I wanted to share my experience since I know how stressful finding childcare can be. We toured three daycares before this one, and for one reason or another, none of them felt right. I finally asked in the FB Avery Moms group, and Abacas was recommended. The only reason we hadn't tried them sooner was the lack of recent reviews, so I want to help fill that gap. I called a week before our tour to confirm there was space for my two daughters and was told yes, there was room. I showed up excited, with my husband on video call so he could join the tour virtually. The facility itself was nice, but unfortunately the tour environment didn't feel welcoming. The staff member seemed rushed, defensive in tone, and at times it even felt like the tour guide was raising her voice at me for asking standard questions (the same questions I asked at other facilities). The biggest disappointment came when I was told there actually wasn't room for my girls. Instead, we could join a waitlist at $150 per child, non-refundable, with no clear timeline for openings. They also don't disclose what number you'd be on the list. While the fee can be applied to registration if a spot opens, the lack of transparency and guarantee didn't feel right for our family. It almost felt like because they have a waitlist, they don't feel the need to be polite or welcoming to potential parents. While every parent's experience may differ, I wanted to share mine so others know what to expect. read more

Our son went to Abacus for 2 years (both Austin and Leander locations) and we loved the experience. Great facility, loving and caring teachers, and an administrative staff that is on top of their game. They organize great events throughout the year. You would only be happy to have your kid at this school. I'd like to even make an update. We recently moved to the Frisco area. There are great preschools here too. But nothing even close to the Abacus experience. A closed gym with a great size for kids to run around, Spanish classes every day, a library, and a computer lab. Well, really hard to find elsewhere :) read more

Abacus is one of the most popular daycare centers in the North Austin area. Before we moved to Austin this January, my friend told me it has a 2-year waiting list and if I could grab a spot, I should just blindly do it. I did it.I enrolled my son and he started on February 1st at the age of 15 months. After 5 months of Abacus, we have come to a conclusion that this is not the daycare for us. Red Flag - Transparency Over Incident Report Summary: The school director doesn't show care for the parent's concern and has a very defensive attitude towards the parent's questions. I have many examples, but I will just pick one: In March, we received a phone call from the school saying my boy fell on the floor and had a bump on his head. That sounds very normal for a toddler who just learned how to walk. We did not think it was so serious until we picked him up. Though the bump was huge, that was not what surprised me. It was the shape of the bump- sort of vertical looking. I had a hard time believing it was from a floor hit, it looked more like he hit a door or something vertical. I asked "are you sure it was floor?" The answer was simply yes and the report stated that. I am not upset about the hit. I do not want to accuse someone of lying to me, but I am certainly not convinced by the answer from the director. Yellow Flag- High ear infection rate My boy had 4 ear infections within 5 months. I thought we were just unlucky because ear infection is known to be common among toddlers. But I was surprised to discover the 4 parents I randomly spoke to, their little ones all had 3-5 times of ear infections in the past 4 months. I am not a medical professional so I cannot speak to the medical statistics, but if I only talked to 4 parents and all of their kids are experiencing such a high frequency of ear infections. It might be an indication of their facility cleaning standard. read more

I love this school! My son started when he was 4 last year. I love they have art class, Spanish, PE every day! It is hard to find these anywhere else. They also have a lot of activities, Spanish festival, Halloween party, 2 field trips a month, swimming lessons and much more. My son has been more places than us as an adult. He also learned about US history, space , etc. I love their teachers, they have so much love and patience to my boy. Thank you Ms Sara and Mr Caleb!! My son has gained a lot of knowledge and his behavior changed a lot too. He always talks about the food is so yummy!!! The front desk ladies are super nice and always smiles!! We are so glad we found this school! I'm sure my son is going to miss it this fall when he enter kindergarten. read more

This is long overdue review. My son who is now in elementary used to go to Abacus since 2017 and my daughter who is now 2 goes to Abacus since she was a year old. We love Abacus. We have had experiences with several day care facilities but when we chose Abacus we were really happy. They have the best teacher-child ratio among all the neighborhood schools. The facility is amazing - Art room, computer room, library, movement room, little kid gym, play gym with basketball hoop, swimming pool, play area based on age groups - name it they have it. Staff is super friendly. The have specialty teachers for art, spanish, gym etc. They are able to retain great talent and also promote within. When the kids get to pre-k they go on field trips twice a month - spoiled much??? During summer Pre-k kids get to swim everyday. My son learned more swimming at abacus than he ever did in his swim school where we pay arm and a leg. I am pretty sure I can go on and on about Abacus but you get the drift? I wish my son would go to afterschool care here because they are always playing outside and having fun. Only reason he couldn't is because he is part of after school clubs and classes at the school. Only con - waitlist is longggg. If you are pregnant or planning to please go and join the waitlist :) read more

I love Abacus!! One of my boys had emotional regulation issues, which had caused problems at previous schools. The Abacus staff handled him so masterfully, which in turn helped him grow and the issues lessoned. I really couldn't have asked for a more supportive and wonderful school. read more

