This is an appreciation post for MISS DANIELLE of the Explorers class. My son has been struggling with potty training and communication amongst other personal struggles and she has been such an incredible teacher and support through it all. I am single and first time mother of a boy and there are so many instances where I feel helpless and at a lost for giving my child the best care and while reassuring my son of what he should know, she always makes it a point to check in with me to support me. She is the perfect bridge between school and home. We sat down for a meeting to discuss what I wanted out of my son's education and as soon as we did, there was a shift at school and my son was capable of a number of things he had been struggling with prior. If there's any reason at all to choose this school, it is for her. Miss Danielle is the reason I stay. read more

Im August it would have been a year and I wish my son could have stayed here longer but we had to move. The staff was amazing, caring and so attentive towards him, they have set the bar for what I expect from all other daycares in the future. They do everything to keep the parents involved from daily check-ins, giving curriculum updates, and sending daily updates of your baby. As a first-time mom, they put all my worries at ease and I always recommend this place to anyone who asks. I honestly don't know how they don't have a 5-star rating because the whole staff truly cares about their kids and provides an environment for them to grow safe and confident. read more

When it was time for me to return to work at 8 weeks, we struggled to find a daycare for my sons age that had an opening. By some miracle, stepping stones had an opening! Everyone was so friendly and knew my child's name and he loved them back. He smiled and got excited to spend his day with them and even saying goodbye, which to me was a good sign. This place was ALWAYS clean, never had any funky odors, and even the other parents where so friendly in passing. Toys, high chairs, counters, etc were always clean - I'm honestly not sure how they do it! Entry is gated with an access code and parking is located a short walk away. Teachers plan fun art activities with the children that get sent home for you to keep. Teachers update you throughout the day with diaper changes, feedings, and my favorite - photos - to see how their day is going, through Pro Care app. The ONLY reason we are no longer here, is because we couldn't afford it. We don't qualify for any kind of assistance and the cost was starting to add up for us. To the entire team at Stepping Stones Waipahu - we greatly appreciate the care you took of our miracle baby! read more

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I can't speak for the recent negative review, but I do have my questions. It almost reads like a completely different facility than what we experienced. The same review is on Google Reviews under a different name altogether. Also, our child was at the Waipahu location around the same time and just finished her time there this week before we move back to the mainland. I never saw any of the class sizes with more than 10-12 children, the bigger classes had multiple staff, and I've heard nothing but good things about all the STA locations from others, Waipahu included. The director was incredibly kind and worked with us given our unusual circumstances. We feel it is an amazing daycare and school with generous and flexible hours and amazing staff and management. Specifically, Ms. Kelly and Ms. Marilyn went above and beyond for our daughter. They really helped her progress with potty training and opening up to socialization out of intense shyness. If I had any minor gripe, it's the parking/pick up situation with the lot being behind the facility, but parking is an issue across the island. Read the reviews and make your own judgement. However, I encourage anyone in the area to consider STA for your childcare needs! read more

Julie does not own up to her incompetency and justifies it because she has the power to. She treats her employees like they have no feelings and does not have any empathy for them. Julie is selfish and does not hold herself accountable for ruining the quality of the classroom experience. Teachers are amazing, so is Melissa. Melissa should be in her position. It's very frustrating to be in the teachers position because you can tell they all have passion for the kids. Julie Chung needs to be removed from her position. She manipulates the parents into thinking that she cares about not only about the kids, but the teachers as well. In reality, she has no remorse and takes no accountability and it is disappointing to see that nothing is being done with her. How can a business be successful and how can a classroom thrive if the higher ups treat the teachers like garbage??? read more

My son went here from sept 2023-end of feb 2024. After telling people about my experience with this place I was like, well where the hell are the warnings? Sooo many people have had bad experiences with this place. The teacher and principle thought my son had special needs after they increased their class size from 10 to 16 kids after Christmas break. I won't go into details but it was so unprofessional and frankly insensitive. A meeting with the director was supposed to smooth things out and it kind of did but she said she had no doubt my son would qualify for special needs services. Which was an opinion that wasn't asked for. After going through a full evaluation he did not qualify for special needs education and the people who evaluated him were wondering what the daycare was even talking about. They said it was much faster than a usual evaluation because it was evident he was progressing normally for a 2 year old. ( I knew he wouldn't qualify but had to put my mind at ease.) when I informed the principle her reaction was disbelief and was again just inappropriate so we decided to leave. BUT THIS ISNT EVEN THE WORST PART. The day after we gave our 30 day notice my husband witnessed a caregiver holding my son down and then yanking him up by one arm! Needless to say he took him home and we never went back. I hope they do better. Get training on how to approach special need concerns and what that looks like so as not to put other parents through what I went through. Also watch that the employees are not burned out by increasing class sizes like that. People can snap and harm children if they are overworked, undertrained and unsupervised. I couldn't, in good conscience do nothing after this experience, so here is the warning I wish I had. read more

