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.

Run away! They charge fake fees, won't show you an invoice and no teachers just aids that get paid…read morelittle. Save yourself the headache they are a complete ripoff

We can't be happier with his school. I leaves him there everyday with an ease of mind that he will…read morebe safe and happy. The director and the teachers are wonderful people and very nice and responsive. He learns about practical life everyday. I recommend JTA to everyone who is looking for a perfect educational and caring environment. The administration is very receptive to parent concerns and are always available by phone, email and are on site . They know every child's name and always update me with what My son have been doing in class , and ever single field trip. The lead and assistant teachers are wonderful, thoughtful and friendly. They have parent-teacher conferences twice yearly and I am impressed with the detail of the written assessments. The lead teacher is very enthusiastic and accessible in terms of communication and the children love her. I also find this to be a very involved and nice parent community. Most important, however, I am impressed with how my kid have progressed over the Year . We Just Love it JTA Family ! Guimaraes Family !!!

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.

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!

- First and foremost, your child will learning nothing here. This place is nothing more than a…read moregroup babysitting. - Used, unstable and often dangerous furnitures. Pianos that are so old and poorly taken care of. Doubt anyone's ever played... yet it's there... completely as a show. - Very limited and torn books. Our daughter's class (2 year old) had maybe 10. Often times one book gets torn in two and becomes two books. Most likely all second hand. - Photo equipment in the common area (place is a dump). They use it like their storage space. Photography tripods, umbrellas, lighting gear... many with sharp edges and can be toppled over with ease. Very little regard to children's safety. - Broken doors that never get fixed. In my daughter's class, they were able to just push the door open and wander into this common area filled with above mentioned photo gear. They only fixed it after 8 weeks and 6 complaints later. This would be unacceptable for an apartment complex, let alone a day care. Again, very little, if any, regard to kids' safety. Every time I asked, they simply said the contractor is coming out next week. Got this same answer 3 times. - Owner/managers (Jessica and Jason) have very little understanding of kids and there's a clear disconnect with parents. I've tried many times to ask for more open communication and transparency. Overall a very negative experience. - They pretend to be art/music education driven "program". This is grossly inaccurate. Kids are hardly ever exposed to art/music. They use this simply as a marketing tool. Before every "art show" you can see the teachers working diligently putting together "kids" art pieces. Decorating them and hanging them. Then, those art pieces spend next 6 months on walls to mislead prospective parents into thinking this is a place of learning. Absolutely horrible. - No wait list. They sold this to us as a good thing. It was nice to hear "if you want, you can start next week" but at what cost? They pre-maturely shuffle kids around to make it fit. Our daughter was moved up twice in the span of 2 months to make room for other younger kids. Once again, looking after their profitability before the child's well-being. Making her adjust to 2 more new faces yet again. In less than a year, our daughter's had 4 different "baby-sitters". Have a hard time calling them teachers. - My daughter cried every time I dropped her off... for almost a year... when speaking with other parents (from other day care facilities) their kids love their teachers and do not mind being dropped of in the mornings. I still know several people that currently go to Rainforest and ... same deal. - They closed for 2 days for Christmas. When asked why they were closing on Friday (day before Christmas eve), their rationale was "we were planning on closing for 3 days (Friday, Monday and Tuesday) but we've shortened it" and "we need a vacation too." Called around other daycares in the Chicagoland area and they were the only one to close. It was highly irresponsible and again showed their disconnect with parents. - Their joke of an outside door. The outside door acts as a first layer of defense against predators and other elements. There's no clear view from where they are buzzing people in. In other words, a guy wielding a *insert weapon here* would have just as easy of a time getting in as someone holding a diaper bag. On top of that, they often leave their "buzzing" post unmanned... leaving parents waiting in the rain outside. - Once caught one of the "babysitters" angrily scolding a two year old. I told her to stop and that they are still just kids and she simply responded, "trust me, they understand." - I like watching my daughter interact with other kids. So, often times, I stand by the door and watch for a little while before going in to pick her up. This one afternoon, the babysitter was reading everyone a book. I can see our daughter was bothering another child. Without looking up from her book, the babysitter shoved our daughter onto the floor. Then, continued to read as my daughter fell to the floor crying. I don't mind her telling my daughter to stop bothering others. I don't mind her physically separating them. I don't mind her giving her time out. But to separate them so violently and not bothering tell her why she was being punished is an assault. This is the same "babysitter" I caught scolding another child (previous bullet point). She really has no business being around kids... but what do they care.. she's minimum wage.

