My two daughters attended S.M.A.R.T. Beginnings from 2020-2022. My oldest was 3 years old when she…read morebegan and my youngest was age 1. This center will always hold a special place in my heart. Once my youngest began attending at the age of 1....never attending a daycare previously...cried every day for 1 month when I dropped her off (as Katie mentioned was completely normal), I still knew that she was in amazing hands. Exactly 1 month later, as Katie had mentioned, she stopped crying, jumping out of my hands to run to her favorite caregiver at the time. I really enjoyed the parental communication system through HiMama. The reports were always very detailed regarding my children's day-to-day activities. If medicine was required to be given to my children, they would indicate the time it was given. It was a big help for me to see photos and detailed reports on my children. It made me feel like I was right there with them. I knew I could always trust the staff to take care of my children. However, the biggest impact for me concerned my oldest child. I cannot thank Regina, Rachel and Erin enough for what they provided for my daughter. My oldest has special needs. I did not know this right away. 2 years into the future, before she began kindergarten, my daughter received an Autism diagnosis. Yet, prior to that diagnosis, I quickly noticed that several staff here were very well-trained and knowledgeable of interacting with and caring for children with special needs. Most daycares honestly have NO IDEA what to do with special needs children. Yet SMART Beginnings knows EXACTLY what to do. When my daughters' behavior reached maximum intensity, Regina contacted me right away to explain in detail what was going on. I asked her what she recommended. She mentioned behavior counseling and referred me to someone she personally knew locally. With Regina's extensive background in Education, as well as her extensive experience in working with special needs children as a former educator, she created my daughter's first ever B.I.P. (Behavior Intervention Plan). It was a major rollercoaster and learning experience leading up to my daughter's first diagnosis, as well as after the diagnosis. Flash forward to the present, she currently has diagnosis spanning from Autism, ADHD, ODD and Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Yet I always knew that this daycare would be the ONLY daycare that I would truly feel comfortable leaving my special needs child in..... all because of the extensive knowledge, skill and background of the Director, Mrs. Regina, and the other staff. Also, just to add, when COVID began and most daycares shut down temporarily due to the outbreak, SMART Beginnings was LITERALLLY the only daycare in Ocean Springs that managed to stay open during the entire epidemic, implementing detailed instructions on how to manage the pandemic within the center in order to keep the staff and the children as safe as possible. I believe this speaks volumes about this center! So, in closing, this is why SMART Beginnings will always have a special place in my heart. They showed me how much they truly loved and cared about my children. They helped form a solid foundation of attempting to understand my daughter's needs, her struggles and her triggers, to develop a plan to best support her. The only reason why my kids' attendance ceased is because I had to move to Gautier. If we never moved, my girls would still be there in afterschool care.

I have worked at SMART Beginnings for over 3 years and I can truly say this place gets better and…read morebetter. From the directors, teachers, parents and children, it is all around AMAZING! They have curriculum from infants all the way up to kindergarten readiness!

Wonderful school! Great teachers! Very clean and cute! They really care and love all the children!read more

Just to let everyone know, if a counselor breaks your child's thumb (accidentally), ITZ will just…read moreshrug and say "not on us" and then you're stuck with a doctor bill.

