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 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.

Highly recommend!! I fully trust the staff with my daughter. She has gone here for almost 2 years…read moreand she loves it. The staff is friendly, gentle, caring, and so supportive. They communicate well and also throw cute events for family to partake in. My daughter gets disappointed when I come in to pick her up - she tells me she doesn't wanna go home yet. I think that's a great sign she's having fun and loving her time there!

We enrolled our son at 6 months old and have been really happy with his care. The infant teachers…read moreare all wonderful and caring. You can see how much they love the kids. As he's gotten older he's continued to love going to RLA. He's always happy to see his teachers and is all smiles when we drop him off. I really appreciate that they provide meals (breakfast and lunch / snacks). The lunches are impressive (IMO) and expose my son to a lot of foods we don't have at home. On another note, we liked RLA so much that we enrolled my daughter for the summer before she started kindergarten. The class size was small (which has both plusses and minuses, depending on what is important to you). Mainly we liked the curriculum and the amount of hands on activities they were able to do with a small class size. The teacher incorporated some pre-k activities since I wanted to make sure my daughter was prepared for Kindergarten.

I was looking for a good preschool that didn't cost and arm and a leg. This is it the teachers are…read moregreat and my son has already learned so much. He is always eager and excited to go to school every time. Ms. Tamara and her helper Ms. Dorene are so friendly and fun. This school is very organized, she has activity screens and all kinds of educational things for children to use. I highly recommend this place for your child. Great fun learning environment!

I was looking for a preschool that wasn't a daycare. All the preschools I found are just that,…read moredaycare with education. I don't need my child to eat snacks, play at recess, or nap on my dime. Being a stay at home mom, I can take care of this stuff. What I need is a professional preschool teacher who knows how to hold my child's attention enough to teach her something. I can teach my daughter too, but after a few minutes she goofs off and just doesn't take me too seriously. I found the perfect solution! At Planet Preschool, Tamara Jenkins, who's been a preschool teacher for 15 years. You might better know her as the "Kindergarten Coach." As of almost a year, she decided to open up her own preschool in her own home. She transformed her lower floor of her Kapolei home into a full fledged preschool. Her methods are to learn through play. Children will do art, play, sing with a specific curriculum in mind, so kids don't realize their learning because they're essentially playing. Genius idea! Mrs. Jenkins believes each child is different and thus learns at a different pace so she guides her teaching specific to each child's pace. If one child already knows her ABC's, then there's no need to waste a ton of time on it, so she'll move on to reading for that particular child. Her goal is to prepare your child for kindergarten but won't stop there. If your child wants to read or beyond, Mrs. Jenkins will take your child as far as your child wants to go. Currently she's got about 5 students in each class, so there's plenty of one on one time for each child. Each class will have a maximum of 10 students. You have a choice of either Tues and Thurs classes, Mon, Wed, and Fri classes, or daily classes. All classes start at 9am or 12:30pm. She's thinking about starting an afternoon class. I believe she's also starting a Kinderjam, a mommy and me class that incorporates "fun, exciting, and high-energy Music and Movement program that emphasizes the kinesthetic and tactile learning of pre-academic skills and concepts while promoting positive parent engagement." I was so desperate to find a preschool program that's not a daycare and not a parent participation preschool that was affordable. I feel so fortunate that I've finally found it! School tuition is about to increase a bit unless you enroll by May. Still affordable, but every bit of savings count. Because she's holding classes at her own home, that's why she can afford to offer classes such a low tuition rate. She's licensed so there's no need to worry. She doesn't have the fancy computers or traditional workbooks of typical preschool, but she makes it work. Check it out!

Our daughter spent 1 month at Love a Keiki. Our experience was great! The teachers were very…read moreaccommodating, transparent, and kind. The price was affordable, including snacks and lunch. My daughter had a hard time adjusting, but with the help of the teachers, was able to settle in after a week. We could only do 1 month though because our work was too far with the afternoon rush to pick her up. If traffic wasn't a problem, we would for sure chose to keep her at Love a Keiki.

They are wonderful!! They're very hospitable and friendly. We felt very secured that our daughter…read morewill be well taking care of. My daughter started on May 2019 and just graduated on June 2021. I highly recommend this school. Thank you to all the amazing staff of Love A Keiki. We will be back again with my other daughter next year!!