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

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

This USED to be a great school! Back in 2022 under Director Syreeta. My kids were only 2 and 3 y/o…read moreat the time and we were so happy we got to enroll both our boys at the same time. From entering the school to taking our boys to their class it was all smiles and good morning always filled with aloha. We knew our kids were not only being taken care of but loved. Every single staff would know/call our boys by their name. The director was always approachable, addressed us by our names and was always present in my kid's life until last December 2025 when while on our vacation we heard she was no longer there. To our surprise the entire front staff was gone. Keypads were installed, no colorful office , no aloha, no smiles ... felt like going to a business building ? Cold, quiet ... sad. Luckily my oldest left last year but my young is still a student there. Needless to say from January 2026 it's been terrible. Director Monica haven't emailed us back since January , horrible communication, changes in tuition and overcharges ... I wish I could've pulled my kid back in January ... so if you haven't : DO NOT ENROLL YOUR CHILD AT COLE ACADEMY!!! I heard seagull in Ko'olina is accepting new students 12 months and older ! Find a place that your child will be treated with love and you as a parent with aloha and respect. I'm writing as a parent but let me tell the stories I heard from teachers make it even worse . Loyal and caring teachers that left because they can't deal with management anymore. Feel free to reach out if you need more info!

Overall, the quality of care was okay, but for the amount we paid in tuition, I expected much more…read more My biggest concern was the administration, particularly with Monica, the lack of clear communication. The billing was confusing. Although we were on a monthly payment plan, the amount due changed from month to month because it was based on the number of school days. I asked for clarification but never received a clear explanation. There were also changes to tuition-related charges that we weren't notified about, which made the billing even more confusing. If you're considering Cole Academy, I'd encourage you to ask detailed questions about their billing and withdrawal policies and make sure you receive important information in writing. In my experience, it took several weeks to receive a response or get clarification regarding billing. I had a bad experience with billing and withdrawal because I didn't get a timely response when I reached out to Monica.

We had the pleasure of having Jenn babysit my 1 year old when we were visiting Waikiki. Let me save…read moreyou the painstaking agony of spending hours online researching and scouring reviews for the right sitter. I read all of Jenn's reviews and decided that she would be a good candidate. The clients that she had all gave her stellar recommendations and the reviews were all consistent. When we finally met her she was very warm and just a genuinely good person to be around. Upon introducing herself she gave us a binder that had her credentials, CPR/first aid and license they were all up to date. We talked about her background and how she moved to Waikiki from SF. Honestly, I would have loved to have just hungout with her myself and knocked back a few Primos! I had emailed her from the mainland which days we wanted to book well in advance to give her a heads up. Jenn will send you an invoice to secure those dates via PayPal. All the communication from the first email to the very last text message were all smooth and clear! I never had to worry about her not showing up, reliability in all aspects were met. We had her for a total of 6 nights and she has a 4 hour minimum. My son is an amazing sleeper and we kept him on Cali time so he was in bed completely knocked out by 3pm Hawaii time. So Jenn would come over by 5pm and we would go out and enjoy the rest of the evening. Jenn even gave us tips on things to do and where to eat, which all turned out to be great recommendations. The funny thing is she never met my son as he was always a sleep! We had a monitor that we brought which was very helpful. Trusting your child to someone who is an absolute stranger is the scariest and most daunting decision but at a certain point you have to start somewhere. My husband and I has the most amazing date nights due to Jenn, they were much needed. I've even told Jenn she is more than welcome to stay with us anytime she visits the bay area. We were sad to leave her but really happy that we met. I've already given her name and email to most of my friends and family. **Bonus: we had a lot of left over groceries in our condo and I asked if she was willing to take whatever she wanted and it felt so good to not waste it all!**

Jenn Clark was our nanny during our family vacation to Waikiki, Hawaii…read more Jenn is professional, punctual, reliable, trustworthy, honest, hard-working, dedicated and conscientious. She is an excellent nanny and took care of my three children, ages 8 years, 2 years and 10 months. Jenn always made sure the children were well fed, clean, diapers changed promptly and most important, that they were happy. She took my 8 year old daughter on a special field trip to Waikiki Beach to go boogy-boarding and she spent special one on one time on the beach with my 10 month old son relaxing under an umbrella. Jenn's energy was a great match for my active 2 year old son as well! My husband and I were able to enjoy each other's company on vacation because we knew the children were in good hands and being well taken care of with Jennifer. It was obvious to us that Jenn truly likes children and takes her job seriously.

