in the 4's class this fall, and previously attended the 2's and 3's class. I visited a few programs but this was the right one for my son. There is a variety of free play and play based learning. The teachers have a wide variety of activities to encourage age-appropriate development. The teachers really work their butts off here. No TVs, video games, canned workbooks, etc. They set up new, engaging activities every day. No gimmicks here. I love it, and my son LOVES it. I am excited that this school has made him EXCITED to go to school and has encouraged his intellectual curiosity. The teachers really do go above and beyond. For example, Ms Maryruth even brought in a Texas insect book to help my son identity bugs on the playground when she noticed he's into that. They really go above and beyond to engage childrens' natural curiosity. If I had to mention anything negative it would be the limited school year and hours (a challenge for working parents) and the lack of diversity (like most of west Austin). It's worth mentioning that we do not attend this church (or another) and not all of the families are Christian. It is a very open, welcoming environment. We absolutely love this school.

We love St. Michael's - the Reggio-inspired approach is amazing -- it's hands-on and lets the kids…read morereally explore and learn through play. The guides are incredible -- so kind, creative, and genuinely invested in each child. You can tell they truly love what they do. Our oldest just graduated and grew so much here, both socially and emotionally. Our middle child is there now and comes home every day excited to tell us what she did. We plan to have our youngest join school soon. The classrooms are beautiful and thoughtfully set up, and the whole environment feels warm and welcoming. We couldn't be happier with St. Michael's -- it's a very special place.

I can't say enough amazing things about Abacus, when my son started he was really shy, and nervous…read morebut in the one year of pre-k he has really become the amazing kiddo I've gotten to see at home but was too shy to show anyone else. The school itself is so clean, kept up, adorable art, they have a gym, a pool, library, art room. He's done swim lessons and in just a few weeks he's so great at it! They pick the coolest field trips to take the kids on, and have amazing events! But what makes this school so amazing is the staff, especially Ms. Kathie, I am so grateful to her for teaching my son numbers, writing, about animals, the weather but also how to stand up for himself and be a leader. How to be caring and considerate of others, and ask questions that help him figure out the answer. Most of all, he is PROUD of himself, and that confidence is no doubt there due to the help of him attending Abacus.

The teachers are amazing snd my favorite is Lacey who worked with & taught my grandson for several…read moreyears . Excellent front desk staff and management ! Highly recommended!!

Rock solid preschool. Very impressed with the variety of activities, the professionalism of the…read morestaff and how tight knit the community is. Our child is overly prepared for kindergarten and it's 100% because of the instruction she received at Excelencia. If everyone knew what we did it would be impossible to get admittance into the school. It's not Montessori but through the extremely high quality instruction and deep Spanish immersion it doesn't even matter. The results speak for themselves.

I have toured over 20 daycares and been at 3. Excelencia looks just normal on the outside but they…read moreare absolutely amazing. The biggest complaint you'll hear about daycares are turn over rate. Excelencia has one of the lowest I've seen in the industry. This is based on the vast amount of schools I inquired. The teachers here are some of the kindest and most involved teachers I have experienced. The teacher to ratio is small so my child isn't just another face. They know everything about my kids and we have never lost anything here. Even a toy that they dropped in the parking lot was returned to us. Everything listed on their curriculum is followed to the T. They do lots of science experiment here. Other daycares are always art and maybe 1-2 science a year. Excelencia also rotates their toys and supplies every couple weeks so kids are constantly engaged and not bored of playing with the same thing. Also every couple weeks they have a theme and they learn all about it. Like outer space, western cowboys, asia, future careers, automobiles and traffic, safari, and the list goes on. They do a phenomenal job at keeping kids interested in learning and not getting bored. My children, including my friends' children, have all thrived here. I refer people here and never a complaint. The owner is the most beautiful soul you'll meet. She truly cares about the kids and the school. She has created a wonderful environment not just for the kids but for the staff so they enjoy their job and it reflects in the children's care and happiness. This place is a hidden gem. People don't know about it other than word of mouth because they don't spend on marketing. They focus their efforts on the children and the staff. This is how it should be!

