Our son has been enrolled at the Montessori Academy for pre-school and a summer session. He has…read moreabsolutely thrived and learned so much; we are so happy with his experience here. Fast forward to our local kindergarten enrollment and he is extremely well equipped to tackle kindergarten. When most kids are just learning to put together words, he is already reading and writing. While YMMV, we have been very happy with our son's experience at the Montessori Academy. It is a small school with a low student to faculty ratio. There is a lot of individualized attention that I think is key component to the kids' successful learning experience.

From the owner: Montessori Academy Of NWI provides Montessori trained and certified teachers to teach toddler,…read morepreschool, kindergarten, and after school care to the Merrillville, In area.

Extremely lucky to have found Kiddie Academy for my childcare needs. The entire staff is amazing,…read morethe building and classrooms are always extremely clean and my baby is getting a true curriculum to support her growth and development!

I don't normally review services. I this case, I wanted to overlook the ineptness of their service…read more I watched my boy tracing only his first and last names for months. Me and my wife decided to keep him at this facility just for social interaction with other kids. We were preparing him for kindergarten. Because his birthday month his August, he will have to go through assessment to be accepted into Kindergarten program. We have to prepare him by ourselves in everything from reading to arithmetics. This is not our first rodeo. When our little girl was in pre-K class at a different facility, she will come home with reading, writing, shapes, matching, coloring, drawing.., assignment, preparing them for Kindergarten. The horrible service we received from here made us appreciate Williams Christian daycare more. I would have let this bad curriculum slip, but they did the worst when they charged us extra week of service we did not receive. They claim we did not give them 2 weeks notice which I did but their email bounced 3 times before it finally delivered. I even faxed it to them when I was not sure if the email was delivered. I pay out of pocket, am not relying on government help because I can afford it, but I hate extortion. This does looks like it. They said, "their email that bounced back is my problem and my fault." I am a trained teacher and I know what an excellent teaching looks like. They probably have standardized curriculum given to them by the state, but do not know how to execute it. They even played on my intelligence a little that they were going to return my money by collecting my card information telling the money will be return in 4-5 business days. Only to call back after 2 weeks and listen to their BS. The $296 they took from my card probably enrich their pocket, but it shows that they only care about the money and deliver zero excellence.

My daughter is in the ladybug room at the center and loves it. I have been very impressed with the…read moreamount she has learned in the past year. Teachers keep the children engaged and my daughter looks forward to "school" everyday.

Actually, I have recommended Children's First to a coworker and they are starting their child in a…read morecouple weeks. I told my coworker that everyone is very friendly, works well with the kids, is very clean, and are easy to work with. I went with my coworker on a tour of the facility and she felt the same right away. I have such a trusting relationship with Children's First and I am comfortable with everyone I come in contact with at the facility. They give daily reports on my children, so I know how they did during the day in regards to napping, eating, and playing. This is very important and critical to the comfort I feel every day.

I felt that the volleyball director was acting as if she was the boss of the entire place and that…read moreher decisions could not be questioned. Instead of listening to members and treating everyone fairly, she came across as controlling and dismissive. I believe members should be treated with respect and given an opportunity to express their concerns without feeling intimidated. I hope the YMCA will review this situation and ensure that all members are treated professionally and respectfully.

They have a full track squat, racks dumbbells, and some odds and end machine machines…read more Only problem is people that go there don't respect putting weights back and they act like they've never been to a gym before Besides that it's a good place to go for workout walk or even basketball

Review provided by mom of 2 children that have attended Holy Family:…read more Overall my experience with the lead teachers at Holy Family has been positive, with one exception I mention below. Most of the lead teachers put good effort into educating and providing care to the children. Assistant teachers are hit or miss. Either they care because they are obtaining their degree in early childhood education, or they are only their for a temporary job and act like teenage baby sitters. The facility is dated, but it does have multiple outside play areas depending on the children's ages. It does not have an inside play area for the children (besides the hallways) which is a huge let down during the winter and poor weather days. Holy Family does serve hot meals, which is a rare feature for full-time day care in the area. They serve breakfast (cereal or toast/bagels/muffins), a morning snack, hot lunch (rotates every 2 weeks), and an afternoon snack. On half days they provide breakfast, morning snack and a cold sandwich lunch. They provide both full-time and part-time day care services. However, their rates don't make much sense. The part-time rates are not that different from the full-time rates, so part-time care isn't really worth it. Furthermore, when you breakdown the rates per day per age group there is no consistent price, meaning they have no idea how much it actually cost them to provide care for a child, depending on that child's age. Basically, someone made up some rates ages ago and they just went with it, and every so often they raise rates. Also, when they have "half-days" (open from 6am to 1pm) classes are considerable consolidated due to significantly less staff and children do not take a nap, however you families still have to pay a full-time tuition rate. It's scam really. Why am I paying for a full-time rate if I'm not receiving full-time service? As for management, well that's a whole other story. The current assistant director is great. She is kind, welcoming and open to feedback. The current director though is...well I have no kind words. She should NOT be in the position she is in. I have been told by many of the staff how she sits in her office all day, does not know the children's names or anything about them, and has her preferences for families. I have witnessed her treatment towards her staff and it's rarely positive. She berates her staff in front of other staff, and in front of parents/guardians. The turnover rate at Holy Family is utterly absurd, specifically when it comes to staff members of color. Those who stay, stay in fear- I also know this to be true by my interactions with them. You know how when you speak to someone and they give you all the "canned" answers? Yep, those are the ones. They are still good full-time teachers, just scared for their jobs. Better yet, The director doesn't refer to the teachers as teachers. She calls them "front line staff." Really? Since when are children being taught by "front line staff?" Lastly, I will point out to the lack of cameras in the classrooms. I was told by a former staff member how her job would have been saved had there been a security camera in the classroom. As there wasn't it was her word against another staff member's, and the director choose the narrative of the other staff member. However, as bad as I feel for that individual, one of my nightmares as a parent came true- my child was hurt by another: My own child may have avoided being assaulted by a full-time teacher had there been a security camera in the classroom. Instead, he was wounded and we were left to heal him. To this day (6+ months later) we still have not heard anything from Holy Family regarding the incident, let along an apology. You may want to consider another daycare for your children.

Lovely staff and teachers! There are so many wonderful and cute art projects from the kids and the…read moreschool really helps to make the kids proud of their work and effort. There is a celebration of learning even in the younger rooms and everyone is kind, compassionate, and incredibly hardworking. Great daycare and preschool!

Mrs. B has the resume to back up the education that she has given to my boys. She provides all the…read morewarmth and comfort of home that I wanted for the first time that I wanted when I first let my kids into the world. Wonderful experiences, mastered early learning skills and a safe, fun, warm environment.