We have been taking our son to Children's Center of Lake Forest for the last ~7 months. To be…read morehonest, the location wasn't the most convenient for us, and we had been considering an alternative location closer to home. However, we have opted to stay with Children's Center of Lake Forest, because they take such tremendous care of our son. There is a genuine love for our son there among so many of the staff, that makes both my wife and I feel so incredibly comfortable and confident in the care he is receiving. Would highly recommend Children's Center of Lake Forest!

My first experience with any childcare professionals was with Eva, a mother herself and staple…read moreduring weekdays. The facilities are clean and organized. Tony is like a perverbial father or grandfather. The kids love him. I would highly recommend Laura and crew. Eva is our angel.

We enrolled our toddler this past summer and will continue throughout the 2021-2022 school year…read more The program provides him with the social interaction and developmental stimulation he needs! The teachers are patient, very kind, professional and very hands on with the children. I feel comfortable leaving him there every day. We receive updates throughout the day (whether good or bad!) and I can tell my son is enjoying his time throughout the day and learning at least one thing each day! Thank you to the staff for all you do.

My daughter attended this school for several years. Highly recommend! School was very clean,…read morecurriculum was outstanding & all the teachers were great! We will miss coming here as she's now going to kindergarten!

Great learning environment for little children. My son has attended for 3 years and loves the…read moreteachers, staff, and the friends he has made. Great curriculum and beautiful classrooms.

I am writing this review so other families can be aware of what happened to us…read more My family began planning our move several months ago, and in August, we contacted Children's Land to secure a January start date for our daughter. We toured the center, submitted all required paperwork, and followed every step exactly as instructed. The previous director personally reassured us that our daughter would definitely have a spot in January, even after she transitioned to another location. Because of this reassurance, we planned our relocation, work schedules, and childcare arrangements around this enrollment. However, in mid-December, just weeks before the planned start date, after we brough our kid to touch base this place, we received an unexpected email from the new director stating that there was no availability for the Two-Year-Old program -- with no explanation, no acknowledgment of prior communication, and no alternative options offered. When I asked for clarification, her response was simply that she was "not aware of previous conversations," and that "typically enrollment begins with a tour." What was even more shocking is that she considered our brief visit last Friday -- which was meant to be a transition visit for our daughter -- as a "tour" that supposedly starts the enrollment process. If this is the case, it implies that after a director change, families must restart the entire enrollment process from the beginning, regardless of months of prior communication, paperwork, or commitments. This is not only ridiculous, but extremely unprofessional and unfair to families who plan responsibly and rely on the center's guidance. The new director's position seems to be that all prior communication "does not count" unless it went through her, essentially erasing months of work, promises, and planning. The tone was dismissive and lacked basic empathy for the situation that her own center created. I understand that childcare availability can be limited, but what was most disappointing was the lack of transparency, poor internal communication, and the absence of courtesy in how this was handled. No family should be told "you have no spot" at the last minute after being reassured for months. I sincerely hope Children's Land will improve their internal processes, director handoffs, and communication with families so that others do not experience the same disruption and frustration. We started from August, and now ended up with no spot. Thank you for letting me your dark side as this is trult not professional.

I feel lucky to have both my kids enrolled in Children's Land at Lincolnshire…read more Irina, the Director, has everything well organized. The staff there really take good care of your children and my kids love them. The daily routine is well mixed with various activities and learning. Another great thing is that they serve breakfast until 9AM!

We've had a great experience with this daycare/pre-school. The space and approach are…read moreMontessori-inspired and there's a focus on sensory play. I love that my kids get to spend lots of time outside, with routine trips to the beach, the park, and the library. Teachers are caring and thoughtful. My now 7 year old has great memories from Our School Haus and is always excited to visit. My 4 year old asks to go to school, and my 2 year old adapted to school within a week! Our School Haus is a little hidden gem in Highland Park.

This was mine and my daughter's favorite daycare. She liked it because she got to create very…read moreinteresting projects, made lots of friends and went on interesting walks to the library and the beach. I really liked it because I knew that my daughter got a lot of individualized attention and care. She also had an excellent balance between academics and play where she learned a lot and was prepared for school, but also spent a lot of time playing and developing social skills. The day care is located near a beautiful beach, Highland Park library and downtown which makes it easy to take trips to the beach, library or other interesting places in downtown Highland Park. If you have young kids and in search of a home daycare, I highly recommend Our School Haus.

