I can not express in this review how much I love and appreciate the quality education my daughter…read morehas received at Stepping Stones. My daughter loves going to school, and knows more at 2 than I did at 5 or 6. She knows her alphabet, can count to thirty, has begun to spell words, her vocabulary is off the charts, she comes home every day with interesting crafts, and singing Bible songs. While my wife and I try to create a learning environment in our home, I really think most of the credit should go to the school. It all starts with the principal Jan Banks. She makes a point of learning every child's name, and greeting them when they come through the doors every morning. Jan clearly loves her job, and creates a positive environment for the students, parents, and teachers. She often dresses up in crazy outfits on days when the school holds parties to celebrate holidays. The teachers and daycare teachers are nothing short of amazing. My wife and I adored my daughter's teachers, Sherry and Monica, and the daycare teachers Emily and Taylor. We trust them implicitly to keep our daughter safe while we are at work. They've done an amazing job of fostering her intellectual growth, and I suspect her next teachers will as well. There is a theme every year, and the school creates learning activities around that theme. This past year, the school brought in a school bus, fire engine, ambulance, a train of some sort, and several other vehicles to discuss transportation. Over the summer, they brought a dentist to school to discuss the importance of oral care, and my daughter came home with a toothbrush and toothpaste. The school uses all sorts of interactive experiences to help the kids learn. I've told my wife, my daughter's teachers, and Jan Banks that THE BEST DECISION I'VE MADE AS A PARENT THUS FAR HAS BEEN SENDING MY DAUGHTER TO THIS SCHOOL. I hope you will take my words to heart.

I wish I could give Abucus 0 stars. I think it's important to share that I have 4 year degree from…read moreUNC in Early Childhood Development. The owner and 2 year old teacher Miss Pam are not qualified to be watching young children. Also, Miss Pam is elderly and might need to be updated on new teaching strategies for young children. My daughter was in Miss Pam's room for less than 2 weeks and they banned her for not napping during nap time. No warning, no discussion with me, no nothing, just banned her. They lied to me on a daily basis telling me how well my daughter was adapting to her classroom. The teacher in my daughter's classroom & the owner told me multiple times that my daughter was improving daily and getting along well with her "friends" then out of nowhere on a Monday afternoon they banned her! The owner said she doesn't know how to refund my money that I had already prepaid! This place is a joke, it's a scam. They will kick your child out for no reason because there teachers are lazy, have no communication with the parent, and don't even try to come up with other arrangements during nap time. Childcare and parents should have a transparent communication, you just don't kick a child out with no warning, a professional daycare would have at least a meeting on how to fix the problem. Every child's different and deserves at least a chance to adapt to their environment, 2 weeks is not enough time to adapt. They gave up on my child and never gave her a chance to bloom. Also, just out of curiosity, why does the owner Stephanie not reply to any of the negative reviews?

In 2021, I was referred to Abacus by several of my friends who are K-6 teachers and doctors who had…read moresent their children to Abacus. We went on a tour with Ms. Erin, who is a certified teacher and who taught at Abacus for years before becoming the Assistant Director. She presented herself as caring, communicative, involved, and present-- this initial assessment has proven to be true in the years we have known her. When our whole family came down with Covid and RSV three weeks after we enrolled, she checked on us daily which certainly is not a requirement of that job. We also interact with Ms. Stephanie, the Director--note not the owner as stated in a previous review-- frequently. Stephanie has gone the extra mile on several occasions for our family whether it be personally searching for my lost cell phone or checking-in our family after one of our parents died unexpectedly or providing us updates when our daughter was having ear issues. When our oldest was in the 2's, she had Miss Pam. Miss Pam was everything you could ask for and more. She was caring, attentive, and gave me or my spouse a verbal update every day when we picked-up our child in addition to the updates we get in the on-line system throughout the day. Our child was very shy as a pandemic baby who hadn't interacted much. Miss Pam saw this and adjusted her approach to help pull our child out of her shell; she invested time in knowing what was going on outside the classroom (e.g. asking our child how dance was going, how the dogs were, how grandparents were doing). More importantly, our child's experience was so positive there is not only a love to go to "school", but also a love to learn and tell us what new thing the class learned each day. Miss Pam's approach was so good I made the request that our youngest child was also placed in her class. One thing that impresses me about Abacus, is the innovative experiences they generate for the kids and how they include our families. There is a trick-or-treating event where everyone goes with their children to trick-or-treat throughout Haile. Holiday parties. The holiday gifts, mother's and Father's Day gifts that they work tirelessly with children to create are both thoughtful, useful, and you can see how excited the children are to give back to their families. They bring in fire fighters, police officers, dentists, physical fitness leaders, and more to interact with the children. Abacus also has partnerships with Soccer Shots and Independance which allows children to do dance and soccer, so children can do those activities on site rather than having to pick them up and take them after their day ends. In this past year, when my children lost their grandparent- the first death in our family, Abacus teachers and administrators went above and beyond to comfort her when she needed it, update me, and help my 3 year old move through the awful experience of realizing death is part of life. I hadn't intended for this post to be this long, but I will end with I understand that experiences are different. I started my career working-in K-12 and as any parent, like every parent, I take my child's education and day care very seriously. I have referred multiple families with a wide variety of family backgrounds, nationalities, and with both boys and girls. As I've followed-up with them on their experiences, they have also had very positive experience with Abacus.

They were great. My daughter loved her teacher. It is a safe and fun place for a child to learn.read more

dont take your child here...VERY RUDE EMPLOYEES...Take ur child somewhere else..They wont talk to u…read morein the phone at all they r rude and proably do the same to the kids.

