The Teddy Bear Club is an amazing place where we have had the pleasure of watching our children…read morebloom and grow. Their staff is incredibly warm, engaging, loving, and professional. They all truly have the child's best interest at heart and know just what each child needs to be successful. Their communication is invaluable and they really encourage a sense of community that is both warm and nurturing. Their facilities are impeccably clean, well-manicured, and welcoming. We adore the Teddy Bear Club and have been so blessed to have been able to send our children to this amazing facility.

If you are looking for a fantastic school that loves, nurtures and teaches your child - all while…read moredoing it in two languages - look no further. The teachers are fantastic, the facilities are amazing and the curriculum is so well thought out. This is such a special school that teaches kids in a fun and impactful way. It marries the best of the French education system with the American system. We have been unbelievably happy parents for 4 years now, and all of our children have gone to this school. My daughter actually asks to go to school even when she's sick as she doesn't want to miss a day...if that's not the biggest endorsement, I don't know what is! I only wish it didn't end after Kindergarten!

The ladies here have been a home away from home for our son since he was 4 months old. He has grown…read moreup with them and adores going to daycare. I love how, due to the small number of children enrolled at a time, each child gets individual love and attention. They truly treat him like family. One of the highlights is when their backyard "opens" for the season and the kids all get access to the playground. What a great opportunity! I can't picture my son going anywhere else. You know what you get when you come here: years of experience, lots of love, great attention. Thank you!

Great staff; crappy management…read more The photo of the sign you see here is the only notification that Blossom Station was closed this morning. The other photo is of the "inclement weather" in question. We're about 1.5 miles from Blossom Station, lest you think the weather was wildly different between our house and the school. I also drove there, just to take a picture of the sign, because it's so unbelievable that that's how the "notice" was disseminated. Three cars of parents + kids pulled up during the 2 minutes I was there taking the photo, and talking to another flabbergasted parent. You see, Blossom Station uses the Acton school district as their "do we close" barometer AND notification mechanism. But during Christmas and February break, Acton doesn't cancel, because there's nothing to cancel. So instead of having a backup notification mechanism, a sign o the door is the only notice. No phone call, text, twitter, Facebook -- nothing. Just a sign. Oh, and they don't answer the phones, so you can't call ahead to see if they're closed. Oh, and their website doesn't load. Not the homepage, not the "closings/delays" page, either. At best, you can call (why would you call on a rainy day?), but you'll get an answering machine. Getting an answering machine with a generic message isn't a very strong "we're closed" signal. Now have a look at the rain. You decide whether you think their decision to close was reasonable. -- So that's a single day. Let's talk about their "not being open" philosophy in general. Blossom Station's holiday schedule will NOT work for you if you have a normal job, unless your company is shut down from Christmas through New Years. They're just straight up closed. If Christmas falls on a Wednesday, they'll be open that Monday the 23rd and the following Monday. Because apparently December 26, 27, and 31 are all holidays. BS is also closed on every other marginal holiday, so you'll need to make alternative arrangements for those days, too. -- We've heard through the parent grapevine that when BS is closed for snow days, staff aren't paid. That suggests that their staff aren't paid for holiday closings, either. As the customer, you WILL pay full price, no matter how many days BS is unavailable. In October 2019 (a 31-day month), BS was open 20 days. Full time toddler parents paid $1780. In December 2019, BS was open 13 days. Same price. That means the cost per day in October is $89. The cost per day in December is $137. This would be more acceptable if staff were paid for snow days and holidays. -- The staff, on the other hand, are great. Our daughter has been at BS since she was 8 months old. She's been in four rooms now, and has done very well in all of them She takes great naps, and is always happy when we pick her up.

This school does not follow regulations & I was so disappointed on my first day I was told that…read morethey basically only follow rules when their licensing agency was present. This is in regards to wearing gloves & sanitation of tables children eat from!! The administration did not care & never even replied with any type of follow up! Lovely school, but lacking the care and protocols needed to keep children safe & healthy!

We looked everywhere in Sudbury to find the best daycare / preschool for our son, including Next…read moreGeneration Children's Center, Bright Horizons, the LEAP School, Orchard Hill, and Sudbury Children's Learning Center (SCLC). SCLC had the right combination of what I was looking for. I was looking for a program that was NYAEC accredited, but also had a warm, family-type environment. Some of the other options felt too institutional or it seemed to be too strict at the expense of the children having fun. I think SCLC is a little gem! It was a little harder to find, but I'm so glad I did!

This daycare is just fantastic. The director really cares about the kids and the activities are…read moreenriching and creative. The center is always very clean and uncluttered. The have after school activites that allow the parents to really get involved. Definately the best center I have ever had my kids at. Just wish I still lived close enough to use it!

