My family has been with this center for a few months and let me just say, it is clear the Director…read moreand management team does not care about your kids or the employees. It seems as though everyday, the team is just trying to "make it through the day". Every morning at drop-off, the toddler and infant classrooms are clearly over ratio and chaotic. There are constant teacher callouts. My daughter's teacher is out numerous times a week for one reason or another. This forces my child to be placed in a different room, proving that there is no consistency. The teachers that do show up everyday, are CLEARLY burnt out. I feel bad for them. Additionally, a majority of the staff lack any educational expertise and seem to view this job as glorified babysitting. Management seems to hire anyone who walks through the door just so they can enroll more families and make more money. This puts a heavy burden on the good staff. No quality curriculum is taking place. My kids never come home with any artwork or projects. The kids are just not learning anything. The center is filthy. I don't think anyone knows how to sweep or mop. I have had to step through my child's classroom to get their backpack and I am disgusted with the state of the classrooms. I truly believe the teachers are so burnt out, they are just too tired to clean. And it shows. There are a handful of wonderful teachers who seem to care about the kids; but unfortunately, that is way overshadowed by the negative vibes in this place. There is a child in my son's preschool classroom (Kairo is the child's name) that has extremely aggressive and violent behavior. My child fears going to class because of him. I have spoken with the Director Heather numerous times about this and it seems nothing is being done and my concerns are being pushed aside. This child needs special help that he cannot get in a large group setting. I know multiple parents have the same concerns about this child. I am in search of another daycare and soon as I get a spot, I will be dis-enrolling immediately.

My family has been with the Kindercare company for a few years. Both my son and daughter attend the…read moreMelrose center. Good experience!

We are so thrilled with our experience at CCL. Our son started at age 2 and will remain through…read morepre-K. This is our third experience with pre-schools in the Boston suburbs and CCL stands out for its excellent sense of community, curriculum, location, teachers and tradition of caring. We are so lucky to have this wonderful school in our Lexington community.

Its all about the kids and the teachers at CCL. My daughter has been going there since she was old…read moreenough to attend and to get out of one of the corporate daycares. I feel so strongly about how great this school is that I am also on the board, as it is a non-profit. They treat the teachers with the respect that they deserve and don't send them home without pay when the numbers are down for the day. If the numbers are down, our kids get more interaction with more teachers. Did I mention how great the teachers are! My daughter has thrived at CCL and loves going to "school" everyday. You do have to walk up stairs as the space is rented from the church, but that has actually taught my daughter stair safety at a very early age. I cannot recommend CCL highly enough. The space is a bit dated, but they have tons of toys for the kids and they love it, so don't let the space fool you, this place is great.

We made the switch from another daycare provider to Next Gen when my daughter was 4. We were both…read moreunsure of how it would go (change is tough!), but looking back I wish we had moved earlier. Next Gen staff clearly care about the families, the community, and each other. The center is clean, the staff fun, and the Directors responsible and experienced. They hold everyone to high standards of care. Sadly, this is the complete opposite of our previous center. Though we have only interacted with some teachers (starting at 4 means we skipped a few classes!), all have been wonderful. My daughter is getting ready for Kindergarten, made fantastic friends, and regularly makes cards for her teachers (just because she adores them). I no longer stress about the care she is receiving, if she will be behind in school, or if the teachers are treated well (phew!). I will note the cost is higher and the hours more limited (close earlier) than our other center. Thankfully, we were able to manage both; totally worth it!

Extremely impressed! After a tour, I was extremely comfortable with how clean and attentive the…read morestaff were. After multiple weeks here, I could not be happier. The communication, the staff, the love is beyond my expectations. Director Kim has been amazing in answering questions and Ms.Ally is my sons favorite teacher and has gone above and beyond! Can't recommend Next Generation enough (and I've done a lot of tours in daycares)! Don't hesitate to send your little one here. They are in great hands!

I feel so lucky to have found Knowledge Beginnings. I had a very disheartening experience with…read moreanother local center, and it makes me appreciate the warm environment and support my son receives at KB. The directors, Leighann and Maureen, are truly wonderful, and his teachers are so inviting, smart, hard-working, and loving. The classroom management is pretty stellar (which isn't easy in a preschool room!), and my son loves the food (they provide all meals and snacks throughout the day, which is a huge plus). They have a great outdoor space, and their hours are super convenient. I will say the price is on the higher end of what I've found, but it's been completely worthwhile to have such amazing partnership in my son's care. Highly recommend!

Loved this daycare! Awesome teachers…read more Our baby started going to daycare here first, and loved it. The teachers are all great! The teachers in infant, toddler are amazing. They looked after all the kids very well, and we felt very comfortable leaving our baby with them. They did a lot of art work too which adorns our house now. They take credit cards for monthly payments - A plus! The office staff could have been better though. They aren't very responsive to emails, and everything takes endless follow-up.

Cambridge Montessori School embraced both of my children and placed them at the center of the…read morelearning experience. They love going to this school and their CMS experience has taught them to love learning. My second grader interacts with adults gracefully and articulately because of the skills and confidence this schooling experience has given her. CMS has an excellent arts, music, and drama offering and the teachers encourage academic excellence. I would recommend CMS to any parent looking for a school that supports a curriculum that encourages independence and confidence in addition to accelerated learning.

