About two years ago we moved to Des Plaines with a 1 1/2 year old girl. Priority on our list was to…read morefind a safe, nurturing, diverse learning environment for our daughter. After researching several daycare options Kiddie Junction Educational Institute was the evident first choice. It was the best decisions we have made to date. Our daughter is now 3 1/2 and we have an 8 month old who also attends Kiddie Junction. Kiddie Junction has incredible staff that sincerely cares about the kids and engages them in learning opportunities as well as play time. Our daughter is always excited to go to daycare, as it really is her second home. Our son is learning a lot for his age like eating by himself:) Sometimes we don't even realize how ready he is for certain things until he does them at daycare. The Kiddie Junction facility is laid out with different themes from around the world, exhibiting the diversity, which was an important criterion for selecting a Daycare for our kids. The Instructors from the various classes know all of the kids that attend the institute and not just the kids from their classroom. A highlight of our day is the online access to pictures of the kids, including a list of their activities and food menu. To foment a great environment between staff and parents, The PTO and the center organize yearly special events such as: ice cream socials, breakfast with grandparents, Christmas show, spring graduation, parents night out, family picnic, etc. The effort that the owner, teachers and the center put into these event and daily activities is impressive. When you are a working parent and someone else is taking care of your kids you want to know that your kids are in a safe, fun and educational environment: prerequisites for them to thrive. Kiddie Junction Educational Institute will offer just that. Thank you Ms. Robin and staff for an incredible 3 years:)

My son went here for several years. It's been about 4 years since we moved but we miss the staff,…read morethe atmosphere this school had so much! My son is so well behaved now he's in grade school and I definitely give this school and staff (esp Ms Thess) credit to how my son conducts himself. With the outings they do with the kids to the plays they put on. I'm so grateful we choose this school when we lived in Des Plaines. Thank you Kiddie Junction

I decided to sign my daughter up for the free "try out" session to see how she, my husband, and I…read moreliked Big Blue Swim School. We were asked to come a few minutes before our scheduled lesson time. When we arrived, there was plenty of parking in their parking lot. We were greeted and given a quick tour of the facilities. I was immediately impressed with the hair drying station, changing rooms, cubby storage, children's play/waiting area, and even the pool, which is kept at I believe 90 degrees year round, which is a huge plus for my daughter. When it was time, someone calls all the kids scheduled for that time to check in with them and tells the kids which swim lane to go to. Parents can choose to wait and watch behind glass, or go in and sit on the benches next to the pool. They do little tests during the lesson, but they make it so fun that the kids don't even realize they're being watched and tested. My daughter was rated on her current abilities, and we were approached by Julie (I think), given a welcome bag with some goodies, and told of my daughter's swim level. She went over how everything worked, rates, and answered all of our questions. When the lesson was over, the kids walk over to the shower stations (which are right next to the pool) to wash off. We decided to sign my daughter up for weekly lessons. She's gone a few times now, tried a few instructors, and we have concluded that Alexis is the best. He is so engaged the whole time, not looking off into space like some other instructors. The kids are always laughing with him, and my daughter actually smiles during her lesson with him. Additionally, I feel that his methods are more efficient and have seen improvement in my daughter's abilities. I have navigated Big Blue's website and give the site 4 stars. As much as I like the ease of signing up, changing/editing, adding, or canceling lessons and paying, I wish there was a way to see a month view with lesson and instructor labeled. Currently, I am having to edit each lesson individually to request the specific instructor. Overall, I am more than happy paying the $23 a lesson for my daughter to get swim lessons here. I recommend trying to free trial lesson. You have nothing to lose and will not be disappointed!

**Rating:** (1/5)…read more We originally signed up for a trial class for my daughter last Saturday. It is a far drive for us coming from Chicago, and we were literally 10 minutes away from the facility when they texted to say the class was canceled. No explanation was given. We gave them the benefit of the doubt and had a second class scheduled for today. Just as we were about to walk out the door to leave, they texted us saying they were canceling again. That is twice now they have canceled on us completely out of the blue, without any explanation, and at the absolute last minute. It's one thing if a business needs to cancel and provides a respectful 24-hour notice, but it is an entirely different thing to consistently cancel at the last possible second. When I confronted them about this via text, they dodged the question entirely. Instead of offering a real reason or trying to make it up to us in any way, they just gave a canned "we apologize and understand you're frustrated" response. As someone with influence over other parents on social media, I will absolutely be sharing this experience. I will be telling everyone to take their business elsewhere. This location operates with complete unprofessionalism and a glaring disregard for simple respect for their customers' time. Look for another swim school.