We love the Growing Patch!…read more So we initially found the Growing Patch on Patch Hawaii where they list all certified childcare providers on the island. I only used 2 months of maternity leave so I needed to find a daycare that would take my baby as young as she was. We were lucky to find the Growing Patch since they take babies as young as 3 weeks old. We also learned that the owner was prior military and we were proud to go with them since we are military ourselves. We live on the west side and work closer to town so they were right in the middle and convenient for dropping off and picking up baby. Their location is a bit hidden in the back parking lot of Aiea Square area, near Queen Street Cafe but it's easy to get to since it's at the cutoff for Aiea if you're coming from either direction. This makes getting back on the freeway just as easy if you're heading town side. If you're going west, you'll either have to back track to Halawa or drive further down towards Pearl City. To start off, although this facility is a bit hidden, the front doors art covered in bright red posters showing that it's a daycare that provides 24-hour service. Yes! They will watch your child overnight if you need it. We visited the place for the first time during family tour day which was scheduled in advanced for those interested in learning about the facility, their staff and how they do things at the Growing Patch. We were the 1st ones to sign up after the orientation was completed and they offered an "observation day" before my baby officially started daycare with them. This was where they watched her for a few hours to see how she does around the care givers, being in a new place and around other children. She did great her 1st time there and the longer she went, the more she would learn to love being there. They provide you a list with the items they'll need to take care of your baby and anything else you would recommend to keep them comfortable when they're away from you. Each child has a storage cubby for their belongings. At the front door, you have to ring the doorbell to be let in and you check in on the tablet at the front desk. The facility itself is organized and separated into areas for different age groups since they take infants and up to pre-k age. My baby was enrolled into the infants area and they have a lot of things to keep the children busy from walkers, toys, beds and more! They do art work too like a regular school would and send it home with the parents. I love my baby's footprint art! The place smells clean every time I walk in and they sanitize everything at the end of each day. They have a calendar at the front that you can view to see what your child is scheduled to do that day. You can ask the front desk assistants for a curriculum to take home with you too. They even have scheduled field trips for the kids and notify parents via email and the app for permission. Their last field trip was to the Pumpkin Patch back in October 2024. They use an app called Child Pilot to help you keep track of what you're child is doing during the day and to contact you if needed. If you don't bring lunch for your child, they provide meals specially made by the Queen Street Cafe but this is for the toddler ages. The staff here if so friendly and they love the kids very because it shows. When I drop my baby off in the morning, she already knows where she is and loves to smile at all the caregivers. She's even excited to see all the other children and does not cry when I leave. After only a couple months here, my baby is the most friendliest and social child and I love how her smile can brighten up anyone's day when they see her. They hold parent teacher conference to talk about your child's progress here at the Growing Patch. They even ask about the milestones you expect your baby to reach and they'll help them work on that. These meetings are nice and as a first time parent, it's funny to see things from this aspect because I remember my parent teacher conferences with my parents and most of them weren't good since I was naughty lol. I love the relationships they build here otherwise and I haven't had any bad experiences with the Growing Patch so far. We recommend their services to all parents with toddlers or younger and we hope they open more facilities on island in the future. I also wanted to mention that they have a Facebook and Instagram page to see updates and events on your social media. Please see the photos I posted for more info. Thank you to the Growing Patch Ohana and their owner, Mrs. Dominica for all you do!

This rating is based on the customer service received before care was given…read more Domonica, founder of this establishment, called my family to offer us a spot. Over the phone, she specified when the soonest date available is and we gladly accepted. From then, we took the next steps and made an appointment to tour the day care. After touring, Domonica proceeds to tell us that the soonest available date is now 2 months later than the original date she offered and confirmed with us. We were very upset as we already confirmed that we wanted this spot over the phone. She apologized and said she talks to many families and assumed that we were going to back out. She offered the same spot that we accepted to MANY families even after we confirmed. This alone is very unprofessional, especially coming from the founder of this operation. She then offered a hug to cure all of her mistakes. The extreme lack of professionalism and customer service that came directly from the founder is just unacceptable. I do not feel comfortable and would not recommend bringing your family to a place that does not truly care for your family as they only seek to secure the money bag. Please take your child to a place where you know they will be valued.

