When I first talked to Varsity Tutors I was skeptical because it's online. However, I decided to…read moretry it because it was webinar based and my class was small (3 people, eventually 2). I got a very flexible instructor Marcela from Mexico City currently residing in the Midwest to teach Spanish. She had such a jovial disposition and a good understanding of not just her native language and culture but ours. She pointed out what words or phrases no one uses and easier ways to say things. We wrote, we spoke, we learned. I'd love to do it again. I just hope my instructor is Marcela. The next person has very big shoes to fill. The courses are twice a week for an hour and a half for 8 weeks. They're fun but there is no syllabus and your learning is catered to you not a piece of paper.

For my first session, the tutor was 20 minutes late to the online session. She did not introduce…read moreherself or provide clear explanations or expectations. She was distracted and disengaged. She seemed to be looking at something online that was unrelated to the tutoring session. I ended the session early because it was unproductive. I do not trust this organization to hire tutors of quality after this experience. They refused to provide me with a refund, even though this experience was terrible.

My daughter Kloee is a junior, and like many parents, I was feeling the pressure of SAT prep. I did…read morea quick Google search for tutors in Austin, and a few names popped up. I reached out, and Andre got back to me the very next day with a professional and detailed email explaining his process and how he works with students. What really stood out to me was that he doesn't just jump into tutoring--he starts with an initial assessment to understand where the student is, then builds a plan from there. I'll be honest--at first we were a little unsure because we hadn't realized he had moved during the pandemic and now does sessions online. But I'm so glad I went with my gut. From the very first session, it was clear that Andre truly cares about his students. He was patient, encouraging, and explained things in a way that made sense to Kloee. She even told me she liked how he used real-life examples to help her connect the dots. After just about two months of working with him, Kloee's score went up by 220 points -- especially in math, where she saw the biggest improvement. We were beyond proud of her, and I know Andre played a huge role in that. We're planning to continue with him this summer to focus more on reading and writing so she can boost her score even more for the August SAT. If you're looking for a tutor who is responsive, thoughtful, and really knows how to connect with students, I can't recommend Andre enough. He was the perfect fit for us!

Los Amigitos is absolutely magical. The combination of nature, Spanish, music, community and values…read morereally couldn't be better. Plus, the team is so thoughtful about the curriculum, pushing the kids to learn in creative, authentic ways. My son comes home every day exhausted. When I open his lunchbox, I am always surprised to find a new object or new type of dirt in there. To me, that variety signals a variety in experience and a freedom to explore. His Spanish skills have blossomed since joining the school, he does some pretty advanced yoga moves, and he is now an expert on olive trees (due to his recent presentation on the topic!) Overall, I feel so grateful that this place is in my community and that it's part of our life. If you have the chance to send your kid here, you really shouldn't miss it.

After researching, interviewing, and visiting almost every Spanish immersion preschool/kindergarten…read morein the Central & North Austin area, we finally settled on Los Amiguitos. One year later, we know we made the right decision and feel lucky to have been part of such an amazing school. Lila and her staff approach early childhood education from an emotional intelligence standpoint that aligns with our attitudes and understanding of how every child deserves to be treated. This approach fosters creativity and autonomy in children, while also supporting their budding relationships with both people and nature. The classroom education at Los Amiguitos is only used to enhance what is learned in the outdoor classroom. Our son, who has a natural need to move while learning, was able to remain in-tune with what his body was feeling and to not suppress it in order to follow arbitrary classroom etiquette. We also believe this improved his ability to recognize and communicate his own boundaries while interacting with classmates and teachers. Childhood safety was addressed early and maintained throughout the year. This was very important for us. Not surprisingly, the community that gravitates towards Los Amiguitos is full of like-minded parents, who value the same pedagogical preferences for their children. After 15 years in Austin, we made more friends in the one year that our son was at Los Amiguitos than we did the 14 years previous . We credit this to the fact that, not only did the school attract like-minded parents, but it also provided activities that gave us the opportunity to meet and interact with the school's families inside and outside of the classroom. The highlight activity of the year for us was a campout trip that most of the school took. We did nature walks, campfire sing-alongs, potluck cookouts, and star gazing. We found that the children mostly spoke English to each other at school, but every child-teacher interaction takes place in Spanish. This means that, although Spanish production isn't the primary emphasis of the school, Spanish intake and comprehension remained consistent, which enables our son to converse more or less naturally when spoken to in Spanish. Seeing our child flourish in nature while building up his social skills, especially after coming out of isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic, was exactly what we needed and we found it in Lila's school. We are very grateful to her and to the wonderful teachers -- Natalia, Gabriela, Andrea. We highly recommend Los Amiguitos to parents looking for an excellent nature-based, Spanish immersion school for their children.

