Our daughter was recently diagnosed as being on the spectrum. When we had her in the 3 year old…read moreprogram she was evaluated to receive speech twice a week. Some days she was extremely difficult for my wife in the morning and had to go to the program in her pjs. Mind you it was 3 hour sessions, three days a week. We had a teacher Ms. Diane who not only called my wife about this; she seemed annoyed and disgusted on the phone. One day she went ahead and called my wife in her seemingly annoyed tone stating "You need to have your kid evaluated." My wife replied with "she has been.. hence why she gets speech there twice a week". One day I picked up my daughter and overheard the teacher say to another teacher "I have to remind myself that these are not third and fourth graders... That's what I'm used to teaching". That's nice; then go back and teach those grades since you're not willing to be equipped to handle younger kids developing with speech, behavior issues, or possible occupational therapy being with needed. Speaking to some other parents whose kids were in my daughters particular class agreed that this teacher and this place should NEVER be allowed to take in any kids with an IEP of any kind. My daughter hated going there at such a young age. Let's fast forward a year to UPK in Island Trees school district; NIGHT AND DAY difference! My daughter's teachers were so amazing (Ms. Tina and Ms. Gabby to name a few) that we all were upset when the school year ended. Just goes to show you some teachers are amazing and some are not. I'm a civil servant and you either get someone on the phone that will do their job and assist anyone anytime or someone who just shows up to work.

If you have a child who is typically developing, does not have any academic or behavioral issues…read moreand doesn't require any additional TLC, this is a nice school with great, fun projects. I certainly did enjoy all the colorful, bright, fun work that was sent home! To add to the silver lining, the communication from school to home is excellent, However, if your child has any kind of struggle - emotionally, behaviorally, academically, in reaching milestones - I'd highly recommend looking for another arrangement. At my request, my son was evaluated two months into the year and qualified for speech and occupational therapy. Both of these factors delayed his letter and number learning as well. His teacher had no patience for him whatsoever. I heard nothing but negative feedback from the beginning of the year, and did not see any attempts made to modify his classroom behavior, motivate him, or differentiate to meet his needs. There were no sticker charts offered, no modified, multi-sensory work to help with his delay in learning letters, no small, attainable goals set for him - there were just a series of complaints. It was only thanks to his wonderful service providers from outside the school that my son finally started to make progress toward the end of the year. Still, it didn't feel like enough, and, as my son started kindergarten, I was convinced he would have the same issues. Not so. Within a week, his teacher knew exactly what he needed, got him on a behavior chart, and I'm amazed that he's currently able to do so many of the things his preschool teacher insisted he just couldn't do - all he needed was the right teacher. It was a different world - one where my son actually felt motivated and capable, which he hadn't felt at Tendergarden at all. It's sad to me that an early childhood setting would do so little to help a child who just needed a little extra support, encouragement and love, but, sadly, that was my experience there. It is my hope that this may be limited to this one teacher, and perhaps the added stressors of teaching PreK during a pandemic, but, if you are concerned about your child, perhaps research other places where he or she may get more support. Preschool is supposed to be an enjoyable start to school, so I really hope no other children have the disappointing year that my child did.

Small district where everyone knows one another. Very caring staff and teachers who go the extra…read moremile for the well being of their students. Excellent music, arts and sports programs.

MacArthur is a school only for people who been going since middle school next door "Salk" the…read morestudents only talk to the people they known since they were kids. It may be a good school to others but not me