I cannot express my gratitude and appreciation for this great school and the amazing administrative…read moreand teaching staff. I put my son in this school for 3 years and now he has graduated to elementary school. This school made my son a child who respects everyone and deals with the world like a big person! From a scientific standpoint, he is capable of reading books in a very clear and impressive way, as well as writing! I was very impressed when I saw him doing mathematics at a very high level... If I could give a million stars of appreciation, it would not be enough for this excellent staff. Thank you with all my heart to this great school.

Run, don't walk to enroll or get on the LHM wait list. I…read morecannot tell you how much I love this school for my son! Admittedly, I knew very little about the Montessori program before we enrolled him at the Bee Cave location, but my family highly recommends it for your little one. My son was challenged, engaged and LOVED going to school everyday. His teachers Ms. Kaci and Mr. Joshua are amazing, smart, compassionate, fun (we had exposure to other educators there as well and think very highly of them too). Their director, Ms. Kate is intelligent and runs this location beautifully. The value is comparable to other private schools we toured in the Lakeway area, but I found their team warmer and their curriculum to be superior. I am forever thankful we found our way to this school!

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.

We attended Bluebonnet School from when my son was 13 weeks through Pre-k. He's now on kindergarten…read moreand does their after school program. From Ms Erika to Ms Rachel the teachers have been fantastic. Ms Erika (Room 1) is so experienced with young babies that I knew my child was in good hands with her. As a first time mom she taught me many things. And capping of the experience with Ms Rachel (room 18) was perfect. She will prepare your child for kindergarten, no doubt. She gives the kids so much structure and really prepares them with reading skills. There have been some issues with teacher and staff turnover during our time but this is the unfortunate nature of the industry especially with how challenging the last few years have been (pandemic). The assistant teachers seemed to change frequently and it was hard to keep track of who would be in his room. In the past there have occasionally been communication issues but I feel that the current director has worked a lot of that out. Any issues we had, the teachers and staff have always been eager to solve. My son has enjoyed the amenities at the school like the splash pad, nice outdoor play area, Spanish and music classes and the other vendors that come in offering classes like Gymstation for sports and gymnastics and Waterloo for swimming lessons.

Our 2 1/2 year old attended Bluebonnet for his first daycare experience after being home with full…read moretime. The first month went well, but as he adjusted to the social environment, he began having age appropriate behavioral challenges, including occasionally kicking when frustrated. We worked extensively on these behaviors at home and expected to partner with the school. One day, after noticing our son was out of view on the classroom cameras for about 30 minutes, we called to check on him. We were told he had been taken on a walk around the school to help him regulate his emotions, which we appreciated. After that call, however, we began receiving frequent reports of behavioral concerns that had not previously been communicated. The director invited us to a meeting to create a plan for our son's success. We were hopeful, but we left disappointed because there was no clear action plan. During the meeting, staff expressed concerns that our son might be developmentally delayed and recommended that we see his pediatrician. We followed that recommendation, and his pediatrician found him to be average to above average developmentally, believing his challenges were consistent with adjusting to his first structured childcare environment. The deciding factor for us came when we observed classroom camera footage showing a teacher and assistant pulling our son by one arm and, shortly afterward, his lead teacher reacting to him in a way we felt was inappropriate. At that point, we made the decision to withdraw him from the school. Every family's experience is different, but we hope sharing ours helps other parents make the decision that feels right for their child, especially during the often difficult transition into daycare.

