Love this daycare/school I feel safe and comfortable when I go to work knowing my daughter is safe…read moreand well taking care of

Mega points for being reasonably priced for a couple and having three pools: one indoor and two…read moreoutdoor (one of the outdoor pools is for the kiddos). The indoor pool is on the small side, but it's also (as far as I know) the only indoor pool that doesn't require an apartment lease or hotel room booking within the city of Albany, which makes it the biggest indoor pool in town. The gym facilities also look pretty extensive, but I haven't actually come for the gym yet -- I'm in it for the swimming. The staff I've interacted with have been universally nice and helpful. My biggest complaint would be that the indoor pool closes so early, I assume for staffing reasons. Also, keep in mind that they require you to reserve your lane ahead of time for the indoor pool. I like the policy, since it saves you from going to the gym, getting changed and showering only to realize that there are no free lanes, but if you like to be more spontaneous about your workouts the JCC pool might not be for you.

Hello Albany JCC, it's nice to meet you…read more My kid is taking swimming lessons at the pool here. What is nice is that they let you try this out for one session without becoming members. There are a heck of a lot of services and activities associated with the JCC. The largest would seem to be the nursery school, the gym and the pool. If you had a nursery school aged kid, and enjoyed to lift weights and swim for some good low impact cardio, you would probably never leave this place. But that's just not me.

Kiddie Academy is truly a trustworthy and phenomenal place to receive childcare. The Staff is…read moreamazing and works hard to provide care and support for every child there. Lauren is an amazing owner and ensures every employee has an abundance of support and resources to carry out their responsibilities. Kiddie Academy of Albany is one of the best work environments I have been a part of and it would be a great experience for anyone who loves working with children.

We had to scramble when the daycare we had been on a waitlist for a year for told us it would still…read morebe longer and we toured several places and Kiddie Academy was a no-brainer - SO much nicer than any other places we looked at. We were lucky that they happened to have an immediate space for our infant and the only reason we withdrew her was when her slot on the waitlist at our employer's day care finally opened up. The staff is the perfect combination of professional and affectionate with the children and the facility is clean and modern with lots of developmentally appropriate toys. The teachers really work hard to do more than just watch the children - they are conducting daily developmental play even with the small infants. The app was such a blessing for us anxious new parents - getting photos and updates throughout the day eased us tremendously. It's a little pricey, but I can honestly say it was worth every penny.

My daughter was here from 5 months until 21 months when we moved out of town. The teachers are…read morecaring and aware, the director of infant/toddler is phenomenally involved, and I don't have a bad thing to say. Great staff, big rooms with natural light, a playground (multiple) out back, CONCOURSE ACCESS for indoor walks and travel to the NYS museum (not like there's ever a need for an indoor walk in Albany), outside twice a day as toddlers, outside every day as babies, they use the parks near them and enjoy picnics in Washington Park or the sprinklers in Lincoln Park....I always felt safe and comfortable with her at CP, and when I picked her up she would often be very busy playing, even at the end of the day. No teachers on phones taking pictures of kids to text to parents. No screens, no swings, no bouncers. They have their methods and they involve really respecting the kids.

It was suppose to open at 5:30 am. I got there at 5:32 and stayed till 5:45 am and it wasn't open…read more I missed my work out. I had to go to work at 6:53. I ended up leaving and went back home to shower. I wasted my time getting up early to go to the gym before work.

I love the YMCA. I've been going to her since I was a little girl I love going to the one on…read moreScotland Avenue in Albany medical center but the only thing is about this place is if it was more equipment and I wish I had a pool other than that this is a nice place is very comfortable relaxing the staff here or nice and amazing and I really enjoy coming here to work out.

I had my daughter enrolled in this center for two months. This place is very overpriced for what…read morethey actually offer. They do not provide any food. I would send her with breast milk, and they would put it in a bottle and not mark whether or not she drank from the bottle, so I would have to throw out the milk. She was out many times due to fevers and positive COVID cases in the classroom, and they would still charge us for those days. She had an incident that has left her with a lifelong scar. She fell and hit her face on the edge of the table and cut her eyebrows. Due to the placement of the injury, her hair will not grow back there. This frustrated me tremendously because, although I understand things happen, in a classroom filled with babies, you would think things would be childproof, but apparently not. When I reached out to corporate, all they said was that the tables are safe, despite my child's incident. The assistant director did not care whatsoever about what happened and showed zero concern for my daughter. They contacted us and stated it was a minor injury. As soon as I saw the pictures, I just cried. We removed her from the center immediately. Since these events occurred on the 1st of December and we had just paid for that month, they refused to give us a refund. After numerous calls to corporate, they refunded me the money; however, they never mentioned making any changes to protect the children.