The staff of Stepping Stones waipahu has taken care of my daughter for the last two years. They have done an exceptional job teaching my daughter basic shapes, letters, and numbers, as well as basic social studies (communities) and science (plants, water, etc.) I would highly recommend this preschool to anyone! I know my daughter will miss this place as she goes on to kindergarten. read more

The director Julie has horrible leadership and doesn't know what she's doing. ever since Ms Charlotte left, multiple teachers left and a lot of parents took their kids out as well. The snacks are the same almost every other day. Not worth the money since tuition is Ridiculous. Bad location (homeless walks pass this location multiple times Daily! Sometimes even Naked) the streets get filled with the churches cars so the drop off gets hard sometimes. read more

Stepping Stones Academy in Waipahu is the best toddler school we've found around the Kapolei/Ewa Beach area. I give 5-stars to the staff, activities, parent-teacher feedback, and the facility overall. The teachers and the staff members, being led my Ms. Charlotte and Michelle, show genuine passion and care towards every student. There is no cookie-cutter approach to every kid. Their genuine passion to nurture allows them to cater to every child's individual needs. Besides the children's daily routine, the teachers always introduce new activities to keep the children engaged and wanting to learn more while having fun. Our teacher, Ms. Danielle, always gives us feedback at the end of the day about things that our child excelled in and the things that we can work on at home. We also get updated throughout the day of our child's activity via messages and photos through their app. The facility is always kept clean inside and outside. They also have a coded gate to keep the place secure. Overall, our child would always go in and leave happy everyday as he is taken care of by a team of genuinely caring people. I highly recommend Stepping Stones Academy in Waipahu! read more

My daughter has been enrolled with Stepping Stones Academy - Waipahu since she was about 18 months old and she will be 3 and a half when we leave. Unfortunately, due to a relocation she will be attending a new school. Our experience has been exceptional. Ms. Julie is an attentive and considerate Director, answering all of my questions in a timely manner. All of the teachers treat my daughter lovingly and keep me updated throughout the day on the ProCare app as well as with a brief description of her day when I pick her up. We love our SSA Ohana and are sad to leave. 10/10, would recommend read more

Our daughters first year at this academy (toddlers ) and we're loving it & she's loving it ! Staff is very friendly , welcoming and very on it with the kids . Thank you for your hard work , we really appreciate everyone of you read more

I absolutely loved having my kids here. Ms. Julie and staff really created a safe, structured environment. I felt comfortable and at ease entrusting them with my 2 boys. I loved having constant updates via Procare with pictures throughout the day of what my kids ate, the activities they were doing, diaper changes, etc. I miss having my boys at stepping stones academy Waipahu. 10/10 recommend. read more

My son has been here for about a year and we love it!! He loves his teacher and the staff are all always nice and friendly! I love the pictures and I get to see what my son does daily! Thank you so much for the service you all give! Will continue to take my son here! read more

Stepping Stones Academy at Waipahu is a fantastic place! My daughter started going there at 8 weeks old when I had to go back to work. As a new mom I had a lot of questions and concerns but the teachers and the director, Mrs. Charlotte were excellent in answering any concerns I had and communication was great! Going back to when I first looked at the academy when I was 3 months pregnant, my first impression was it was SUPER CLEAN! I worked in the childcare business before and I know this was extremely important. The facility smelled clean and was spotless. Walking in the hallway of the classrooms, there wasn't a speck of dust on the floor. They have a no shoes policy except for outside time which is great. It doesn't really apply to infants of course. I met the teachers and saw the infant room. The ratio was really good 1:3 and the staff always had activities for the infants. As my daughter attended, they worked with her to reach her milestones. I completely attribute my daughters ability to sit up on her own at such an early age to their work! I would have carried her around everywhere if I had her all day to be honest. Before enrolling, I went back a few more times to visit at different times of the day throughout my pregnancy and noticed the staff was always the same, they did not have high turnover which is wonderful for children to be able to see the same faces everyday. That also told me that the teachers liked their job and they were treated well in the workplace. The facility is very open with low walls so that all the adults can see everyone. It gives the academy a sense of openness and a lot of natural light. The infant room (all rooms) has a hand washing policy for both parents and children as soon as they come in. Bottles are stored in a very clean refrigerator, which I appreciated. I never saw old milk or spills inside the refrigerator. They have cubbies for your child's belongings and spare clothes. Medication is not a problem as long as there's a doctors prescription. Diaper changes happen every hour and this was wonderful because my daughter NEVER had daycare diaper rash! They remind you when you are running low on supplies so you can bring it the next day. My absolute favorite part is their online communication system, SchoolVine. They posted daily reports and photos of my baby so that I could see her from work by email. So many photos I've saved because they were so precious. If you are military, they work with the Child Care Aware program which helps cut your cost out of pocket. My daughter attended the academy for 4 months, and would have attended longer but I decided to stay home and leave my job. If I continued to work, there's no doubt I would have stayed at Stepping Stones Academy at Waipahu. My daughter was very safe and protected there. Gate codes were used for the facility. She was loved by all her teachers. Never did I pick her up after work was she crying. She was happy there. I highly recommend this academy to anyone. If I decide to go back to work, she would attend again! *Most photos were taken by her teachers and sent to me. read more

