Reviewing the Nest Academy on Mt Vernon: It's scary having…read moreto find a new daycare but I had one video call with the principle and immediately knew this was the place :) The principle is literally your favorite Filipino auntie and her energy is infectious. She works incredibly hard at her job and it shows. And you can tell the whole place is filled with her joy. The staff love working with children and are always happy to welcome you and your child at the beginning of the day and wish you well at the end. There's a strong sense of community here - really fitting within the Del Ray neighborhood. There's even a Fb group for parents to connect and we've used it to announce birthday parties, exchange items and tips, coordinate thank you gestures for the teachers, and dare I say sometimes gently complain! Of course every daycare will have some annoying logistics but at the end of the day, my child is loved and cared for and that's what's important. Also, logistically - they qualify for child care aware for my military families and they have the best hours in the area (7am-6pm). Most other places are 730-530 and that extra 30min on both sides are crucial for my family and our work situation.

I wanted to express my thanks and appreciation to Mr. Adada and Nest Academy for their tremendous…read moresupport of the Del Ray community. While I have several neighbors and friends that currently or have had in the past, their children enrolled at Nest Academy and speak extremely highly of their time at Nest Academy, I do not have children enrolled. But I can speak on behalf of Mr. Adada's continual and generous support of the community, including numerous children's events. He has either sponsored or allowed us to use his parking lot during our Halloween Parade and "Best Decorated Stroller" event, during Art on the Avenue with attendance at over 50,000 and numerous other events often supporting non-profits such as Friends of Duncan Library and Senior Services. Thank you for your great work in shaping little lives and for all you do for the community.

Both of our kids started going to Ms. Claudia's when they were about 3 months old. They've formed…read moresome great friendships and are always excited to see their friends at day care. Ms. Claudia and her two daughters watch over the kids providing a variety of activities from picnics and backyard splash pads in the summer to arts and crafts in the fall. Claudia's day care has a great adult to child ratio (about 3 adults to 10 kids) and offers one of the best rates in the area, not to mention her generous discount for the second child. If you have rigid expectations and want hourly updates/photos than this might not be the day care for you. If you are OK with play all day every day in a safe environment, then Claudia's day care will be perfect for you.

Claudia has been a godsend to us over the last two years. Our daughter started with her at four…read moremonths and is now two. She takes care of the kids as if they're her own. My daughter is so excited to see Claudia every morning and I know she is loved and taken care of. It's a bonus that out of nowhere she started singing her ABCs and counting to 10, we certainly did not teach her that and attribute it to Claudia!! We are moving soon and I am so so sad to leave, I know we'll never find someone as great.

We love American Day School! Our daughter has thrived in the infants classroom. She gets so excited…read morewhen she sees her teachers and classmates at drop off and she's always in a great mood when we pick her up. Her teachers are incredibly caring and loving and have helped our daughter grow into a happy toddler. She's learned so much at ADS and as parents, we feel so confident in the school and the community. Highly recommend!

When looking for childcare, times can get a bit stressful. As a family, we wanted to have our kids…read morein a comfortable environment where they would feel safe and taken care of. I am a military veteran and we were looking for childcare under the 'Childcare Aware' program. Within this program, we were blocked into looking at certain childcare centers and what we discovered is that is not necessarily a model built to take care of each family as an individual. As we know, there is no cookie cutter fit for each child into a particular center. Knowing this, we decided to seek childcare outside of the 'Childcare Aware' program and to go with one that fit our family.....our child. I can tell you American Day School (ADS), under the leadership of Ms. Pilar Mackay, Ms. Nicole and the rest of the educators, exceeded our expectations. Every morning while dropping off our daughter she was greeted (as well as us) as if she was the most important person around. They do this with each and every kid. We know the love and safety is a focus there because every time our daughter would see a friend of hers outside of school they would always run to each other and give the best hugs. They were always soooo excited to see one another. At ADS their goal is to provide a positive environment where the children develop a sense of community, are confident, and have fun learning. Having our daughter experience ADS set her up for success when she reached Kindergarten. During her time at ADS she developed her counting well beyond 100, was completing math equations, knew all of her letters (capital and lower case), and was writing her name. Kindergarten has been a breeze for her. She's been very confident and a leader in her class and the teachers have continued to work with her on her math equations once they noticed she was already performing well enough at them. There is no doubt from us that our daughter could her gone to first grade after her Pre-K year with ADS. Our daughter spent a total of two years with ADS (Preschool 2 and Pre-K). If you are looking for a great head start for you kid(s), I think you owe it to yourselves and your little one(s) to give ADS a look.