My kids go to Abacus (3 and 4) and I'm very happy with the school. Dave is a great guy and super nice. I'm not sure about how the internal management is run, I see another person that posted here thinks the school has poor management practices. I'm not aware of the inner workings of the school or how they treat their teachers I can only tell you my kids get positive attention from their teachers and are getting a great education. I'd like to point out, this is more a school than a 'daycare'. Both of our kids have been in daycare in the past and we got on a waiting list to get them into Abacus because of the curriculum. I can imagine it's tough for teachers and owner's alike having so many different cultures of people sending their children and managing the education and care of such young kids can't be easy; we know this first hand, that's why we SEND our kids to Abacus! Running a pre-school / kindergarden / daycare for babies, I'm sure takes a lot of patience. We previous had both children enrolled at Kids-R-Kids and I was never happy with their management and how our kids always came home starving and often upset or crying! KRK management used to snatch checks out of my hand as though they were so hungry for cash they couldn't wait to get their grubby little paws on our hard earned money. I was only too happy to make the switch when Abacus had openings for both kids. Since moving over to Abacus, our children are happy, they don't come home hungry and love going to school and seeing their friends. It feels good as a parent to know your kids are learning and doing well when you're not able to be there. I would highly recommend this school to anyone with children age 1-5. Joe C. read more

Abacus is a very well run daycare that I have recommended to friends. My daughter has been attending for about a year, since she was 8 weeks old. The teachers are very attentive, and there seems to be much less turnover than I expected in a daycare setting. Additionally, the managers all know my daughter and greet her by name when we're coming and going. I also love the many arts and crafts projects the kids take part in. When I was presented with a "reindeer" supposedly made by my 4-month-old (it was actually a composition of her foot and handprints), it cracked me up. I don't have the creative bent to do these things myself, but we now have a whole scrapbook worth of finger paintings and mementos as she's grown. The one and only negative of this daycare, and you'll be hard-pressed to find a daycare that differs, is that the meal plan offered does not match up with the types of food I generally choose for my daughter (organic and unprocessed as much as possible). There has been no problem with us bringing our own food, even though it's more work for the teachers to keep her things separate. I know that the management is looking into a price option adopting organic milk, and hopefully that will become an option in the future. Overall, I think Abacus has been fantastic for our daughter. She's a regular social butterfly with her class friends, and I never worry that her care will be less than exemplary. Most importantly, she seems very happy there and has grown quite attached to the teachers. read more

You will not find better!! I can't say enough about this school! We are so lucky to have our 5 year old in the private Kindergarten program and our 12 month old in the toddler group. They love these kids! There is not a child or parent that isn't known by first name basis and nothing gets by these teachers! Both of my children light up when they go to school in the morning. I adore this school!! read more

I'm in love with Abacus! Little ones learning and footsteps moving about, tiny ones rolling and climbing, tiny fingers keyboarding, minds engaging with teachers and books at the library! Kids splashing around on the splash pad or on-site swimming pool! Friendly and engaging staff, Director, and teachers!!! read more

Great school, curriculum, and teachers. Highly recommend!

It really depends on what teacher you're getting for your class. We had bad luck because the good teacher left and the teacher they hired or promoted pay poor attention to giving kindness and support. Administration is getting worse. I saw one kids bully another kids while teacher just ignore them. They cannot keep the good teachers. And were were told 3 teachers will be in the class while we tour there but end up getting only one for 10 kids. read more

This childcare facility promised they could accommodate both of my kids. It was a terrible experience. My youngest son was asked to leave after only being there a few hours as I warned them he was a runner and and would leave the classroom and facility if the doors were not locked and assured me I had nothing to worry about. My son was there for only a few hours when I received a call asking if I could pick my son up because he left the classroom and the facility and tried to run out into the streets and then blamed me and my son and did not take responsibility for not keeping my child safe! Then my older son was being bullied and mistreated and I was told they had great teachers and no one said anything was going on and also mentioned the other kids have not had any problems?! I don't care if other only one child, teasing and bullying should never happen with teachers standing by. I observed this as I watched my son from the parking lot. The teachers of camp counselors do not seem to care. I would not recommend this place unless you have perfect, athletic and popular kids! I also lost money as we had to remove myself immediately! read more

This has been a long time coming. My son started daycare here and it was our first choice. The teachers, director, support staff here are all amazing. A year later our baby started and I've been beyond impressed. We have to switch schools due to work logistics and I cried on their last day. My son talks all the time about his teacher, Ms. Marianna. If my daughter could talk , I know she'd tell me how much she loves Ms. Carol and Ms. Lola. She gets so happy when she sees them and they take the best care of her. Stephanie (director) and Ashley (assistant director) really care about every child there. Katherine is so kind and helpful. She works so hard to make sure everything is in order and you are taken care of. Claryn also is the sweetest. She gets to know everybody's children and tells you about their days. Ms. Laura was my son's first teacher and she also does such a wonderful job. I'm so sad to have to leave. After touring nearly twenty daycares and different companies, if you're lucky enough to live or work around here, this should be a no brainer to get on the waitlist! I was glad I did when I was pregnant because back then the wait was two years! Makes sense knowing the quality and the love your children will receive here. If you want to find a place where your kids are going to be taken care of as if they're the teachers' own, you should chose abacus. read more

Wonderful place. Such caring teachers and attention to every child's individuality. I love Abacus and all they've given to my sweet baby girl! read more

The school has nice facilities and teacher to student ratio is pretty good. We're expecting to start soon.