The school culture is rigid and judgmental, with a culture of pathologizing normal toddler…read morebehavior. Some of the things that made us withdraw our 3yo mid-year: Despite a stated open-door policy, parents were actively discouraged from involvement in or visiting the classroom. In March, a formal school memo forbade parents from speaking to each other at drop-off/pickup, asked parents to drop their children off at the front door instead of at the classroom door, and instructed parents not to carry their children or their children's belongings. The memo specifically suggested that any discipline problems at home were caused by not following the same rigid "expectations" as the school. When our son was afraid to use the toilet at school, the teacher forced him to sit on the toilet for 45 min while he cried in frustration. He was criticized for not doing work exactly the way the teachers wanted (e.g. sorting puzzle in the "right" order). In a parent conference, we were told our son was "too literal" because asked where rain came from, he said "From the sky," not "From clouds." He was already reading and adding at 3, but we were told this, along with his shyness, were signs of a possible psychological problem. We were bullied to take him for autism screening, even after a specialist and our pediatrician said he was likely fine. Administration, up to the head of school, either ignored problems or blamed us. When we sent a formal letter detailing our complaints, the school offered us a partial tuition refund if we signed a nondisparagement agreement. We refused. We've since learned other families had similar experiences. If you click on Yelp's "non-recommended reviews"--which are weeded out by algorithm--you'll see that other families have made similar complaints.

I can't say enough about the quality of the teachers, especially Miss Annie, who runs such a caring…read moreand professional school. we are a former school family, and we still join the school on outside activities like Apple picking, we were fortunate to have Miss Annie for the 3. years we did , my kids still talk about her to this day.

Our family has had a great experience at Waverley Square Daycare - Belmont. Ms. Annie and all the…read moreteachers have been so welcoming and our daughter is excited to walk in every day! We've been in both the toddler and preschool rooms and have enjoyed seeing the progression of activities and learning for the children. The Waverley team is very responsive and easy to communicate with, and even organizes fun family activities throughout the year where we can spend more time with the teachers and the other families. Would highly recommend to other parents looking to find the right spot for childcare!

Our oldest son just finished his first year of preschool in the 3-day program at Belmont Coop. We…read moreabsolutely love the school. The director and the teachers are so engaged with the kids and its an incredibly warm and welcoming community. We originally visited the school when it was located in Cushing Square. The space was fun and interactive but the new space has really allowed the school to grow in both capacity and programming. It's bright and sunny with plenty of room for more creative play and planned activities. It has an adjacent playground as well as a nearby park for more lengthy outdoor activities. The school provides several special activities which our son loves. Habitat, the Mass Audubon education center, regularly visits his class and provides hands-on exposure to the local fauna. They are also regularly visited by Hugh Hanley, a local musician who leads an hour of song and story telling. These are particularly fun days to be a parent helper in the classroom. Since this was our first foray into school for our son, we are very glad we chose a coop program. It allows us to see our son in his school environment and better understand his development and how we can help shape his growth both at school and home. We also get to know and work with other parents and families in the area. The teachers provide regular feedback which is encouraging and helpful. We particularly love the director who is constantly in the rooms with each group of kids and consistently checks in with us. I would highly recommend this school to anyone but would strongly urge families to look into the program sooner rather than later as the school regularly has a wait list.

I agree with the previous reviewer - the leadership and teaching staff at this school are amazing…read more My twin boys had a wonderful year in the 3-day class as their first out-of-home experience, and we all loved it. Everyone on the teaching staff is extremely committed, detail-oriented, and caring. They are working really hard to create a fun, engaging environment, and to make sure that every child is included and enjoying the experience. The classroom is organized thoughtfully, with an impressive range of activities always available to the children plus daily curriculum plans that include developmentally appropriate and seasonal enrichment activities, and also the year's enrichment activities from outside visitors included theater, music, yoga, and art. There is always so much going on at this school, and yet it manages to feel comfortable and homelike for the kids. We have also really appreciated the co-op aspect of it, since we recently moved to the area from out-of-state. The school has a wonderful mix of families and they have all been very welcoming. This school feels like a close-knit family with teaching geniuses at the helm. I love it, the kids love it, and I can't believe we were lucky enough to find it.

Our family joined the Beginnings community in Fall 2020, during the midst of the pandemic and right…read moreafter we moved locally. I could not imagine a more warm welcome to a new place for our son, who runs into school every morning and talks about how much he loves his teachers and friends every night. From really creative classroom curriculum to outstanding communication between administration, teachers, and parents, we have confidence that our son is in the place that is best for him. We also have confidence that the Beginnings team is doing everything the right way in regards to keeping the whole community safe and healthy. I highly recommend Beginnings School to other families looking for an engaging and fun place dedicated to thoughtfully educating your children.

The teachers and administration at Beginnings deeply care for and love the work that they do. If…read moreyou are looking for professional, high-quality early education, this is the place. The teachers are well-trained to scaffold the most important dimensions of early learning: social-emotional development and self-help skills. Pre-academic tasks are weaved through play and conversation and children are quick to adopt a growth mindset, which is one of the most necessary indicators of future success. I highly recommend Beginnings for any parent or educator looking for a truly special, unique school that will give them or their children the tools needed to thrive.