It's a very nice center and the environment is genuinely inclusive. I love the amenities that then…read moreoffer. Too bad for the very limited hours of operation, but that seems to be a common trend for all the gyms in PGH

When I was living in my hometown of Pittsburgh, the JCC was one of the facilities I used for…read more staying active. The main gym is packed with top-tier cardio and lifting equipment, and the indoor lap pool is perfect for a solid swim. Everything is consistently clean, well-maintained, and running smoothly. Plus, wrapping up a tough workout in their saunas or steam rooms made the membership worth it all on its own.

Passionate, nurturing teachers and staff in a safe, play-centric preschool learning environment.read more

From the owner: The Shadyside Presbyterian Church Nursery School (SPCNS) provides a caring and stimulating…read moreenvironment that allows children to discover and begin to develop their social, intellectual, creative, emotional, moral, and physical skills in a developmentally appropriate manner. SPCNS prides itself in the quality of its care and the individualized attention offered to each child. Low student to teacher ratios ensure that the children will receive the nurturing and attention they need and deserve.

Great executive director and educators. Children are loved and cared for. Play based while still…read morelearning and is developmentally appropriate. NAEYC accredited with 4 Keystone Stars and DHS licensed.

After moving from my hometown to Pittsburgh with my preschooler, it was really important for us to…read morefind a school that was warm and welcoming while also providing a challenge for a late fall birthday baby who's been through a year of preschool already. After lots and lots of research and so many phone calls, we chose Shady Lane School. The staff at Shady Lane are all incredibly friendly and welcoming. Drop off and pick up usually take us longer than I expect because my son wants to go around and visit different teachers and say hi to everyone. Everyone learned his name quickly and greets him warmly even when he's being grumpy. Whenever I have to talk to the administrative team, my son is thrilled to play at the large train table by the front desk. His teachers are so dedicated, and I think that is such a big part of why this school is special. Our family is big and complicated, but my son's teachers have gone out their way to learn names and faces. They offer positive encouragement and praise as well as boundaries and redirection. My son used to argue with me about going to school at his last learning center/childcare provider, but now he's always eager to get up and go. I am so thankful that we found Shady Lane, and I will certainly keep them in mind if/when we have another child.

I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to send my son to AFCC. Their advanced understanding…read moreof child development provided a supportive environment for my son to flourish. You can see the tenets of Mr Rogers (who interned there at one point!) woven into their philosophies and approach to preK learning. The intimate setting allowed the staff and classmates to feel like family. They prioritize SEL, social skills, learning through play, in addition to kindergarten readiness. Their commitment to providing the safest environment during COVD19 allowed our kids to get that important last year of peer engagement to prepare for K, without any closures for illness. We will always look back at our time at AFCC with gratitude!

Great program!!! Established and Professional staff…read moreThe Director is amazing Highly recommend the program

I can't speak to how Bright Light Academy was pre-covid (I see reviews from 2018 here) but I can…read morespeak to how I feel now. Our children LOVE Bright Light. It's not a "chain" of daycares, so it feels very homey. My oldest child always has funny stories about their classmates and teachers, and my youngest is always singing excited to play with friends in the morning. Whatever changes BLA has made over the past 5 years, it's working for us. I highly recommend Bright Light Academy to anyone seeking childcare in the area. We plan on keeping our children at Bright Light through Pre-K!

Both of our boys, who are a year apart, have been going to Bright Light Academy for the past 7…read moremonths. Within about a week of being at Bright Light, and after I had been a stay at home mom for many years and they had never left my side, they were waving goodbye and walking into class by themselves. The staff are compassionate, friendly and professional and tremendously eased their initial separation anxiety. My youngest does both speech and occupational therapy. Both therapists worked at other daycares and told me they had started recommending Bright Light to their friends who are expecting and to parents looking for daycares. Not only does the staff welcome the therapists into their classes, but they keep me up to speed on his therapy sessions' progress and they carry out what the therapists instruct him to do. The director abides by the rules and takes them seriously. While this may be misundertood by some, I would rather leave my children in the care of a professional who follows the rules and abides by the law and who I can trust to leave my children with. Not only that, but she only hires the best staff to work alongside her. Also, at a time of political and religious conflict, and as a family with very different backgrounds in those aspects, she has made us feel welcome, we were treated with a lot of compassion and respect, and she has taken the time to stop and ask me about our culture and beliefs and has been very respectful to them, which you would not see happening at your average daycare! Thank you to everyone at BLA who participated in shaping the lives of our sons emotionally, socially and intellectually and have been a second home to our boys.