Amazing place! Incredible staff, beautiful building, very educational. They even have an app for…read morequick and easy communication and teachers send daily photos of the kids engaging in activities! Easy to access as it's right off the exit.

I have two children attending TI both through the lottery. We love this school so much. When I drop…read moremy kids off at school I am filled with a sense of peace and joy knowing they will be safe, loved, and cared for. I find the staff all to be very passionate about teaching and well-suited for their roles. The communication between the teachers, director, and parents is excellent. We get weekly (sometimes more) updates on what they are learning and what is needed from us / is coming up. Although my family is Christian - we love the Jewish aspect of the school. A Muslim acquaintance of mine is also looking forward to sending her child here soon. Personally, my family has enjoyed learning about the Jewish faith and celebrating the Jewish holidays. There are many kids of all faiths, races, and backgrounds in the UPK and 3PK classes. The diversity is wonderful. Packing a vegetarian lunch took a little getting used to but like other reviewers have mentioned my kid's lunches are very healthy because of it. I send them scrambled eggs, PBJ, lots of fruit, nuts (they have nut-free classes if needed), and lots of cheese and crackers. Both of my kids attend TI currently. When one was at daycare and the other at TI it was hard to manage the Christian and Jewish days off as they weren't all the same - but it was worth it because my kids are thriving at the school. Lastly, I want to say that although we have two lottery spots we loved it so much with our first child we put a deposit down for a private spot in the school just in case we didn't get a spot in the lottery. The director refunded the deposit for us when we heard from the district that we had won the lottery again. (The only lottery I ever expect I'll win, and that's okay lol)

It's understandable why nobody would leave a review for their child's nursery school. The…read morerelationships between parents and teachers is remarkably close. And by the time your child has moved on, the school may be a very different place. Regardless, I thought I would share my experiences. Both kids went through the program at Temple Israel Nursery School. We call it TI for short. And it was great. Was it the best ever? Maybe just a hair below some of the experiences with nursery schools we had in Berkeley and Princeton. But I would be hard pressed to think of a better school in the Capital Region for our needs. Yes, most of the teaches that my kids had and loved have moved on. The administration is different. But if we ended up having another kid, this would be the first place I would call to book an appointment and check out the current program. It was important for me for my kids to have a Jewish education, so I loved that this was in the same building as the sanctuary and the students were able to build relationships with the rabbi and cantors. And that is unchanged. And this may be stupid, but I really loved that little lobby where parents would wait for their kids to be done with school. I met some other parents there back in the day, and we're still friends after all these years. Not only that, but this is "smallbany" after all, so the kids keep bumping into some of the peers from nursery school. It's amazing how that works out.

Excellent variety of classes. Great staff. Superb instructors, especially Concetta and Holly. Fun…read moremembers, look out for each other. There's something for everyone. Carol and the Housekeeping team are in top of the place, clean and well managed. Front desk staff are welcoming and atterpntive.

Great professional staff with a never ending lists of classes and fine gym equipment. The pool…read morerocks!

I enrolled my son last May 2022 and I am so grateful how great staff are. They are responsive to…read moreyour needs and have great way of communicating with parents. The school is clean and I am so glad i was able to enroll my son! #earlyeducation #toddlerlife

From the owner: Hetty's Brilliant Minds is Licensed Childcare Center in the Capital District working with toddlers…read moreages 2-5. We offer innovative, year round, before school, full day, half day and after school educational toddler and preschool care. We are here to nurture, educate, and inspire to provide our kids with a well rounded environment.

Had an awful experience with the program, the staff, and the owner. I regret choosing this program…read moreand would not recommend to others. Please do your research before sending your children here. I now see they have dozens and dozens of violations on the OCFS website and are constantly getting more added.

We were looking for part-time care for our first born and had very few options in the capital…read moredistrict. Luckily, Eco Kids helped us out and we could not be more pleased with their care!