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From the time I started inquiring, to the time our son left, Stepping Stones Academy in Waipahu has been such a positive experience for our family. Ms. Charlotte was so approachable and patient as she helped me through the enrollment process. Everything went so smooth because she responded to all my calls and emails in a timely manner. The school is very clean and follows COVID protocols well. We knew our child was in good hands after seeing how enthusiastic and passionate all the teachers and staff are for what they do. Everyone was very attentive and caring to each child. During pick up we'd see our son with rosy cheeks all happy from his active day at school. We'd get updates from Ms. Danielle on how our son was progressing and techniques we could do at home to help him progress. We also loved how we got updates throughout the day through the parent teacher app. We were notified of diaper changes/checks, nap start/end time, meal times, and our favorite would be the photos they'd send us throughout the day! So grateful to have found this school. BIG thank you to Ms. Charlotte, Ms. Danielle, Ms. Michelle, Ms. Marilyn, Ms. Mama, Ms. Keindra, and Ms. Kylie for all the love you have shown our son during his stay! read more

Stepping Stones Academy Waipahu has provided a positive impact to my child's educational, independent and social development. I was amazed that at the age of two my child was reciting the alphabet and counting 1 thru 20. Each month they focus on a different topic ranging from clothing, to pets, and plants. SSA kept me updated in real time on my child's day through an app of feedings, diaper changes, naps and if there were any incidents. I am very thankful for the staff who worked with me for an extensive amount of time in potty training my child. I have always felt that my child was cared for and safe with SSA. I would highly recommend SSA Waipahu to anyone in need of child care. read more

Great location with warm and friendly staff. The facility is clean and well run and the online parent posts keep us in the loop for each day's activities read more

I could not be happier with this daycare and their new location! A beautiful, well organized facility has been filled with intelligent, compassionate, motivated, and patient caregivers and teachers. My son's speech, sign language (holy smokes is this helpful with a toddler!), and interpersonal skills are developing at such a great pace without him being pressured or left behind. I love being able to leave my son and a place I know is safe, with people who I know care for him, and with other children who are learning the world right alongside him. Finding this daycare has quite possibly been the biggest relief I've felt since becoming a parent. Thank you, Stepping Stones! read more

I absolutely love this school for my kids! It's very spacious, clean and bright, very inviting. The teachers are friendly and very attentive to the kids. One of my kids have already graduated from there, and I loved it so much that I've sent 2 more of my kids after her. I recommend this school for anyone who has a child 6 weeks to 5 years old. Lastly, I'd like to mention the director Charlotte, she is one of the nicest people I've ever met and she made me feel so comfortable about leaving my kids in their care. I'd never regret sending my kids there, best decision I've ever made!! read more

Stepping Stones Academy has been an amazing experience for our family. Our 4 year old started last year and Ms. Ruby and Ms. Charlotte have constantly delivered above and beyond to provide a wonderful experience for our son. Ms. Ruby and Ms. Charlotte always flexed with our child's needs and provided both structure and discipline delivered in a loving and safe manner. We are so impressed. We highly recommend Stepping Stones Waipahu to families looking for a caring, reliable, and safe environment for their child. read more

I couldn't have picked a better school for my children! Totally recommend! I love everything from beginning to end!

If you want excellent, quality childcare Stepping Stones Academy is the place to send your children. The staff are all hardworking, patient, attentive, & caring workers. My kids have been attending the Waipahu location for 5 months now & there hasn't been a day where they weren't greeted by their name. The entry to the school is gated with a code to get in & check in/out system is done through fingerprinting ensuring my children's safety. They use parent post so we're always updated on what my kids are doing in school, what they eat, how many times they go to the bathroom & best of all PICTURES. The director Ms. Charlotte is the BEST! She is very open, all questions or concerns are answered on the spot & she is on top of everything that goes on at the school. My kids have grown so much in the short time attending I can't wait to see how far they'll go when they finish. Thank you Stepping Stones Academy! read more