The quality of food, communication and Montessori philosophy is exceptional. You get music, diaper…read moreservice, and quality snacks and lunches which are all included in the tuition. The 6 year old reviews are hard to understand and believe they exaggerated for whatever reason. We've been with Child Garden since 2020 during covid and beyond since 2024. Take a tour and see for yourself.

We have had our two children at Child Garden Montessori for 7+ years and I can't say enough good…read morethings about it. The teachers are committed, loving, and our kids have received the best care. The new leadership is dedicated to making sure all kids receive the best experience and they have worked with us through special needs and challenging periods, making special accommodations when necessary. We have toured other facilities from time to time as I have changed jobs and the location is no longer convenient for my commute, but we have always found that no other child care facility we've seen holds a candle to what our kids receive at Child Garden. We love the facility itself - the full gym is amazing, the meals are great, but it's the love, care, and practical Montessori-based instruction they provide that makes such a difference. We couldn't be happier.

I sent two children through the Normandale Preschool program and would recommend it to anyone -…read moregreat teachers, great program, flexable with extra hours, like lunch and afternoons. The teachers have all been there for a long time which, to me, says a lot about their dedication to the kids and the program. My son is now in 6th grade and his best freinds are still ones he met at Normandale Preschool!

We have absolutely loved our twins' experience at Primrose! From the moment we walked in, we felt…read morethe genuine family atmosphere that makes this school so special. The teachers provide such attentive, heartfelt care, and it's clear they truly know and value each child as an individual. The curriculum has been outstanding--engaging, age-appropriate, and thoughtfully designed to support both academic and social-emotional growth. We've watched our twins grow in confidence, independence, and curiosity, and we couldn't be more grateful for the teachers who guide them every day. Communication with staff has also been wonderful. We always feel informed, supported, and welcomed as partners in our children's learning. We are so thankful for the positive, nurturing, and enriching environment they've created. Our twins are thriving, and we couldn't imagine a better place for their growth and learning!

Best early childhood learning center ever! Wouldn't want my kids to go anywhere else!read more

Our son has been at this location for 9 months and it has been a joy! He loved his infant teachers…read moreso much and is really enjoying his older infant/young toddler class. He is always smiling at pick up and I am always excited to witness what he's learning. The team from drop off to pick up seems to truly care about him and every student.

We started sending my three-year-old son to Step-by-Step in October, against my husband's horror at…read morethe cost. It soon became apparent, however, that you get what you pay for, and I would gladly sell various internal organs (either my own or those of others) to keep him here. Bottom line, they teach kids to be independent and to love to learn, and as a teacher myself, this is THE most important lesson.

My daughter (now 3 1/2) started at Small World when she was just over year and a half. We…read moretransferred from a subpar center and immediately saw a difference with Small World. At the time, in the toddler room, Miss Haley became my daughter's role model and while we've moved on to the Pre-School room, she continues to speak highly of Miss Haley. The director's have excellent communication and have been more than patient with my concerns regarding the occasional scratch or bite that came from one of her friends, have been extremely patient with my many schedule changes and have more flexibility than I could ever imagine. Small World is and continues to be a major part in our lives and we couldn't be more grateful!

