I was new to the idea of Montessori when we enrolled my son in the AMA primary classroom this fall…read moreand his growth this year is beyond our wildest dreams. Our son has shown growth both in academic skill but also as a curious and self sufficient young man. It is fantastic to see the Montessori curriculum trickle into other aspects of his life and every day I love the stories he tells about his day. This really was the best place for him and I cannot recommend the staff and teachers more.

Wow, we really didn't know how great we had it at SLMS until we moved and switched daycares. Our…read moredaughter started SLMS at 3 months old and we have loved every second of it. Nancy is the lead teacher in the infant classroom and she is amazing. We were new parents at the time and didn't really know what we were doing. Nancy helped us navigate the newborn phase by answering all our questions and gave us advice and resources. Unfortunately, we moved when our daughter was about 20 months old. SLMS was all that we knew at the time so when we began the search for other daycares, there was a HUGE difference in teaching philosophies, cleanliness, and just quality of care. Just a few things I appreciated/noticed at SLMS compared to other schools/daycares: - The infant and toddler classrooms have indoor and outdoor shoes which is great for cleanliness and germs. - The Montessori philosophy teaches them independence. They have self service breakfast every morning in the toddler classroom. Many other daycares do not. I know our daughter misses that. - Many of the other daycares will disrupt the class for parents to tour the school (which i did NOT like). I remember at SLMS, the administration was very cognizant of not disrupting the classes which is exactly how it should be. There are tinted windows so if parents want to see their kids interact or for tours, they are not distracting the students. These are just a few of the things that separate SLMS from the others. While tuition is expensive, it is worth it. We definitely miss the staff and school. SLMS really spoiled us and now we can only hope to find a school of similar caliber where we are.

When we first enrolled our son at Kids and Co the staff and director, Vanessa were amazing but…read morethings got very bad when the owners decided to merge the Harrison location and another location. The original staff took time to do activities with kids and teach them manners and work on developing their milestones. After the merger the new staff were extremely neglectful and lazy at their jobs. Things got so bad the original staff who had worked there for years were all gone within a month. I feel bad for Vanessa the wonderful environment she had worked to create was destroyed by the greed of the owners and the children suffered for it. After the old staff had all left we noticed a dramatic change in our son. He was once talkative and engaging but with the new staff after coming home he would be very quiet and still for an hour before he began interacting with us. We started paying more attention to the cameras and we saw the staff were locking up all the kids in seats with seat belts over an hour before closing time!!! We brought this up and they made excuses like "the kids want to run around while I'm cleaning". So we immediately removed our son. He has since been thriving at his new pre-school. One of the other parents who took longer to leave the school said her son started coming home saying swear words. Our son has been in a new preschool for a few months now and is happy and thriving.

Poor leadership, They have an app ,But it is hardly used by the staff .And with the holidays…read morecoming, The staff is suggesting not to come before and after Christmas, I mean 1 people have to work 2 what are we paying for .

The British International School of Chicago - South Loop is one of Chicago's premier private…read moreinstitutions. It provides an exceptional international educational curriculum with a strong emphasis on math, literature /writing and the sciences, community and global citizenship, an amazing arts program through a partnership with Julliard, sports programs and a variety of clubs and after school programs that fit every child's needs. The British School of Chicago -South Loop stands behind their mission to ensure that all children succeed. The children are challenged to meet their full potential and the school offers educational and emotional support to children that may need a little additional help.. The school also offers many social opportunities for the children and families through evening activities & outings, dances and educational workshops. The British International School of Chicago - South Loop will provide your child with the best well - rounded eduation to prepare your them to compete globally.

Our children attended British International School for 4 years. Every year's gotten worse and we…read morefinally decided to leave last year. Think long and hard if you want your child to attend this school. On the surface, it all appears great. However, its a for profit school and its all about money. If you have lots of money, your child will be treated great. If you don't, well not so much. Most concerning is that there is a fair amount of bullying in the school on various levels: bullying between peers but also there are numerous instances of teachers bullying students. Strategically, they have been trying to build up their high school for a long time. It has not been a very successful effort and now they have resorted to manipulating grades (artificially deflating grades) to ensure children cannot easily transfer. NOTE: School's grading system is not easy to understand and its not consistent across classes or teachers independent of student's actual knowledge. If you have other viable option, don't give a second thought to this school. Run away!!!