I gave my daughter several options for her 10th birthday party venues and luckily she chose…read moreCircEsteem. I have to say that they certainly made a bunch of kids, and especially my daughter / hero, very happy. The CircEsteem staff totally rocked, from Scott's quick and continued communication leading up to the event to the engaged, happy, and involved staff during the event, and kind communication afterwards to ensure our happiness. Everyone was upbeat, fun, helpful, and excellent. We knew it would be good when one of the kids walked in, looked around and said, "I can tell this is going to be a great party!" She was right. I also have to give a shout out to the face painter and balloon guy. They were tremendous! I've never seen a balloon artist that talented. And one of the kids said re the face painter: "she's a professional make-up artist! Well it's all downhill for me from now on." I wish I were more fluent in 10-year-old, but clearly she somehow meant that as an "epic" compliment. It was great getting the kids together to actually learn some new fun skills, be active, and have fun, even while wearing masks. Where else can kids get on a trapeze, aerial silks, walk on stilts, and act like a clown, all while getting their faces painted and having incredible whimsical balloons twisted for them? I could go on and on about how excellent this was, but let's just say that it was certainly a party that my daughter and her friends will remember. Thanks CircEsteem!!

CircEsteem was once a wonderful organization and has great potential, but that is unfortunately…read morecompletely wasted now due to terrible mismanagement. The teaching staff is amazing, talented, kind and knowledgable. However, those at the top of the administration have demonstrated a complete disregard for the working conditions of the entire staff, and pay themselves a very generous salary but constantly ask their employees to make sacrifices. As a result, the staff is constantly overworked, underpaid and underappreciated for their dedication. The turn-over rate of employees over the past several years has grown incredibly high and is a clear indication of the lack of professionalism and respect shown by upper management. Directors have frequently disregarded safety standards and repeatedly ignored the very reasonable concerns brought forward by staff and students. They also actively discourage whistleblowers from raising awareness on safety issues. This naturally creates a dangerous environment for students. For an organization who's core mission statement is to build self-Esteem, they do an incredible job of destroying the esteem of staff, and blatantly demand silence and compliance, and aggressively bully employees rather than making any effort to find understanding or compromise. This type of upper management class division, discrimination and subjugation has happened before with other nonprofit organizations, which inevitably resulted in strikes and petitions that were widely reported on the news. It is a shame that they would choose to risk this and strongarm employees into submission and lay off those who try to stand up for their rights, rather than have civil discourse. When more than half of the staff is extremely unhappy, and those that attempt to raise awareness of any concerns are fired or pushed out, that is a problem that requires consideration on how to restructure and they have taken zero steps to do so and have shown no accountability. I strongly encourage CircEsteem teachers to strike and unionize as soon as possible, or this trend of exploitation will only continue to worsen. The Executive Director also needs to resign, as it is blatantly evident that he is not qualified for the position and is clearly not upholding CircEsteem's mission of mutual respect, humility, patience, love and self-reflection. Bottomline - do not work for CircEsteem, and consider other options for circus arts.

I wish that there were more stars to give this review. This has been my most difficult review to…read morewrite. I'm just caught up in my emotions and can't find enough gracious words to put into writing. OTSC has touched my heart in so many ways. I have met the most polite and kind hearted kids to be around. Off The Street Club is a boys and girls club that provides a safe haven for kids who are living in the most dangerous neighborhoods. The boy's and girl's club provide many different programs for kids to enjoy while providing a safety net surrounding them. Including a mentorship program, sports and other athletic activities, music, art, woodshop theater and a computer center for afterschool to finish up school work. OTSC even has a program doing the summer camp Mathieuv where kids can go and enjoy being kids. Lots of fun and laughter. I'm just grateful and honored to give my time by volunteering here at OTSC. The smiles on these kids faces is priceless. For each warm hug and beautiful smile that I see on these kids faces makes my day. Great place to volunteer, well mannered kids and the atmosphere is always full of warm hugs and love.

