My grandson attended Mountaintop for several years. What a special place to begin schooling! The…read morewarmth of the people and the space and the land create a comfort and a safety that all young children need in order to be left for the day. The Waldorf programming allows for lots of free play to inspire imagination and uses nature to create a homey atmosphere. Wendy is a very wonderful head teacher and all of her staff is carefully chosen. It is a great choice for your little ones!

From the owner: Mountaintop School is in a homelike atmosphere with large gardens,play spaces and surrounding…read moreforests, ideal for a small child to make a gentle transition from life at home to the upcoming grade school years.

Would absolutely recommend this preschool to anyone who is looking for a school for their littles…read more The teachers are all amazing, very caring, and take pride in their students. The kids all love it, and come home with new and relatable knowledge daily. Teachers are kind and very understanding, and go above and beyond for their kids and their families. Additionally, the other parents are amazing as well. Friendly, and very welcoming.

I firmly believe this is the best place in Syracuse for 3-5 year olds. I have three children who…read morehave attended, all with very different personalities and needs. MDS has been nurturing and perfectly suitable for each of them. The teachers are wonderful, and they care about each child's needs and strengths. And they have an amazing capacity to bring out the very best in each child!

Our son just completed his schooling at Livingston Street, having been one of the "founding" kids…read more He absolutely loved it. We felt completely comfortable with Cheryl and she runs the school in such a nurturing, positive and fun (and funny!) way that we knew we'd made the right choice for him. He has really grown through Cheryl's teaching, coming home with incredible art, stories, tales of adventures and a deep respect for others. We recommend Livingston Street very highly! http://livingstonstreet.org/

Cheryl is the teacher. We visited their temporary space and watched her interacting with our 4 year…read moreold. She's a gifted teacher and extremely knowledgeable about early childhood theory and practice. She's obviously studied and read about what the best thinkers in early childhood are advocating for. Her style is reminiscent of the two leading philosophies in early childhood education -- Waldorf and Reggio Emilia. That is to say, Livingston is child-centered, and human. They let kids be kids in an enlightened and respectful way. This is what we've been looking for but it's difficult to find around here. Please visit and then sign up. Livingston is just getting started and as soon as they get a few more kids, we'll have our son there too. We'll see you there.

My son has been attending since he was just a few weeks old, and from the very beginning, I have…read morenever once worried about leaving him in their care. That peace of mind as a parent is truly priceless as I work all day long. The staff are caring, warm, and inclusive to all children. They've created a safe environment where my son has been able to grow and build connections with staff and kids. My son looks forward to seeing his teachers each day in his class and all of his friends. He is happy to go, comes home smiling, and has formed strong bonds with both staff and friends. We appreciate all of the updates we receive and enjoy seeing daily pictures of what he did throughout the day.

Leaving my three-month-old baby in someone else's care for the first time, especially when…read morereturning to work so soon postpartum, was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. From the very beginning, the staff at Prime Time made that transition so much easier for me. They showed such genuine kindness and patience with both me and my baby. As a new mom, I had a lot of worries--especially when she was having trouble eating at first. Instead of brushing off my concerns, they were incredibly attentive and reassuring. They kept a close eye on her, communicated with me throughout the day, and worked with me to make sure she was comfortable and getting what she needed. Their level of care and understanding meant the world to me during a time when I was already feeling emotional about being away from her. Knowing that she was with people who were nurturing, patient, and truly cared about her well-being gave me so much peace of mind while I was at work. They created a warm, supportive environment not just for the babies, but for the parents too. I'm so grateful for the love and attention they gave my daughter during such an important stage of her life. Any parent would be lucky to have their child in the care of such compassionate and dedicated caregivers. Thank you Eva, Sheyla, Brytanii, and everyone at Prime Time!! We will miss you guys!

Parents BEWARE! This is advertised as St. Mary's "Preschool" although it is nothing of the sort…read more They are registered in New York State as a DAYCARE, not a preschool, and they'll do everything possible to hide this fact from parents. They therefore have no standards to uphold, and your kid will learn nothing - not shapes, letters, colors, etc. There is zero kindergarten preparedness happening at St. Mary's. The "teachers" are simply babysitters, and if you think it's impossible to be 'bad' at being a preschool instructor, you're wrong. I'm certain that my kid's classroom babysitter has an intellectual disability herself, with her vacant stare and utter inability to communicate to other adults. It's just not something you want your kid to become accustomed to all week. The kids just watch TV all day, although they may let them outside to use the very small jungle gym if it's warm out (e.g. basically never). Once in a great while, they will send my kid home with a craft project that they spent maybe an hour doing. The rest of the time is spent with the basic daycare routine of snacks, naps and playing with toys. If that's all you're looking for, then St. Mary's is probably the same as any other daycare. If you want your child to be ready for kindergarten though, this is NOT the place to send him or her. St. Mary's is not a preschool. Don't make the mistakes we did. STAY AWAY!!!