Our son has been going here since he was about 6 months old and will now be leaving this August to go to Kindergarten. The school has been fantastic and run very well. All of the teachers we've had have been super caring and we feel like this last pre-k year he's learned a ton. I like how they send pictures and videos out on what the children are doing during the day, how they incorporate field trips and also bring people into the school. The facilities also always seem very clean and well taken care of and they do a great job around the holidays. The current principal seems excellent as well. I would totally recommend going here. read more

After hearing a lot of positive things about Abacus, I placed my child on the wait list for 2.5 years...At the time of putting him on the wait list, I was never told that the "wait list" could be an infinite list. I feel that an institution should be true to the parent at the time of the registration and let them know that the wait list could go as long as 2 years and not keep them hanging.Obviously no parent is going to wait over 2 years to get into any toddler school as the child will be grown by then. I would highly recommend Abacus to change their policy. If they cannot hit a one year wait timeline, give the registration money back or let the parents know...they could be waiting longer than 1 year. If any parent hears that, they will never go for the wait list. BTW- I have tried to reach the director their many times to get the refund. Never heard back. read more

Highly recommend this school! We moved our son to this school almost a year ago and couldn't be happier with the experience. The facilities are the best we've seen, but it's the people at the school that make it so great. Especially Ms. Laura and Ms. Angela in the Bunnies room! They truly care about the kids and have helped our sons development beyond what we had expected. They always have new learning activities planned and creative ways to teach their lessons and keep the kids engaged. They are simply the best and we can't thank them enough for all they have done for our little guy! read more

Want to throw your money away? Get on the waiting list at Abacus daycare. You won't get in and you will never get your money back. You could be on the list for 5 years or more. We have been on for a year and a half. We were told that it would be a few months. I guess this is how they get their extra income. read more

We liked the school after touring, so we put down the deposit for the waitlist before baby was born to guarantee a spot when he's 18 months. The director told us that the waitlist was typically about a year long. However, when calling to check on the waitlist when baby was about 1 year, I was told not to wait (even until he's 2 years) because it's most likely that there won't be a spot for his age group then. I was very disappointed. We understand the waitlist is not guaranteed, but if a spot won't open up after 1.5 - 2 years, then I don't think it's prudent for them to not refund the deposit ($115). It's a very bad practice. A good lesson for us, but we hope you don't waste your money to get on their phony waitlist. read more

My son has been attending Abacus since last July. We didn't want to move him from his last daycare, but had to because of commute issues. We're so glad we found Abacus. He really enjoys his computer time as well as all the activities everyday. Our 7-year-old daughter attended for a month last summer and thrived in their summer program. And when we experienced a small hiccup with our son, the director became involved and made sure the situation improved. Our son just loves going to his "Abacus school." read more

My son has been attending Abacus for about 9 months. The administrators all know his name and call if anything needs to be brought to my attention. He loves his teachers and they provide feedback on his development and social skills. We had a few issues with biting early on and they provided a solution for us that we were very happy with and didn't have issues anymore. Would definitely recommend. Only issue is the parking lot! read more

My daughter has been going here for almost three years. Excellent teachers and staff and feels like a family. They have great events and always keep parents informed. read more

Great school, friendly staff, our children have been to other schools Challenger, etc but this is by and far the very best you will find nice blend of fun, learning, and social development. read more

I think it's very telling that the only negative reviews are people who can't get in. I spent a year on the waitlist, opted to take my son to their second campus (which bumps you higher on the waitlist), resulting in a two hour drive each day (30 min there and back for dropoff and pickup each day) for a year. Totally worth it. It breaks their hearts to keep people on the waitlist. I've seen it first hand how much sleep they lose over not being able to get everyone in because they know THIS IS THE BEST DAYCARE IN THE AUSTIN AREA. I toured a dozen or so. My son has flourished here, and honestly he is doing better here than he would at home with me. I asked him to count for me yesterday and instead of his usual trick of counting to twenty (he's 22 months old!) he started counting IN SPANISH. The look on his face said he knew he was showing off. So cute. The artwork that comes home, the attentive and responsive staff, the genuine care for the development and happiness of the kids...truly unmatched. Get on the waitlist. Do everything you can to get your kids here. Consider driving to the Leander campus...you won't regret it! read more