I noticed that a lot of the reviews are old - some from before my child was even born. Knowig that…read moreplaces like this evolve I thought it important to write about our more recent experience. Our daughter started there when she was 12 weeks old in 2012 and stayed until she started kindergarten in 2107. She just started first grade and EVERY time we go past A Child's Space she talks about how she misses it there. We had, overall, a great experience. We saw the director making improvements and changes throughout our time there. She sent the teacheres to continiuing education and provided lots of feedback on our daughters's progress. She WELL prepared for kindergarten - her first assesments showed her knowledge of words and sounds and more WAY above "Standards". Every kid is different, but I know she learned a lot there. They were flexible with us and caring for our daughter - they loved her. There was some turnover in teachers, but not excessive. Their drop off and pick up times were great for us - we had until 6pm to pick up.

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.

Our son has attended Ivy Garden since 6 months old. He has now graduated from two infant level…read moreclasses and onto the toddler classroom! As first time parents, we were anxious about daycares and thoroughly researched all nearby options before landing here. We absolutely love this school/daycare! The teachers are so attentive, experienced, and kind. Our son loves each teacher he has had and enjoys going to school everyday. As parents, we trust they have his safety and development in mind. Since starting, he has been coming home with new sign language, words, and preacademic skills (e.g., shapes, letters) constantly. We especially love the academic and events programming. From weekly themes, science lessons, to holiday events (e.g. Valentine's Day dance, Easter egg hunt). I know the older kids go on field trips too. The school also offers organic meals that our picky eater actually enjoys! Personally, it was also very important for our biracial son to attend a school with diverse peers and teachers. He's class is made up of 80% mixed race classmates which is incredible! We couldn't have asked for a better daycare!

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.

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.

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 daughter loves her weekly science class with Mr. Michael. He is very creative and extra patient…read morewith the kids. We love the different topics that covered, the variety of materials available for the kids to use and create, and the summary of the activity, provided to the parents, at the end of each class. Mr. Michael encourages each child to experiment, don't be afraid to make mistakes, and dream big. We are so happy with our Kids Science Lab experience that we are going to do the camps that they offer throughout the year and during the summer. Make sure to try one of their free trial classes. We did this, and it was a great way to see how our daughter would like it. Check it out!

We've done camps and many birthdays here and it's always for the kids. The staff all truly love…read moreworking with kids and it shows. We did the camp for the first time this year and they did some really fun but educational stuffy son loved. We'll try the other themes for camp next year for sure. Also there's a coffee shop in the same building where you can get your caffeine and a pastry without leaving the building.

We love The Nook in South Loop! Where do I begin?! We started our little girl in daycare at 12…read moreweeks. After doing much research and touring different facilities we are so happy with The Nook. The director, Annette is so easy to talk to. She was very informative and gets back to you quickly with any questions or concerns. You can even find her tending to the kids as well! That showed us how much she loves the kids and always helping her staff. All of the teachers and assistants are great and take such great care of the children. Dropping her off in the morning and seeing how excited she gets to see them really puts our mind at ease and starts off our day on a good note - knowing she is in good hands. We are first time parents, and having to go back to work after maternity leave was difficult to deal with but the app, Brightwheel, they use for daily activities really helped me throughout the day and cope being without her. The app provides updates on meals, naps, diaper changes, activities and best of all updated pictures/videos! Seeing the smile on her face throughout the day really solidified that we made the right choice. I can't say how much we love this place and can't imagine our daughter anywhere else! I definitely would recommend The Nook South Loop if you are looking for a daycare with compassionate caregivers you can trust!

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.

We are so happy with D2D. Our son, loves his teachers, and Ms. Jeni and Ms. JoAn are so welcoming…read moreand are available to answer any questions we may have. Thank you for being the most amazing place ever!! We came to D2D in an urgent situation, I walked in with my 4 month old son, and immediately felt as if I was at home. To see an incredible diverse group of children in every single classroom made my heart smile. My son has been at Detour since Oct. and he smiles as he sees his teachers. The women who care for my son are like mothers to him while I am away. They support me with questions I have and my kid is learning so much from being with his teachers everyday. I can't thank you enough Detour for the amazing experience you are providing my son!

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.