I had been eyeing this facility since I was pregnant. I was super excited to hear they had a spot…read moreavailable in mid-Feb. I immediately set up a tour with my little one. My husband wasn't able to come in-person, but I was able to video call him in for part of the tour. My son has been going here for almost 3 months now, so I feel a bit comfortable making this review. This review is only for the infant room 1 and geneal policies. The waitlist is free. The school requires two notice if you want to withdraw your child from their institution. You have to place a $500 deposit. This secures your child's spot and is returned once you provide the school 2 weeks' notice at the time of withdrawal. Mrs Maria is the lead teacher in Room 1. The other 3 teachers rotate in/out daily. The classroom is shoeless, or parents will have to wear booties inside the classroom. Each child has their own crib, cubby, slot in the fridge, and diaper/wipes cubby. Parents supply all food for the infant classroom. Parents supply diapers and wipes. Please note once your child enrolls in the toddler room, 15 months and up meals will be provided. All updates are communicated through the brightwheel app. Unfortunately, Rainforest does not use the brightwheel app for the toddler up rooms. From my understanding, parents are given updates on a sheet shared weekly, I believe. I will find out more once my little guy transitions in the next month. I will update my Yelp review to include the toddler room updates. Taylor, the director, and Veronica, the assistant, are usually the ones to communicate updates and will answer any questions! They are usually the ones communicating any health updates as they do not add those in the brightwheel app. My son has some sensory components, music, and Spanish language lessons weekly. Since he is mobile now, he can go to the playroom and crawl around. If the weather permits, the kiddos go outside for a bit to the park in the area and/or stroller. I wish they shared when what days they go out and pictures of them at the park. I receive a weekly newsletter with pictures of the babies in room 1. Infant full-time tuition $2980 Toddler Full-time $2750 Toddler Part-time MWF - $2150 Toddler Part-time T&Th- $1720 What I love about this place is the open door policy!!! During the warmer months, the facility restricts drop-offs from 9-11 am because the kiddos are outside. It makes scheduling doctors' appointments a breeze! They are also very flexible with allowing therapist onsite. When I message them that we are on our way to pick up my child, they have him ready with a clean diaper!!!!!! I have a few issues with this facility. There is no nursing/lactation room. They have a staff bathroom, but you don't want to feed your child in there. The one time I had a virtual appointment because I wanted to include the lead teacher, we had to do it in the lobby. Taylor explained they had testing go on, so I couldn't use the office. So they don't have much space, although the facility is pretty big. Health updates about my son are communicated verbally, which can be confusing when speaking with various staff. My son is continously sick! They change the sheets weekly, which I think they should do it daily!

My husband and I were texting this morning, as we often do after drop off and pick up, and we…read moredecided we need to share our appreciation for Pamala and Jen, the school as a whole, and the incredible team of caregivers in room 6- Ms. Ally, Ms DeAnna & Ms. Tomiya. Our Dorothy (Dottie/Dot) is 1.5 years old and about 3 months in as a student. Ms. Ally gets a special shout out for her morning routine with our girl. Dottie was working through some typical separation anxiety and morning after morning, Ms. A takes the time to meet Dottie and comfort her and remind her how much fun and love she will experience throughout the day. Chris and I both started new jobs the same week that Dot started at Rainforest so our plates were full but every one was on Team Dottie to help make the transition seamless (initial daycare germs are tough but you have to build the immune system when you can right?!). Ms. Deanna gives me awesome updates every afternoon and Dottie loves to blow her kisses goodbye- I can tell they are great friends! Ms. Tomiya greets all of us with a wide smile and open arms. It's magic! Dottie now runs through the hallway to get to her room and her friends. Dottie and I started off on a tough path when she was born a little early, a little small and very emergent. The first time I went back to work was incredibly hard on me and I didn't know if I would be able to handle a career that I've always wanted as a mom, but Rainforest, the team and Rm 6 has not only given me the opportunity to go back to work to help others at my new job with United Way of Metro Chicago, but has given our whole family the peace of mind to shine and grow. Just last weekend we moved apartments and 19 month old Dot started wearing glasses- again the support has been spot on and the transition tears few. She's a specs-wearing CHAMP already and loves the new (shorter!) walk to school. Rainforest is creative, the food smells delicious as they prepare fresh meals every day and there is so much love that this Mom and Dad 's cup runneth over. Daycare is a tough choice, we are so thankful we clearly made the right one.

