My daughter Millie has been going to Iris since she was 1-year-old, and now that one year has passed by we couldn't be happier.
As all the other parents, we spent a lot of time searching for daycares last year. I had a 7-page Google doc with all the daycares I toured and all the research I've done. We chose Iris because of how clean, organized, and bright it is, the huge collections of books and toys, and most importantly, Millie loved the place and started play there immediately during our tour.
We clearly made the right decision. I will only share the data points I could observe:
First, Millie absolutely loves going to school. She mentions Katsia and her friends all the time at home. She sings on her way to school. And I thought that's the best testimonial of how good Iris is.
Second, we can observe how she grew and developed in one year. We only speak Mandarin at home, and are pleasantly surprised to see that she becomes trilingual - she now speaks and sings in English and Russian, while her Mandarin development is uninterrupted. We are amazed to see her sing and dance passionately, know how to count and paint, play with all sorts of toys, and most importantly, express herself and socialize with others (and even how to take care of younger babies!) At her 2nd birthday, Millie mingled with all the 50+ guests, talked, entertained, and played with all the other kids. And we knew she learned all this because of Katsia and her team.
You can tell Katsia and her team really love kids. I can see that Millie is happy, makes silly faces, has strong opinions, and has a quirky sense of humor, all because Katsia and team showered her with love and respect so that she could be herself. I cannot thank them more.
I would absolutely send my second kid to Iris if we were to have one, and I have recommended Iris to my friends and colleagues. read more