We are so thankful for the prep! We moved from NY a year ago and started at the bee cave location…read moreand then switched to dripping springs once our house was built! The school is beautiful and new and kept clean. Each class has a lot of natural light which is important to me. They have a cafeteria for the older kids and a technology room with fun activities. They also have many big outdoor spaces for the kids to play and each space is for a certain age group. The staff at both locations are the biggest reason that we love the prep. All of the teachers are welcoming, warm, friendly and smart! The pre k and kinder teachers have been great as well and seem like they take great pride in what they do! Lastly the administration staff is amazing and easy to talk to! I love them anD again am so grateful for these amazing people who take care of my precious babies!!

Can't say enough praise for this place. We were so nervous to put our first child in daycare…read moreanywhere, even at 12 months. We were worried it was "too soon" and he "wasn't ready", but really it was us who were scared, our little boy LOVED the teachers and the other kids pretty much instantly. He's been there a year now and in the morning when we ask him if he wants to go to school he says "cool! cool!" (for school) and gets his PREP t-shirt and points to the letters on the front. He recognized that's his school shirt! I have to start at the top and say that the current manager there, Brittany, is hands down the best at her job (and we're talking now having seen her handle the pandemic shutdown and reopening and masks and all this craziness). Through it all, and all the personnel changes, Britanny never drops the ball when it comes to the care of the kids OR prompt responses to the parents with literally ANY concerns (for example, when my little one has a diaper rash problem for a few days, I literally call and ask them to put certain creams on in a certain order and then I'll even double check throughout the day and ask them to randomly check his diaper, etc etc - if you're reading this and think I'm crazy, you're not a mom :) - but seriously it's never even a bother. They're SO NICE at the front office. They totally understand my concerns and they TRULY want the kids to be happy. FACILITIES - clean (really clean!), new, modern TOYS - constantly introducing new toys/books/age-appropriate learning materials ACTIVITIES - they do SO MUCH stuff that I can't possibly even think of replicating at home. From outdoor play, to art projects, to sing-alongs and racing games... MANAGEMENT - just excellent. As I said, while some people have come and gone, everyone in the front office is always kind and responsive, and Brittany, the manager, runs a tight ship. I'm clearly overprotective (as you can tell by this review, I'm sure :) And I've never once had a situation where I thought Brittany wasn't 100% on it or ahead of it. TEACHERS - all have been really sweet! Again, some have been young college students here for the summer that went back to school, so there's some transition (which is totally normal for this business) but to their credit, from day one, all the teachers were really friendly and caring and responsive to my many many questions. (how long did my boy nap today?what did he eat? what are his favorite sing along songs? etc etc). Can't say I didn't like a single one. We literally had some very good reasons to MOVE out of state, and the top thing BOTH my husband and I instantly said was "not till all our kids finish daycare here! No way are we going to a different daycare". That's how strongly we feel that the PREP is just awesome...and our second kid will be starting there soon! If anything, wish I started them BOTH sooner..but you know, new mom guilt :)

Echoing another reviewer who compared this to Habibi's Hutch--only in my opinion better: way…read moresmaller (Habibi's Hutch has grown to massive enrollment), homier, calmer. AP is owned/operated by the most loving, caring, warm couple who are native/long-time Austinites. After only nine months my 2.5yo, who had no prior Spanish exposure, is speaking entirely in Spanish to them. AP is casual, with no strict dropoff or pickup times, and with long hours to accommodate busy parents. Kids are outside almost all the time playing in *shaded* space (surprisingly rare among preschools we toured), and they come home a little dirty and covered in paint, just the way I'd want it.

Academia is a wonderful Spanish immersion daycare in Austin that feels like a home away from home…read morefor our son! The teachers are incredibly caring and create a safe, warm environment where children feel free to be themselves. They really let the kids explore and play outdoors, making nature a big part of everyday learning. It's a place where kids can get messy, try new things, and develop a love for discovery--all while picking up Spanish naturally. Academia is a gem for parents who want a nurturing space for their little ones to grow and learn!

I am so happy we found Mi Casita! The Austin daycare scene is so competitive and I was overwhelmed…read morewith where to start. We were so lucky to get our 2 year old into the school - from day one I have had 100% confidence not just in the level of care they provide, but also in their commitment to my Childs education. She is thriving, learning, and so happy to go to school every day. It's a wonderful, tight-knit community of families with plenty of opportunities for us to connect with other parents and staff throughout the year. We've been so amazed by the immense impact the Montessori approach has made in our child's independence, language skills (both Spanish and English) and compassion.