Kimberly, the owner, was not the most kind person. Seems to brush a lot of important issues to the…read moreside. Pretty chaotic energy from the start of the day.

We visited A Child's Place shortly before the pandemic and decided to move forward for Infant…read moreDaycare services. This was prior to our daughter being born in December of 2019. As such, we submitted our deposit of 1 month's tuition which is over $2,000. The plan was to start in April. When ready to start, everything began to close due to the lockdown. By time Child's Place re-opened, we had found alternative daycare option, though we figured we would take advantage at some point during the year so we didn't lose our money. Ultimately, they were never open and/or didn't have space that aligned with our needs. Rather than working with us to refund our deposit in-full or partial, A Child's Place gave us a runaround, went to their board, and ultimately decided they would take our money and not look back, with no services rendered. That's their prerogative, but not the type of business I would want to work with. They may be good with children, but have dishonest business practices.

I can't say enough great things about Ivy Garden South Loop. I enrolled both my boys there starting…read moreat 2 months old. The care they received at every stage was phenomenal. The teachers were very warm. The curriculum is challenging and stimulating. The parent community is supportive. My kids really thrived at IG, and we will always be thankful for this opportunity.

Incredibly caring teachers and admins who helped my 2 boys thrive and prepared my oldest to…read moresuccessfully get into a selective enrollment elementary school (which I hope my youngest will follow on his brother's footsteps). High quality food to nurture the body along with the mind. They have been amazing for my family.

Absolutely wonderful school! We had both of our children at ITAV - before and during COVID. Our son…read morestarted at ITAV at 3 months and was there until kindergarten. Our daughter started at 4 months and spent 2 years at River City. This is an amazing and truly unique daycare. The teachers are the absolute best! Both of our children are reading at levels well beyond their ages. The entire staff is fantastic. Special recognition for Ms. TeKay, Ms. Michelle, Ms. Tabitha, Ms. Shirley - honestly, too many names to remember all the great teachers - as these teachers were so instrumental in helping to raise our children. I would recommend ITAV to anyone. Thank you!

Our 2 children (Ages 2 & 4 now) were at ITAV since they were both toddlers, and we have had a great…read moreexperience overall (we moved away from Chicago). I would give them a 4.5* overall. Pros: * The education is top-notch. Only through comparison with what other daycares are learning in our new city now did we realize how much advanced the content our 4yo was learning compared to other schools. My kids know so many random facts and songs they never cease to amaze me. * In addition to reading, writing, math, the focus on the project based arts and sciences is really nice and appreciated. They teach Spanish. Again, many daycares I visited didn't have the volume of student projects hanging up. * The add-ons (they do cost $$$ like $300 per 10-weeks) offered like karate, violin, basketball, are pretty unique to ITAV and convenient. * The final icing on the cake is they recently started Field Trips, which no other daycare we visited does. * They feed lunch and snack, which not all daycares offer lunch, though taste quality highly varies on this :). * Teachers know the kids' names from all classrooms pretty quickly which is a nice touch. Cons: * The biggest issue that other 1* reviews highlighted, is that your kid will have about an incident report monthly, and sometimes a scratch or bump that no one noticed. My 2yo lost a tooth at daycare and they had no clue how. I can't say if this is above or below average, as kids get into accidents was always our assumption and we are now just starting them in their new daycare. Most incidents happen end of day during pickup, when they're put into a general playroom that often are not their primary teachers, with a lot higher student:teacher ratio. So if you want to avoid the accidents, pick up your kids in that 4:30-5pm window before their main teachers leave. * There is noticed staff and teacher turnover. This hasn't affected the quality of care for our kids, but I have talked with the teachers who left and they've uniformly cited that ITAV does not pay their teachers well - assistant teachers are paid @ $12/hr and lead @ $19/hr as of 2018, so teachers will leave. That's something the teachers and the owner needs to work out, but from the parents' side, they interview candidates well and have consistently good teachers so for us we don't dock them for that in our rating, but I'm providing the info here as FYI. Overall, I would have no hesitation putting your child into ITAV and you'd get a top-tier education and can easily avoid the physical accidents issue by picking up earlier.