Where do I begin? In the zone from January 2025- January 2026. It was good until it wasn't. My son…read morecame home with rashes, scrapes, knots, and even hives. I picked up my son, and he had hives on his face and body in the zone stated he didn't have dairy and they're not sure why he had hives when I saw the hives on my soon all I could do is cry and took him to his doctors right away. My son also came home with a knot when a new teacher started so that's where I confronted in the zone and asked why I didn't get a call/ why was there no incident report/ what happened. Ms. Katie stated a report was done and they tried to contact me and that my son fell on a toy in my head I know my son and he's never that careless. Called in the zone 4x and even came up there I was upsetttttttt. The next day they say an incident report wasn't reported because the person that picked him up stated it was fine when the teach allegedly tried to take a picture for the report and stated it happened as he was coming into the door. I'm knowing in the zone and the teacher is lying to cover their asses. So, I call the person I had pick him up immediately and he couldn't believe the lies. He told me all the teacher did was tell him what happened, but not once did she pull out a tablet or even offered to take a picture. I immediately reached out to in the zone to let them know what I was told and that it sounds like my son wasn't being watched properly and I'd appreciate if it doesn't happen again. My son took a week to recover from a knot that happened in the possession of in the zone care. Two days later I get a call stating my son was left alone sleeping in the classroom alone while everyone was outside and that it would be reported to the state I was freaking furiousssss!!!!!!!!!!!!! In the zone would always try to get way more money than what they're worth. I always wondered why people would tell me they wouldn't recommend in the zone I thought it would be a cool place because of the busses.I also always wondered how one week they have availability and the next week they do now it all makes sense. My son would also come home with full diapers/ once poop inside his diaper during pickup/ snotty nose even after we asked to please start wiping his nose. My son also has eczema, and I sked multiple times to moisturize him Mrs. Jaie did an amazing job at that. After she moved up other teachers didn't do so good. He'd have dry skin it was horrible. My doctor went to inthe zone in Ocean Springs in January they were amazinggggggggggggggg from beginning to end. They actually cared about the kids and made sure they were safe. I would recommend in the zone Ocean Springs not in the zone St. Martin. The best 3 teachers that were amazing to my son even behind closed doors when I wasn't around was Mrs. Karen and the teacher that would be in there with her during the morning also I forgot her name. Every morning rs. Kren would welcome us with a beautiful smile/ positive attitude everyday if she ever had a bad day, you would never know because she greeted us with care and a beautiful smile every morning. Second would be Mrs. Jamey, she had a beautiful goofy personality and treated my kids with care she was amazingggggg and always kept me updated no matter what. Those 3 teachers made it worth coming to in the zone every single day. My son had a teacher before Mrs. Jamey that he would cry with and never want to go with I couldn't figure out why, but on Mrs. Jamey first day my son went to every single day without crying I couldn't believe it. My son is allergic to dairy, and I even provided a doctor's note to in the zone and one day I get a call stating he got a hold to a dairy product. how if he was being watched properly? I've been plotting for months to resign my son and finally did. y son started his new daycare it's secure so no one can get in the door without being buzzed no one can get into the classroom nor see inside of their classroom. They're very nice /affordable /ducked off. They also gave me updates throughout the day I loved it. All I can do is thank God that the nightmare is over. Also, I know business try to cover their asses, but I have every lick proof in my phone regarding this nightmare that FINALLY ended. .

I'm thankful for the Y being a valuable and community-driven facility. With the ongoing expansion…read morein Ocean Springs, I hope that more locker rooms, sinks, showers, and toilets will be added to reduce the wait-time. An addition of steam rooms, jacuzzis, and saunas would also be greatly appreciated.

Garbage and an EXTREMELY RACIST ENVIRONMENT!!!!!! Trust me, why pay 42 a month for a gym that the…read morejacuzzi is closed, inside pool is closed down while the outside pool is under construction, entitled gym where no one racks their weights or wipes the SWEATY nasty ran down machines from 1965! Look at the Caucasian female trainer behind me as she is SPREADING LIES, GOSSIP, and SLANDERING MY NAME! I bet most don't know this: The City of Ocean Springs owns the real estate and facility that houses the Blossman Family YMCA, but the police department does not. The property operates out of municipal funds, while the daily health, fitness, and aquatic programs are managed and operated by the Mississippi Gulf Coast YMCA! Be careful, SEVERAL UNDERCOVER COPS WORKOUT THERE! Marimans Pool, Ocean Springs, and roughly founded 1975 was when it became the YMCA, David Harris, Marimans owned the Solom Gundies The YMCA was sold to the City of Ocean Springs Hope this helps someone.