From about 1975 thru 1981 I attended the Off The Street Club (OTSC). I was also a student at St…read more Mel Grammar School which was located about four blocks away. The OTSC was situated between my home and St Mel. My siblings and I would walk there most days right after school. I participated in the Jessie Owens track & field events and later joined the Chicago Zephyrs track club through the OTSC. My siblings and I also regularly attended a sleep away summer camp via OTSC. The neighborhood was though when I was growing up. I don't think we thought of it that way at the time. For a while there was a kid a few years older who would try to rob me of any money I might have who must have lived near the club. But once we were in the club we were safe. By traveling in groups of three or more we felt safer. The OTSC was a great place to play. There was a supervisor named Bo Rogers who I admired. Bo was an outstanding basketball player. He was 6 feet 7 inches tall and clearly had played high level competitive basketball for many years. He ran the gym, organized tourneys, it was great. On Saturdays we would roller skate in the gym. I became a pretty good skater. There was an administrator named Ms Holmes who was a real sweet heart and beautiful too. She would be tough if the situation required but mostly she was nice. She seemed to keep the whole operation in check. About 12 years ago, upon returning to Chicagoland area from NYC, somehow I walked into the OTSC briefly and saw Ms. Holmes. She was busy as always so we didn't say much. I kinda regret that now. I recently learned there's an annual fund raiser, most recently it was at the Art Institute of Chicago, named the Flyer Fly Ball. I will plan to attend the next one. There was an extended period when the OTSC was the funniest part of my life! I loved meeting the other kids, competing and just playing in a supervised and safe setting. Every child should have that place. I've done a lot since my time at OTSC. It's great to see that the OTSC is still doing well and meeting a tremendous need for the community! My very best to the people who have helped to make it so, Paul Burton, JD, MBA Chief Executive Officer ResQ Pharma, Inc.

I love everything about this place! The teachers are great to work with and they have excellent…read moreactivities.

My daughter Natalia absolutely loves her music class with Mr. Ray! He has a wonderful way of…read moreconnecting with the kids--patient, upbeat, and genuinely passionate about teaching. I've seen Natalia come home excited to sing new songs and show me everything she learned. Mr. Ray creates such a fun and positive environment, and it's clear he truly cares about each child's growth and confidence. We're so grateful for the joy he brings to the classroom every week! Highly recommend!

I've been at PUD for going to be 5 years. I love there friendly staff who you can easily talk to…read moreand get advice from. They are such a talented group of teachers they are very professional with there way of teaching. They make class fun but then get down to business when they want too. There choreography is amazing and so much fun to perform. You can easily see there passion for dance.

I love this place in terms of space (pre-covid you could watch your kids practice), teachers…read more(compassionate and friendly), flexibility (several classes offered), friendliness and organization (staff). The emphasis is on individuality, no mandatory costumes required, only appropriate shoes. The annual dance productions are amazing! It's like a professional entertainment and a treat for the whole family!

Our daughter just spent the past couple of months in the infant room and I have nothing but…read morepositive things to say about her teachers. In addition to their love and care, they provided her with enriching activities to promote her cognitive, social, and motor development. My husband and I are both teachers, so we said goodbye for the summer. On her last day, we were both so touched by the kinds words her teachers shared with us. From the first time we toured the facility last summer, Ceci made our family feel welcomed at KindCare. On the first day we dropped our daughter off, Lupe made us feel like she was safe and in good hands. Brielle could always get a smile from our daughter and made sure to share all of her accomplishments with us. Brielle also said her laughter would sometimes wake up the other babies... so sorry about that! I always appreciated how Brielle and Lupe always took the time at pick up to describe our daughters day. They would also share observations and things we could look out for at home. Tamera and Sarah rounded out the team in the infant room and contributed the positive environment.

Our daughter just spent the last few months in the infant room at Evanston Kindercare, and we have…read morenothing but incredible things to say about the care and attention she received there. The whole staff were kind, caring, and attentive, with Ms. Cece, Ms. Lupe, and Ms. Brielle as real standouts in making our daughter feel safe, loved, and continually enriched. Cannot recommend the infant room here enough!

If you're looking for a daycare for your child/children, Children's Campus is one of my #1…read morerecommendations. The teachers and staff are so welcoming, communication is amazing regarding your little ones. They are very patient and supportive. Ms.Sylvia (The director) is very accommodating, she works with you and I love that ! Absolutely a great place to send your little ones !

As a first time parent, I was nervous sending my little one to daycare. However, the teachers here…read morehave been incredibly supportive and attentive to my daughter. The kangaroo teachers have been above and beyond awesome in communicating any concerns and/or praises for my daughter. I would highly recommend any parent who needs to send their child to daycare to look at Children's Campus!