While a move took us away quite some time ago, forcing us to find a new, northside day care. I…read morewanted to circle back and leave some kind words for South Loop Kindercare. Not only did the entire infant and then toddler team show professionalism and support, they also showed compassion and love. My experience with the South Loop Kindercare made me realize just why they have been in the childcare game for so long.

awful, my 2 year old son was left crying in a corner when I picked him up and burning up with…read morefever. Never again!

If you are in need of wonderful childcare in the South Loop, then the Nook is the best place to go…read more Their staff is fantastic and our 10-month old son absolutely loves coming in every day. They are attentive to his needs and we trust them taking care of him. They post up to date reports of how/what he's doing each day from the naps he takes and food he eats, to when he goes to the bathroom. They post at least 2-3 pictures everyday of him doing various activities or playing with other kids. It's very calming and reassuring to know what he's doing during the day. It's a small place, so we know he's getting personalized attention. They use the "Brightwheel" app and if we ever have questions, we can send them a message and they'll respond right away. They also reach out immediately if they think something is wrong. One time our son was running a bit of a fever, so they were in contact immediately with us to let us know what was going on. There was another instance when Annette told us that she noticed he was wheezing towards the end of the day. Turned into a trip to the hospital that night, but she caught it right away with her watchful eye. Annette and her staff are doing such a great job at the Nook. We have already recommended this place to some of our friends who have recently had children and will continue to do so in the future.

The service was great. Lots changed when Sylvia relocated to another facility…read more My children required consistency and there was a time where teachers were changing too frequently. The price to pay for such a smaller childcare center is the same price as the large two story daycare center down the street; which has a rooftop playground, elevators, community events and nice sized classrooms. I would recommend but if you have other options, I would second this one due to pricing.

Our oldest was at D2D for a little over a year and it was a great experience so when we needed care…read morefor our younger child, we thought of them immediately. The teachers are great about sending videos and pictures throughout the day so you can track how your child is doing. They have made some recent upgrades to the space, including a nice large indoor play space and a new library. And I think they take kids outside every day if the weather permits. In terms of price, D2D is comparable to similar child care centers in the area. And the peace of mind you get from knowing that your babies are being taken care of is priceless.

Sadly this place has really taken a turn for the worst. Staffing shortages and teacher turnover,…read morepoor management, leadership and communication, and many of the beloved teachers being stretched beyond their capacity to provide cover for said poor management and turnover. My daughter started there at 3 months in the baby class, and progressed through 3 rooms, to the 2 year classroom. Ms. Kenecia, Ms. Jackie, Amr, Ms Gladys, and Ms.Charlotte who care for babies up to 2 years are all fantastic. Loving, attentive, caring and communicative. We never had an issue until we arrived at the 2 year old classroom, and experienced two instances of neglect and verbal abuse of our daughter. We addressed the first incident with the director, and a teacher was moved out of the room. Then, we continued to see new teachers in our kids classroom and they'd never introduce themselves and we were never notified. Multiple parents voiced concerns, we started to have teacher bios printed on the doors, but those would not cover the revolving door of additional teachers we'd see every week. Some days we'd drop our daughter off and there was 2 teachers for multiple classrooms at 830a, nearly an hour after they opened. The last straw was another parent alerting us to a teacher yelling at our child outside and telling her to "shut up" and "stop crying" and that "she was the problem." She's 2 years old! We, along with many parents, reached out to the director following this and though she verbally communicated her apology, she did not speak to either the teacher who yelled at my daughter nor the teacher that was present. We've reached out to the regional manager to also voice our concerns but made the decision to pull our daughter out of the school because at this point we are concerned for her wellbeing. Parents beware.