I interviewed about 5 area daycares in early 2015 while pregnant with my first child. The Cottage…read morestood out to me due to their extended staff retention, friendly and patient teachers, community social events, and their offerings of additional activities (karate, swim, yoga, etc). After my first child was born (because you can never predict how it will go), I ended up pushing back my start date and changing it to part time for the first month. They were very accommodating, although I'm sure it was a scramble. They have lived up to everything that was reviewed back when I was interviewing. When I had my second child, I briefly considered hiring a nanny for early morning flexibility and not having to take time off due to child sick days, but I ended up enrolling her at the Cottage because I felt so comfortable with the infant teachers and the school. We remained at the Cottage into 2018 when we moved out of the area, but experienced safe, reliable, and friendly teachers and helpers from infant, toddler, to the 2's classroom. I wouldn't say it is perfect, but the director does her best to communicate changes and any concern I've had was quickly addressed by the teachers and never had to be escalated higher. I would recommend this place to anyone looking for a center based childcare.

Our son was in Mary Jo's daycare in Cambridge and we were thrilled with the care she provided him…read more Under her care, he absolutely thrived. He enjoyed his time at her care tremendously, so much in fact that we often had to drag him out at the end of the day. We believe quality of care and flexibility set Mary Jo apart: Quality of Care: Mary Jo's philosophy of creative play including daily field trips outside to playgrounds, libraries, supermarkets, and local shops has shaped our son into an extroverted, outdoors enthusiast. The regular reading she does with the kids as well as the mix of structured and unstructured play, crafts, and music has really helped our son and many kids in her care thrive over the last 30 years she has been in business. In our research, we found that so many daycares rarely take their kids outside, much less to the variety of public spaces Mary Jo frequents with the kids on a daily basis. This really differentiates her care and makes her daycare an attractive and unique choice for parents that want their kids to be well-rounded, healthy, and more worldly. Flexibility: Unlike other daycares, Mary Jo has much more flexible hours and regularly accommodates parents with irregular schedules. She always adheres to ratio guidelines, but this flexibility has allowed us to work a part-time schedule and drop off our son during doctor's appointments when she has openings. We have not found this to be the case elsewhere and it really sets Mary Jo apart as a family-friendly daycare that thinks of the whole family's needs. Because of the quality of care and flexibility, many families stay with Mary Jo until their kids go off to kindergarten. We also know she had kids come in the afternoons after preschool. It is this kind of loyalty which brought us to Mary Jo's in the first place.

Mary Jo is an amazing day care provider and a beloved neighborhood institution. You couldn't ask…read morefor a more loving, supportive, creative environment for a child's development.

We have been members of the Barn for the past year. As new members of the Acton-Boxborough…read morecommunity, we have loved having our preschool home at the Barn. The curriculum is play-based, the teachers are very nurturing, and the facility is lovely and inspires creative play. My daughter loves the climber inside and the play kitchen. The outdoor play area is so fun for the kids. As a cooperative preschool, my commitment is to work about once a month in the classroom.

Such a terrific school for our young minds. The school is led by teachers with the highest…read moreintegrity and kindness. Art is continually part of units and play is core to the philosophy. As with all co-ops, parent involvement is required and is a great way to build community. Highly recommend.