I debated quite a long time about whether I should write a review about our experience at Woodland…read moreHill (WH). After talking to so many other parents that experienced and are experiencing similar issues as we did. I would feel remiss to not help another family trying to make a difficult decision to either put in or remove their child from WH. WH has a beautiful property and facade, there are some good people that work there. However, that is where my praise for WH stops. There are a few main issues that I and others have had with WH that I feel should be shared. They do not give you a good idea where your child is academically. There are very few points of contact from the teachers. They send home 2 very vague progress reports a year with "WH language" by which I mean they tend to use words that are very neutral or ambiguous. The 2 parent teacher conferences throughout the year are very short, and there is little time to discuss. When I was able to meet with the teacher, they would revert to a thing my child said which seemed to divert any attention from the teacher. Every meeting we had they said the same thing, anything else they said was generic and neutral. Multiple parents that I have spoken with that left the school were astonished about how far their child was behind. They were embarrassed to not have noticed it and had to hire tutors. More importantly. There is a MAJOR BULLYING PROBLEM. The concerns that I had brought up to the teachers were actually about bullying and not academics. Again, these concerns were brushed off with generic language like talking to a politician. We were assured that a specialist was going through every class, and urged to wait for that to happen. It was months before that specialist got to our classroom, and nothing changed. Several parents have contacted us with the same issue, asking to get together so that our children can play so they can feel better after being bullied all day in school. For two years my child told me when he walked into the school that he felt "empty inside". They would come home and tell us that it was the worst year of their life. They saw a child from WH and literally ran and hid because of how they had been treated. You can see the school trying to bring in faculty to address this problem. Ironically from my experience, the faculty that were tasked with this were the same faculty that clearly had no experience in child education and were the very faculty that made my child afraid and uncomfortable to walk into the school daily. There is a yearly fundraiser for WH where they hire a professional auctioneer. There are people that pay $30,000 for a reserved parking spot, that you will never see a car in. Do you really think they would tell the parent of that child that they were bullying other children or do anything about it? What some other parents said to me rang so true. WH is more like a daycare than a school. Sure, some children will thrive in this environment, and WH will be sure to prop them up on a pedestal when contested. If for any reason you are trying to decide if you should make a financial sacrifice to give your children, then I urge you to not make this choice. WH will make you feel like you can't get an education anywhere else, and if your child leaves you are doing them a huge disservice. It is a multi-level marketing \ cult mentality. Once you see through it is nothing but BS. If this review sounds jaded. It is. The experiences I was promised from WH were all false. They claim that the older children will build the younger children up, bring up their confidence, and foster a love of learning. In reality, mine's confidence and spirit was crushed. My child was frozen with panic, forced to skip recess and lunch. These false promises go right down the extra curriculars. You sign up for a cooking class and make brownie mix from a box. Leaving the school was the best decision we ever made for our child, and they are finally healing from the years of turmoil by attending there.

I'm grateful every day that we found WHMS! Where do I start?…read more This school encompasses everything that is good about Montessori school---they teach kindness and self-sufficiency and self-directed learning. My daughter learns so much there every day. Her teacher, Nancy, is the embodiment of calm and awesomeness--she's like a Zen master! We visited another school and my three year old daughter cried through the entire visit. When we visited Woodland Hill, she was calm and happy and said, "Mom, I really want to go to school there." I love their values around sustainability, peace, and treating others with respect. The school itself is exceedingly well-run, organized, and structured (in a good way). I feel that it is the best of all worlds, and the tuition is beyond reasonable for what they offer. There's a great community of families; I haven't met one single person I don't like, and people really work together. It's fun getting to being a part of this.

My husband and I were given many referrals to Saratoga Academy from a variety of people including…read moreteachers from public schools. This is what ultimately helped us make our decision in sending our son here. What I love most about Saratoga Academy is the values and love of learning that my son gets in his preschool class. I also appreciate the effort put forth by the administration and teachers in hosting events which help create a sense of community. Our son loves his teacher and is truly happy there. (Even though everyday he asks me why he has to go to school.) :) Everyone at the school seems to work very well together with a common goal of building confidence and independence in each child. All of the teachers and administration seem to have this genuine love for kids and a passion to help them flourish and grow. Although this is only our first year at Saratoga Academy, we are thrilled with our decision.

From the owner: Saratoga Academy offers residents of Southern Saratoga County the opportunity to experience the…read moreCapital Region's premier primary learning program. This unique educational opportunity is designed to create our leaders of tomorrow, equipping them with higher level learning skills, self-discipline and a strong sense of moral purpose.