This may be a long review but will be honest for the East location…read more We were with MiCasita East for 3 months before pulling our 2 daughters due to a safety concern. This was a new location and wouldn't recommend going through the growing pains. I am giving 2 stars because I was grateful that they took our daughters in last minute (after Los Amiguitos on MLK unexpectedly delayed when they would be able to start our daughter). The teacher who spoke English and Spanish was let go which was really when I started to notice that they weren't doing much with the kids. It was more of a daycare vibe where teachers just watched the kids and made sure they stayed alive. The only teacher who ever engaged in conversation and did cool activities like had the kids help set up bird feeds. The kids are changed anywhere and everywhere. I didn't agree with this personally because of sanitary purposes and as someone with a childcare background, I believe it's important for children to have a designated bathroom place to make that connection. Especially when it's time to potty train. We had started shortly after they opened. So their playground was still under construction. There was ZERO shade at first. Kids spend 2-3 hours in hot weather. Some days the HI was as high as 103. They quit doing water play for like a month when it started to get hotter. When I brought this up to Jackie, the director, she dismissed me and stated there were no guidelines for weather according to licensing. My daughters wouldn't eat at school because of how much the heat affected them. Mosquitoes and flies are a huge issue here even though they have pest control. This is an issue if you have a child who is more reactive to mosquitoes bites. My daughter would come home with what looked like marbles under her skin from the bites due to her reaction to mosquitoes. My 3.5 year old came home learning more English than Spanish. Most parents here are only English speaking so they place their kids here in hopes they will learn Spanish. It was hard on my older daughter as there were no other children who spoke Spanish. As far as I knew from what I was told, we were the only Spanish speaking household. So if you're of Hispanic background and looking for a Spanish program, this isn't the place. What was our deciding factor? I got a call from them that my youngest daughter had a fever of 102.4. I picked her up within the hour. The HI was 103. When I got there she was outside with the rest of the children in the heat. I brought this up to Jackie, and again she dismissed me and made it seem like it wasn't a big deal. She stated they were short handed and she had went to lunch so she had my daughter go with the rest of the kids and that she had her water bottle. Apparently my daughter's health wasn't more important than a lunch break. Child care licensing states that a child that is sick and sent home needs to be isolated from other children to reduce the chances of an outbreak. So they also broke licensing regulations. My daughter came back positive with COVID. No letter was sent out to the rest of the parents regarding a positive case (especially since they refused to isolate her). This was obviously a concern as it made me wonder what illnesses they were exposing my kids to as well. After that incident is when we pulled our girls shortly after securing another spot elsewhere. I never received an apology for Jackie not being respectful of my daughter's health even though I mentioned this was the reason why. Absolutely no cares given.

Dr. Liz Ghini is a rock star instructor! U of Chicago PhD, bachelor's in math from Stanford, 99th…read morepercentile test taker for both GRE and GMAT ... and yet she's humble and friendly! Very patient instruction, the course materials are as thorough it gets, and online materials are very useful as well. If you want to crack the 700s on your verbal and quant sections of the GRE, go with Manhattan. They will be offering "New GRE" courses this summer and they also offer online options if you can't attend class in-person. The GMAT course is also excellent. HOT TIP: use promo code ATXGRE for $100 off enrollment.

I agree with Erik's review. Hastings Wyman was an excellent instructor. He was extremely…read moreenthusiastic, helpful, and entertaining. The course is very interactive, and Hastings tried to get everybody involved to solve problems together. Although this course is one of the most expensive I've seen, I think it's worth it. Not only do you receive a ridiculously large amount of study materials, you have access to Manhattan GMAT's online resources. Their online student system is very user-friendly, and they are extremely quick to respond to inquiries. I would definitely recommend this prep course to students who are serious about taking the GMAT and enrolling in business school.

I have been going to get plants at Clifton for over a year now. I won't go anywhere else... EVER…read more The plants here are amazing, well-cared for and the place is gorgeous. Clayton is helpful, is willing to spend as much time as you need teaching you about how to care for your plant and will even teach you how to "splice" them correctly to grow more! Because this is a school for kiddos who might not obtain employment otherwise, you not only leave here with a super awesome assortment of plants at AMAZING prices, you leave here knowing you're supporting a really great program and a super wonderful group of kids that are so proud of their work! Clayton's students can even help with landscaping! Go, do the right thing, get a great deal and leave with a smile on your face that comes, not only from the tremendous amount of money left over in your pocket from the purchase of gorgeous plant life, but from the really awesome thing you just did for a group that truly deserves a "great job" or "thank you so much!" and a chance that might not be given otherwise.

I was a student there and the school is great I liked the teachers there they teach you laundry…read moreskills, job skills and even a computer class and a family class did not think I took that class and what is the coolest class is the Shirt making class where you learn how to work a printing press if you are in H.S. you will want to check out this school