The staff at this literacy center are nothing short of amazing. They are committed to helping their…read morestudents and making their volunteers as comfortable as possible. The staff member the previous reviewer mentioned has been misrepresented, in my honest opinion. He is very courteous and I can tell that he is very passionate about his role at Aquinas. I couldn't think of a better organization to volunteer one's time.

I can't believe this place has a yelp page, but somehow yelp connected me to it (it is forcing me…read moreto write a review). I debated on how many stars I should give, one, two or three, but I decided on three. I am sure that this literacy center is doing some good outreach, but I could not stand one of their staff members. When I show up to volunteer my time for free, treat me with some respect. I forget his name, but he was nothing short of a jerk. I went through the training and was looking forward to volunteering, but when I went back before I could have a student, that guy did everything in his might to prove that he hated my presence. Needless to say, I never returned. I do my volunteering at another literacy center in the city and it is more than satisfying.

This is a great facility for children 6 and under. Our child started 5 months ago and loves it…read more He has learned so much and we look forward to his school work that he brings home everyday. This is great for parents that Work a full day job. Their hours are all 7-6 pm to help fit work schedules. Their food is included as well Smart stuff is also very clean and a very save place to have your child attend

My daughter has been growing and learning SO much since she's been at Smart Stuff Learning Center…read more It took her a little while to get used to coming but once she was comfortable with their staff, drop offs were a breeze. I love how understanding and accommodating they've been through my split family coparenting relationship.. it is such a relief to know that you can trust them and the staff truly feels like family. Thank you for everything you do for my daughter , Smart Stuff!

This school has been life-changing for my daughter. She has been able to fully use all her skills…read moreand intellect; she feels embraced by the school community, respected and accepted exactly as she is. I am deeply grateful to Fusion Lincoln Park for seeing my daughter and giving her the nurturing support and education she needed and deserved. I'd give ten stars if I could.

An Amazing and Fun school to learn at! I am always exited to get to school every day!read more

I took Spanish for Social Workers with Adriana at UNAM and I loved being a student there for a…read moresemester! The staff is all very friendly and accommodating. Class was always very interactive, with a diverse array of assignments and activities throughout the semester. Additionally, UNAM frequently has exhibitions and activities that students can attend for further language and cultural immersion. My class met twice a week from 5:30-7:30 pm, which sounds like quite a commitment - but I enjoyed class so much that it made it easy to attend. Homework assignments are incredibly reasonable, flexible, and relevant to your learning. I would take a course at UNAM again in a heartbeat!

I am very happy with my experience with UNAM. I am impressed with their intentionality in placing…read morestudents in classes and progression of curriculum. Those who are serious about learning spanish should choose UNAM! I took virtual classes with Monica who lives in Mexico. She is a great teacher who is very knowledgeable of language and teaching practices. It took them a few days to get back to me via email, but they are very helpful.

Learning a new language as an adult is very intimidating. I found Berges Institute's Beginners…read moreSpanish class very welcoming, encouraging and a great atmosphere to learn. Melissa was an engaging instructor. Class would be reviewing the week's homework and past lessons, learning the new work and drilling the lessons. There is a lot of memorization involved as there is in any new language learning. While I attended with a Groupon, I found their regular class prices being more then reasonable and plenty of class times and able to make up a missed class. Also they email a couple times a week to remind you of the homework, the next class time and if you need to go at another time and also tips to reinstate the Spanish you've learned so far. I look forward to learning from them more.

I signed up for a beginner level Spanish course a couple of months back to learn Spanish formally…read more The office personnel made signing up very easy and answered all of my questions. Classes were going well, I was learning quite a bit from the teacher Sofia, she was great with the class. I put in plenty of time outside of the course to practice too. Unfortunately, the whole covid pandemic disrupted my work schedule so I had to discontinue halfway through. I am likely to retake the course once my schedule stabilizes and I have an uninterupted free day. Great place to learn, highly recommend the Berges Institute and the teacher Sofia. -Elias

My review is coming from the perspective of a volunteer at the school where I spent several hours…read moreworking with the teaching staff and administration as part of the annual 'Hour of Code' event. I was prompted to write this review because I was so impressed by this school (I do this event at multiple schools in the Chicago area every year). Overall I witnessed the following while volunteering: Student Engagement: The students were attentive, engaged, inquisitive and extremely gifted based on how quickly they were able to navigate through the different coding exercises. I was also extremely impressed with the number of types of questions that were asked. Behavior: The students were extremely polite and gracious in a way that was far superior to what i have witnessed at other schools. Facilities: The school itself is pristine and the equipment and learning tools are all modern, in good shape and of high quality. I was very impressed by this place. Faculty Engagement: This area really won me over. I regularly work with schools and volunteer my time and I found the staff to be cooperative, proactive, engaged and generally invested in making the event a success. When I compare my experience with the Lycee to that of other institutions, it was significantly better. Finally, the school had a really interesting atmosphere that is bolstered by the fact that all of the students are speaking French, many of which have a different mother tongue. I was so impressed by this place that I have started looking at sending my children to school here.

Our daughter had Pauline Pilon as her teacher. The year before, with Béatrice Neveu, she was…read morethriving and rated "mastered" on nearly everything. She is a genuinely outgoing kid who loves school. Then with Pauline, things changed fast. She would walk into class, grab a book, and go sit by herself in a corner. When picking her up she was quiet and removed. We asked Pauline about it. She said almost nothing, just that our daughter probably needed more sleep. Not a word about what was actually happening in her classroom. So being proactive, we had her moved to Béatrice's class for an hour each day just for naptime. It didn't help and we were still confused. We kept asking, remained persistent. This led to a meeting with the Head of School, who was very nice but who also told us what was going on in her class. There was another child who needed help because they were yelling, acting out, and overall disruptive in class. They had to be physically restrained at times. The school was actively working with the family, but nobody had told us any of this. We'd been in a room with Pauline asking why our daughter had become withdrawn, and she said nothing. Looking back at her report card from that semester, her grades had dropped without any explanation. Things like speaking in front of the class went from a "1," mastered, to a "3," developing. No one flagged any of it. We pulled her out of the school because we did not trust Pauline, and semester 2 never happened. She went back to her usual self and thrived the next year somewhere else. We are giving three stars because her Pre-K teacher, Béatrice, was awesome! She was warm and attentive, the kind of teacher our daughter still remembers fondly. Yet, Pauline never told us what was actually going on in her own classroom, even when we sat across from her and asked directly. Instead we were left in the dark and had to search for what was going on in her classroom with our 5 year-old.

Loved working with Club Z. Tutors were professional and caring. During this COViD time they still…read moretook the time to work individually with each student. They are prompt and throughly enjoy working with the children.

It has been a pleasure to work with Pam and her team over the last few months! I can tell her…read morededication to her work and her students every time we talk and look forward to working more with her in the future!

This is a great school if you have young kids and want them to learn Chinese in a true classroom…read moresetting. For three years, my two sons attend on Sundays during the school year and get to learn to speak, write, and read Chinese with a teacher that is a native speaker. They also make friends and participate in cultural activities like Chinese New Year celebration.