My first experience with Montessori was 10 years ago, with my son, at a Montessori school in a…read moredifferent state. I was quite disappointed with what was touted as Montessori and the results I saw with my son. The freedom that comes with the Montessori method didn't suit him, as he would take advantage of it by reading books all day instead of participating in lessons. At the time, my priority was simply having someone take care of him since both parents worked. As long as he was safe, that was enough. I didn't think much more about it until it was time to put my daughter into daycare, as our parental leave was coming to an end. From the options available, enrolling her in a "private school" seemed like the best choice, hoping she would learn something and not just play all day. I first placed her at the Brushy Creek campus, because they have classrooms for babies. The price seemed steep for just feeding and changing diapers, but again, I figured you pay for quality. Well... I was surprised by how quickly she was developing. She started walking at 10 months old, communicated her needs through sounds and sign language, and got along well with other kids. The benefits of socializing her early were obvious. I started thinking there might be more to Montessori than I originally thought. It wasn't until we transferred her to the Cypress Creek campus, closer to home, that I truly realized how wrong I had been about Montessori. At Guidepost Montessori at Cypress Creek, I saw just how incredible the Montessori method can be when done right. The school has provided an exceptional learning environment for my daughter, with a strong focus on individualized education and fostering independence. The Montessori philosophy is clearly evident in every aspect of the school's approach, from the thoughtfully prepared classrooms to the well-structured activities that promote creativity, critical thinking, and self-discipline. Her teachers, Mrs. Ebelia and her assistant Alex, have been amazing. They are both professional, caring, and highly qualified, creating a warm and supportive atmosphere for the students. I have seen remarkable growth in my child's confidence and ability to tackle challenges on her own, and I attribute a lot of that progress to the nurturing environment they've created. One of the standout aspects of the school is the abundance of activities they offer to bring the community together. Whether it's events for families, parent workshops, or school celebrations, Guidepost Montessori does an incredible job of fostering a strong sense of connection and engagement between parents, teachers, and students. Additionally, the diversity of my daughter's classmates is remarkable. She is surrounded by children from various backgrounds, which enriches her learning experience and broadens her understanding of the world around her. The communication between the school and parents is outstanding--I'm always kept informed about my child's progress and any updates regarding the school. The leadership at Guidepost Montessori is also worth noting. They are approachable, proactive, and genuinely care about the development and well-being of the students. It's clear that they are dedicated to maintaining the highest standards in education. Overall, I couldn't be happier with our choice to enroll at Guidepost Montessori at Cypress Creek. It has truly been a wonderful experience, and I would highly recommend it to any parents looking for a nurturing, innovative, and effective learning environment for their child.

I need to begin this review by clarifying a misunderstanding I had when enrolling my kid at this…read moreschool. It is NOT named after a dinosaur. In fact, there are no dinosaurs named Montessori, Montessorous, Montessori Rex, Montessoridon, or even Montessoridactyl. I think Montessori is Italian, actually. Next obvious question: Were all dinosaurs Italian? This is hotly debated amongst anthropologists even today. My theory is that yes, and that what actually killed the dinosaurs was not a meteor from space, but rather a meteor-sized meatball. All evidence is forthcoming once I can find a scientific journal that will publish my thesis. Anyway, back to the review of the school. Hold on to your butts... My kid has been attending Guidepost at Cypress Creek for about a year and a half. He started in the toddler classroom and is now in Children's House. (They call it a house, but it's actually a classroom. I don't know why. When you reach out to admissions, you can use that as an icebreaker. You're welcome). My partner, my kid, and I have all been very pleased with both classrooms. Montessori schools treat their students as fully capable people with their own agency. This sounds like a recipe for disaster, but somehow they make it work. When you watch a classroom in full swing, it's like a well-oiled machine. The students are working either independently or cooperatively. They are cleaning up after themselves, being respectful towards others, and are highly attentive towards their classwork. They are very clever girls and boys. This is a testament to the excellent guides (their term for teachers, there's your second icebreaker). It sounds impossible but, uh, the guides find a way. The administration is also wonderful. They are pro-active with their communications, and we always feel in the loop. Almost every day there are optional extra-curricular activity options on the school grounds, which is super convenient. Things like art, gym, and soccer. The school is a great size. It's small enough that it feels like a real community. I think all of the guides know our kids' name, even if they aren't in his class, and they know both my partner and me. There are frequent classroom-wide and school-wide events, both in person and remote. There's an outdoor playground, of course, and a garden area that gets frequent use. All of the children participate in maintaining it, which is cool. Tuition is reasonable, even though it seems like they've spared no expense, so that's nice. Well, readers, after careful consideration, I've decided to endorse Guidepost Montessori at Cypress Creek. We like it enough that we will be enrolling our second kid when he's old enough. The question wasn't so much whether we could but whether we should, and even that was silly because the answer was obviously yes. The lack of actual dinosaurs is disappointing, of course, but I'm not going to deduct stars for that. I haven't found any school that has them, so it wouldn't be fair.