I would recommend that no one put their child in this daycare. There's plenty of other good ones…read moreout there with a reasonable management team. We had my now almost 2 year old daughter in Small World Learning Center for just over 3 months. The teachers were really great and everyone seemed to love her. I don't have any issues with the curriculum or the way she was treated during her short time at SWLC. The problem I have, and it's a big problem, is with the management. My daughter was unfairly and unjustly terminated from SWLC on the spot last Tuesday, because of an argument that I got into with the director over their COVID 19 policy. They had an issue with the way I responded to them over the phone, and their emotionally charged response, and way to say "I'll show you," was to terminate my daughter with zero notice. This by the way is ironic considering that they want 2 weeks notice to do anything there, but they could care less about how inconvenient it is for the parents when they make last minute decisions. About five days prior to her unfair termination, my daughter had come down with a cough, which she undoubtedly caught from daycare (we don't really take her anywhere else that would've exposed her). This was on a Thursday, and typically she attends Tuesday through Thursday, so fortunately we had several days for her to get well before she was scheduled to go back. I figured it was just a run-of-the-mill virus that children typically come down with and not the Corona virus. We decided to take her to the doctor on Monday just to be safe. Sure enough, they suggested we do a COVID test, and so we did. We kept her out of daycare on Tuesday and found out that afternoon that her results were negative. I did not feel the need to tell the daycare that she was sick, because I did not want them to overreact, especially knowing that she did NOT have Corona virus. She attended daycare on Wednesday and it was just an ordinary day. On Thursday when she was brought in her mother decided to tell them that we had taken her to the doctor for a cough where she took a COVID test returning negative results. Kaila (one of the directors) said that it was fine and to just have the doctor fax over the test results, which we did. Kaila was clearly unaware of their own policy, a policy which she would later flaunt and note my failure to comply, because she called me 3 hours hours later to tell me that even though my daughter had tested negative, she would have to stay home for 14 days! This made me furious, because both her mother and I work, and this was going to be very difficult to accommodate. To me this makes absolutely no sense, and on top of that they still wanted to charge us for the days they were going to force her to stay home. I found out shortly after that the policy said 10 days after initial COVID symptoms, of which she really had none except for a wet (not dry) cough, so they still didn't know what they were talking about. Apparently they had decided to follow the COVID decision making tree set forth by the state of Minnesota only now. Had she known this policy, she would have denied my daughter entry into the daycare that morning, but she didn't. It couldn't have been that important since this was brought up after the fact. I exchanged a few words with them and hotly expressed my dissatisfaction, saying that we never would've told them had we known they were going to do this. I was working while she called me, but I called about 45 minutes later to discuss the policy and Rachel (one of the other dictators) answered with "are you outside?" I replied that I was at work and that I couldn't get her. She told me I only had an hour to pick her up, which was news to me because in our initial conversation absolutely nothing was said about picking her up early that day. I said her mother would have to get her and asked (somewhat sarcastically, I'll admit. I still wasn't happy about this) what would happen if we didn't get her. She replied that they would start calling emergency contacts. Fine. Our daughter was picked up by her mother about 1 hour and 20 minutes after the initial phone call. When she picked her up she met by one of the teaching staff who had all of our daughters belongings and she was informed that this would be her last day. Kaila (the director) did not even have the common decency, or courtesy to come out and tell her herself. We were completely shocked. It is ethically wrong to terminate a child because their parent has an issue with the policy. I am considering pursuing legal action against SWLC. They have also had issues regarding pay with multiple other people. The only thing that seems to matter to them is money. Had they not had someone lined up to take her spot, they would not have expelled my daughter, but they did and they would have no lapse in tuition. Bottom line: do not mess with this place. Take your children elsewhere.

Joe and Judy have been incredible! We enrolled our daughter right when the center opened, and we…read morehave been so happy with the results. She is building confidence in her math skills, and she likes attending her math sessions. We love the small setting and the amount of one-on-one support she gets. Thanks so much!

I think the teachers have a lot of heart and are doing their best, but it appears there are…read moremanagement issues. I don't know if they aren't well organized or just cheap, but they don't put their resources where they would benefit the children the most. My stepson was here for just under a year. I am guessing this is a corporate issue and not specific to this Minnetonka location, because my sister in law has had similar concerns at the Eagan location. Again, the staff is good, but they are overworked and underpaid (and shouldn't be, for the amount this place charges!)

Wow, surprised no one has reviewed this school yet. Especially since it's officially the number 1…read moreschool in the state. My daughter has been to 3 school in her life, and DES is by far the best. The teachers are very good at communicating with the parents. You can tell that the students education is a passion for them. I'm also glad to say that so for they haven't pushed any political agendas here as well. The kids are allowed to be kids. My daughter is very happy. Highly recommend this school.