Let me just say that the toddler mentioned in Dorothy K.'s review (beneath mine) was my 15…read moremonth-old son, who escaped from the playground one day because no one was watching him. The report is on-file with the state. This is the second child they "lost" in a six month period. I recommend that everyone pull-up Knowledge Beginnings compliance reports before enrolling your child here because it's amazing that they're still allowed to operate. I'm guessing that the lack of affordable childcare is the primary reason. My son was enrolled at KB for approximately 13 months, from the age of 3 months - 15 months. 1. Staff turnover is amazing. It seems, on average, new staff last approximately a month. 2. Staff are mostly untrained, some should not be working with children. That's easy enough to figure-out. 3. Center leadership is some of the most unprofessional I've ever witnessed in any context. They do not give you regular updates on your child but will accost you at drop-off in front of teachers, other parents, etc. to tell you where your child is not meeting milestones to "move-up" to the next class. You're then told that they have "four years of experience" so they know a few things. Well, I have a PhD in American Studies, it doesn't make me an expert on the American Revolution. "Four years of experience" is likely a long-weekend at KinderCare School and a few college courses. They do not follow the KinderCare handbook at all. Sick Policy is whatever the whims of the director on-duty are. Example: My child had some loose stool, so he was sent home at 9am. I brought him in the next day and was confronted by the Assistant Director who asked me, "Wasn't he sick yesterday? It's 24 hours." In fact, it's not 24 hours for diarrhea or gastrointestinal issues. If it's contained to their diaper, then he's able to attend. The main issue here is that the week prior, they lost my child on the playground so it was easier to just make excuses to keep him home rather than deal with another child. 4. You will never receive accurate updates about your child. MA State Law says that you have to receive regular (quarterly) reports about your child's development. If you directly ask one of the Center Directors (the alleged professionals), they will never have an answer for you. Ever. Our LO was finally "moved-up" to a toddler room which was a third of a classroom with a teacher who had no business doing any teaching without constant supervision. She couldn't answer the simplest question for any number of reasons. 5. Teacher: Student ratios are a mess. High turnover means that there are never enough teachers to cover the number of students. As a result, kids are moved into age inappropriate settings. My 15 MO was regularly moved to the Infant Room (actual babies) and forced to sleep on the carpet (like an office-style carpet, with the low pile) barricaded by toys so the babies couldn't bother him because he couldn't sleep in one of the designated cribs nor did he have his toddler cot. 6. The late fee is extraordinarily high for a daycare late pick-up fee and the enforcement is a joke. If you arrive at 5:01 PM, $15.00 is added to your tuition bill. For every five minutes, it's $15.00. If you arrive at 5.11, it's $45.00. They round-up because they're so pressed for cash they have to find ways to steal it from you that you can't challenge. For context, our new daycare charges $3.00 and it increases incrementally. 7. They did not report the first lost child in October 2022 to the State nor did they report my child's escape in March 2023 to the State. I had to do that independently. That's the kind of operation you're dealing with that if something catastrophic happens that screams neglect, they will not report it. They will instead call you at 4.55 PM from their cell phone on their way home to tell you about how they almost got your child killed or seriously injured and how sorry they are. I was never asked to sign an incident report, which is a legal requirement, because if that's a liability for them. None of these people should be around children. We had already made plans to remove our child from Knowledge Beginnings in February 2023 with a transition in August, before he escaped from the playground due to staff negligence. Once we moved him, his whole demeanor changed: he was no longer stressed, no longer having daily instances of loose stools, no mysterious bruises that could not be simply from learning to walk or playing with friends, etc. Parents who appear wealthy or who are assumed to be wealthy are catered to at a different level than other parents who do not fit the profile. Finally, anecdotally, during our daycare search, we heard from almost every single daycare we spoke to how problematic Knowledge Beginnings is and how a large number of children have been removed from their care in the last year due to issues around neglect.

I personally had a great experience as well as my son who is very prepared to move on to…read moreKindergarten. My son made great friendships, loves and still misses his teachers from the center. I loved the app and updates received daily. I recommend this center.

This was not the place for us. Perhaps for others, but I did feel as though I was pulling teeth for…read moreinforamtion about what my child was doing every day, and I was never on the same page (to the point of which I was questioning my own memory, sanity, and levels of expectation) when I shouldn't be. I did not feel my child was prioritized, and that our needs were addressed, much less met. Culminating point: our toddler had been at the center for 6 months, during the parent teacher conference, the teacher who was with her during her time there (part-time, 2-3 times a week) told me outright and sans-compassion: I don't know your kid. My feelings were hurt, and I worried about who the onus was on: my child, or the provider who was with her for those 192 (or so) hours? Had she tried? Did she care to do so? There are some elements of the child-care that were nice: low child ratio, environment that is concord, and the Director is in fact a sweetheart, the assistant in the toddler room as well, however with such things at play, how had one of the lead teachers failed to discover my child? If there were automatic capturing of what was happening during the day, (without my likely annoying prodding) I could tell you. That said, I'm sorry it simply wasn't the case. I'm still recovering from how much this experience hurt my feelings, and how I felt my daughters feelings were on some levels ignored as well. I was unnerved and nervous looking for a new provider thinking that perhaps this was how it was everywhere. Fortuantely I found out simply, that was not the case. Our daughter is thriving in an environment that recognizes her unique abillities and talents.

The Children's Meetinghouse is a great preschool/daycare. It's a small operation with very…read morepassionate teachers who have dedicated their lives to early childhood education. It has a very homey feel. With the exception of one teacher, they have all been there for 10+ years and all have degrees in Childhood Education. The location is convenient and picturesque and the hours very accommodating. They offer early drop-off at 7:30AM and late pick-up at 5:30PM. I can't recommend them enough. I have utter confidence in their program and their director. Our son just loves going there.

My son has attended WoodsEdge Children's Center for more than three years -- since he was three…read moremonths old. The care he has received in the infant, toddler and now preschool classroom has been exceptional. He has grown so much due to the talented teachers, the hardworking administrators, the wonderful physical space and the creative approach to a child's first school experience. I highly recommend WoodsEdge to any family who seeks a family atmosphere in a bucolic setting with truly outstanding caregivers.

Woodsedge has been absolutely wonderful. Our daughter just transitioned into the toddler room, and…read morehad such a positive experience while in the infants. Her teachers always provide us with great communication. We love getting the daily reports through the Tadpoles app, and the pictures they send make our day! They always make a point to tell us about her day at pick up, and do a great job letting us know what she needs for school. Most importantly, Our daughter is happy to be at Woodesdge. She walks herself up the stairs every morning, and always has a smile for her teachers. She's made friends in class, and says their names all the time at home! Woodsedge has gone through a lot of transitions recently, but we are happier than ever. We highly recommend it to any parents in search of care for their little one.