ELC of Alachua County has a brand new CEO, She is moving forward with a lot of positive changes…read morewithin the organization. And is there for your children. They are there to help those needing childcare within the county. A valuable asset to parents and daycare providers.

Lakeisha Young has repeatedly denied my services for childcare based upon non legitimate cause. I…read morewas told during my last meeting with this person on 02/14/2018 that my care was denied based upon the fact that "I did not make enough money to receive assistance." I do not see how this statement can be viewed as orthodox to the process of determination. As clearly, a person who is applying for assistance, would have a reduced income, and need for this service offered. I was also told by Ms. Young that she believed my career was a hobby. I have went to school 4 years for a Bachelor of Science in Cyeberspace Security,and I file my taxes with the IRS as self employed. I take business ethics very seriously. I see Ms. Young as a very unprofessional person, who does not have the ability to hold her tongue on opinions, which are not needed for my service. In November of 2017, I had reported Ms. Young for lack of professional communication. We had been emailing back and forth about my daughter's transfer of care from a different county; at which point she refused to respond in a timely manner. The transfer process literally takes under an hour, and Ms. Young stretched it out for a month, leaving me to pay out of pocket for childcare and not be able to use their service. Once my transfer was finally processed, I was never allotted any back pay for their wrongful mistake pertaining to the paperwork. I also found out that Ms. Young was not reprimanded in any way shape or form for defaulting on her duties. Upon researching with the general public, I have found that Ms. Young has taken these actions with several other parents, with no reprimand of her actions. This is a federally funded program, and I am almost certain that I am not paying taxes for this woman to make adjustments whenever she feels ready to. If this person refuses to carry out their job in a professional manner, then I do not believe they meet the qualifications to handle the paperwork that is being appointed to their title.

My family has used O2B Hunters Crossing since 2016. It's always been a great place. It's my opinion…read morethat the Hunters Crossing location is the best. We had to take my son to the Midtown location for a few months, and Hunters Crossing was definitely better. I think the smaller size of the building helps versus the other larger centers with hundreds of kids running around. I'm surprised at the other complaints I have read here about kids being dirty. That's what kids do, they get dirty. My son is a wild child and he would often play hard at the playground and get dirty. That's not really the fault of the center. My daughter is more mild mannered, and she's always clean. My son was also larger than all the other kids at the daycare, and he would often hurt the smaller kids, so they would take him up front for timeouts. And you know what? It worked, he stopped hurting the smaller kids. It's a non-physical behavior management strategy. As for biting issues, my son was also a biter, and they had him on a system where if he kept biting, he would be removed from the daycare. And we taught him that biting was bad, and the biting ended. So they do have a system in place to deal with children who bite. As for people complaining about there being no fee waivers for taking your kid out for a week or two, what do you expect? You waited months for a spot, and the income from that spot keeps the lights on and the staff paid. And you want them to just work for free? Would you rather they give your spot away and add an actual paying customer to your spot and put you back on the months-long waiting list? I swear people don't even bother to use their brains before complaining on the internet. I have also had concerns about student-child ratios when my first-born child started going, but every time I would look, the rooms would be properly staffed. And ultimately my concerns were unfounded. Occasionally someone spends 1 minute to use the restroom, which to me is absolutely different from leaving kids for hours in an understaffed room. This center I'm a millennial, and I swear these other reviews are also by millennial parents with how out of touch they are with the reality of children in schools. These parents paying apparently expect one teacher to carefully attend to their precious child and ignore the other children in the classrooms. It's just silly. This is a great center, and it's in a great location. There's even a Taekwondo school in the same plaza. The staff is always professional. They use an app to securely send pictures of my kids in the classrooms showing what activities they were doing that day. My daughter is currently attending this daycare, and she loves going. I will recommend this place first every time to anyone looking for a daycare to send their child to.

The teachers in the Sophomore class are ABSOLUTELY amazing…read more Ms. Ann does everything she can for the children and treats them like her own. She is so creative and always doing something fun.

I'm happy we have a great child care in our little town that cares about our children like…read moreGreenfield. The activities are fun, and endless here. If you're looking for a day care that cares about your child,or children's education. Consider checking this place out.

THE BEST - all 3 of my children have attended The Academy Preschool and I am incredibly grateful…read moresuch a school exists. As a full time working mom, an elementary school teacher, it was very difficult to spend my days away from my babies. The Academy made it so much easier. I knew they were safe and LOVED. The educational experience, low class numbers, high standards for safety and excellence are worth every red cent I spent. I wouldn't send my children anywhere else. The staff are compassionate, understanding and efficient. I love this school and thank god for it daily.

I would not place my child at this location ever again! My daughter attended this school for a few…read moreweeks until they left her outside by herself. She was wearing super bright clothing but somehow got missed. It was during the hottest time of the year so needless to say I was not very happy. When the issue was addressed, same day, it seemed like it was not even important. The issue was swept under the rug and excuses were made one of which was "well it was only or like 2 minutes". I don't care if it was 30 seconds because it only takes 5 seconds for her get seriously hurt or worse. Yes, their security seems to be amazing but the care for the children should not stop there.

Abusive!!! You would be insane to take your child here!!! My poor baby was bit 3 times in 10 days!!…read moreThe teachers do not care about your kids and barely watch them. They leave them in the cold without proper jackets to keep the kids warm. Everyone looks sick. The corporate office is heartless and doesn't care about issues you bring to their attention. This was the biggest mistake we made bringing our child here. Beware of this franchise! They are all around horrible. They even nickeled and dimed us when we asked for a refund because of the abuse we received. We paid for a month in advance and had to pull our baby out 2 weeks in since no one did anything about the horrible bites my baby got. I will never recommend them to anyone!