After moving from Logan Square and going to Montessori Academy of Chicago (which was beyond…read morewonderful) I was scared that nothing would match the level of care and learning that my 2 daughters received when we moved to Glencoe but thankfully we found Guidepost Montessori at Deerbrook. Christine and Abbey run this school like all of the children are their own. They are warm, inviting, caring and thoughtful. My daughter is 4 and in the pre-school program and the activities she participates in are endless - art class, karate, woodworking, cooking etc. The teachers are top notch and really put a lot of effort into each and every day. My other daughter is in the nursery program and the teachers in that classroom are unmatched. The teachers go above and beyond for the babies as well as the parents in sending home adorable crafts and activities that your child will do during the day. My daughter is always clean (which is a hard feat to accomplish for a 1 year old) and I truly feel like I'm dropping her off with someone in my family every morning. The teachers put up pictures daily on the internal website so you really feel as if you have a good grasp on what your child/children are doing everyday and as a working mom, that means so much to me. There is a wonderful outside playground that the kids love to play on and pickups/dropoffs are seamless and easy without rigid rules that don't work for working parents. The school itself is new and clean which was a huge plus for me. I compared a bunch of different schools in the area prior to our move and I know I made the right decision for my girls.

There is a lot of drama at this school between teachers and other staff members. Unfortunately,…read morethis has contributed to fairly substantial teacher turnover, which is not good for the kids. Many parents have ended up pulling their children out of the school. I've lost count of how many school presidents have come and gone. The school has also cut back on meals and snacks to save money. Not too long ago, the school was open on most holidays. Now, almost every holiday is a day off, which means parents have to make arrangements to watch their children. The current president, Sonia, does not seem to be very familiar with the school's policies and practices. Half the time, she doesn't seem to know what she is talking about, which can be very frustrating for parents. Based on the school's track record, however, there will probably be another president sooner rather than later. On the positive side, there are a few teachers and teacher assistants who are truly some of the best people I have ever met. They put their heart and soul into caring for each child, and I honestly believe that is one of the main reasons some families continue to stay at the school.

We followed the Director, Sarah, here from the Northbrook location something like SIX YEARS AGO…read morewhere she had been serving as the assistant director. She is phenomenal and even if you do not put much stock into reviews in general, the proof should be we followed her to an entirely new school and now have our third child at the school... by the time we are done with this one we will have been with Sarah almost ten years! This Gardner School is fantastic. It starts with the leadership at the top and is felt all the way down, but you cannot miss the attention to the detail and just how great this school is. First, they are great with the kids. Seems basic, but needs to be said. From the 2 rooms through every room we have experienced the teachers and staff know how to make kids happy, healthy, safe, smart, etc. Second, the actual programs at this school are unmatched. The core programs in the classes are fantastic and are some of the best planned out things I have seen any school offer for kids this young. Not only that, but the extracurricular actives offered are diverse and awesome. The new assistant director has been excellent putting together these programs and provides awesome photos/videos. Yes... they do cost extra money, but (a) you easily get the value out of it, (b) you get to expose your kid(s) to things you may not have the time to outside of school because of things like work and (c) the kids love them. Third (and I'll make it last), the communication is unbeatable. I cannot oversell this! The staff and teachers are always receptive to conversations, feedback, etc. (I talk to Sarah more than I talk to my mom)... and the teachers are great with the app they use. Even if something doesn't go accordingly to plan at the School it isn't a complete disaster because the School actually communicates with you and you feel fully in the loop. The pictures, updates, etc. on the app make getting through the work day so much easier. Anyway, as a growing family we have moved from Morton Grove to Highland Park and have experienced different daycares/Schools. All have positives, but the Gardner School is far in away the best school ever. This location in particular has something special about it! There is literally no one in my life I wouldn't recommend this school to. No one asked me to write this review, but I really do feel passionately about the school and want to support it in anyway I can. Best decision you will ever make.

The director of the facility has an unpleasant attitude and is NOT knowledgeable about her own…read moreinstitution and the programs they offer and has difficulty answering in-depth questions about her own curriculum. Will invite you to school tours to waste your time and give you pre-longed dates to join the facility so you are her backup plan to make money if someone runs away due to her shitty attitude!!! Also, will ask you to join the waiting list with arrogance like there's no other educational institution out there. Must say loved her fake eyelashes though and she can go on for hours talking about them! Stay away from stuck up people and this facility for ur own good!

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.

very good place. i feel very safe leaving my little one here. the staff truly cares for the…read morekiddos.

Very professional and kind teachers! Super clean facility! Strong curriculum. Highly recommended!read more