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.

I'm not a regular mom. I'm a cool mom. And this is what cool moms do now: write very detailed…read morereviews about childcare. My youngest has been at the Mililani Cole Academy for over a year now, in both the Toddler and Preschool classrooms. My oldest also attended Cole until she transitioned to kindergarten in 2019, so we experienced the school at two different points in time. For this review, I'll focus on our experience over the past year to give parents a better sense of what the school is like today. We were there through last year's administration change, which was bittersweet because the previous directors were so loved. But after the transition, the new director and assistant director have found their stride. Anytime I stop by the office, they are available, and respond quickly to emails. We have not had any billing issues, and they helped with my subsidy applications. The teachers genuinely know and care about the children. Even teachers from other classrooms greet my daughter by name, offer a compliment, or give her a high five. It makes her feel so special! And when she runs into the classroom with a huge smile, I know she feels safe and happy there. She mentions teachers joining in their games or pointing out interesting things like different vehicles or birds from the playground. I appreciate the teachers actively engaging with the children, encouraging their curiosity and imaginations. Her teachers have also handled the many moods of toddlerhood with patience, understanding, and open communication. Potty training was one area where I especially felt like we were a team. They worked with us to keep our approach consistent between home and school. In the last year, we experienced very little turnover among the teachers we regularly interacted with, even in adjacent classrooms. One was a planned move when husband's job moved them off island, while another transitioned to the classroom next door. There are new faces from time to time. These are "float" teachers who cover breaks or step in when a teacher is on vacation. They are paired with a permanent classroom staff member, which keep the classroom's routine. We see many of the same float teachers, and my daughter knows them by name. There is a set curriculum for each week. Each month, parents receive a syllabus outlining the topics for the upcoming weeks, including the books, songs, activities, learning goals and how they support the children's development. I am impressed by how much my daughter has learned. She isn't even 3 yet and can count to 30, recognize all of her letters and numbers 1-10, and tell me the letter sounds for A-F. Every week she has new vocabulary related to what they're learning. For example, recognizing "a shooting star" in a book following their space unit. To me, that's exactly what learning at this age should look like. The learning is intentional, but enjoyable. Optional worksheets that reinforce the week's classroom topics are also sent home for families who want to continue the learning at home. Over the past year, I can recall a field trip to a local park for a nature walk, along with visits from the police and fire departments, dragon dancers, and a Sea Life Park naturalist. For parents thinking ahead to kindergarten, and even those considering private school in the future, I can offer a little perspective. My husband and I are both proud public school kids, but we navigated the admissions process for one of Oʻahu's more selective private schools with our older child. Several children from her small Pre-K class at the Millilani Cole Academy are classmates at that school today. Cole had a reputation for preparing children well then, and from what I see today, that hasn't changed. If that's the path our younger daughter takes, I'm confident Cole is giving her the academic foundation, confidence, independence, and social skills to be well prepared for the process. Every family's experience is their own, but ours has been very positive. I encourage parents considering The Cole Academy to tour the school for themselves and talk with families who have chosen to keep their children there year after year. When it was time to find care for our younger daughter, we thought highly enough of our first experience with Cole that we chose to wait for a spot rather than enroll her elsewhere. Having now trusted Cole with two of our children years apart, I'm very happy we chose it again.

Apparently TCA used to be THEE school. Well that is no longer the case. Save your money because the…read morequality is no better than the cheapest childcare option on island. They are under new leadership as of December and this place is now nothing more than a money grab. $2600 a month with roughly 88 kids in the school, and they no longer go on field trips, print materials, or fund classroom learning items (the teachers do). The teachers used to smile and love their work and now they aren't welcoming, they all are clearly miserable and they are quitting by the week. They don't follow required state teacher to student ratios nor cleanliness standards. It's become just another daycare with sick notices weekly to parents. This is the most expensive school on the island and they can't assure standards in cleanliness, consistency, or continuity- all things that are important during these foundational years of school. There is actually no communication with parents and the teachers that are quitting are only citing moral and ethical reasons, but honestly that's enough for me. When I emailed to have my daughter removed immediately, they didn't even ask why. Our children deserve better.