My daughter Alonah went to Brightside at 4months old,she remained there until she started Head…read morestart. While there I became very familiar with the staff an fell absolutely in love with them. My child loved an trusted them, she formed so many good an trusting relationships there, I Literally cried when it was time for my child to start Head start but in my heart, i was confident that she would be ok... To this day we are still in touch with some of the staff there...

So, we sent our daughter here for almost 4 years and for the first 3 things went well. the…read moreleadership in the front office (Jen, director) was great. the caregivers in the infant through toddler rooms ware also great. Donna, Chrissy, Mary, Justin and Char (plus others, of course) were amazing. I never worried about how she was being cared for and she was thriving and loved being in school. We also loved the diversity of the classroom and felt that was a unique and valuable part of her early education. Once she was moved upstairs to the Pre-K rooms and there was a change in leadership things really went downhill. Her behavior started turning negative and wound up. I found out later that the kids pretty much ran around and were just yelled at by the teacher - or at least that is what she told me, without malice. Considering how immediate her behavior turned around at the Pre-K program we switched her to, i don't doubt that was exactly what was happening. Another big issue was the idea of the lead caregiver in the pre-k room referring to herself as an educator since her grammar and spelling were borderline illiterate. How any adult can misspell words that you expect 4 and 5 years old to learn is really troubling. This was something other parents noticed as well and sort of laughed about it. One told me that basic math assignments sent home were also incorrect. I was kind of horrified by it. After a few other questionable issues regarding communication of behavior etc we decided to pull her out and it was the best decision we made - i only wish that we had not put her through that year in her "classroom". She is now thriving and doing amazing at Beth Shalom in a loving and structured environment. One thing that stood out to me about poor leadership was when the new director telling parents that they should appreciate that he was going to be working in one of the rooms when they were completely understaffed and about to turn kids away for being over quota. Other than that i rarely ever saw him whereas Jen was often floating, getting to know the kids, talking to parents. very welcoming and open.

Great little preschool . Ms. Reefman is very kind and always let's me know how the day was for the…read morekids. They come home with a folder of the days learning and it's usually a new letter in capital and lowercase. Today's letter was M and m. My nephew Is having a hard time drawing those letters although he can trace them right. I know he's learning a lot from being there though. He always comes home with a story about how his day went and what he did. The school itself is nice and has a beautiful exterior with planted bushes and a large tree. They newly paved the entrance and sidewalks so it gives the school and updated look. Whenever you first come up to the building you are greeted by the teacher who releases your child once the teacher recognizes your face. I love the feel of security the school has that makes your child feel safe. They have security guards there and no one is allowed in the school that shouldn't be. That makes me feel safe knowing my nephew is being looked over.

I have a had three children attend Rainbow's End Child Academy. My first is in the gifted program…read moreand PPS; my second is fluent in reading at early elementary and my third is just soon to be entering preschool at Rainbow's End (attended since infancy). I love the relationships the teachers have with their students. The teachers and office staff go above an beyond to touch-base and connect with families. Their classrooms are fun, lively and connected. I love the playroom, library and neighborhood walks, water play, arts/crafts/routines. Amazing daycare!

We have now been at Rainbows End 10 months and are still loving it. My daughter is 18 months old…read morenow. She has moved to the young toddler room and does very well with the kiddos. They go on daily buggy rides outside. They also have a tumble play room inside that the kids love. In the young toddler room the center provides breakfast and snack. You pack the lunch. Each child has a cubby to keep their extra clothes and diapers in. We were going to take my daughter out of daycare for the summer because my hubby is a school teacher. She just loves it so much and we didn't want to get her out of the routine so we just decreased the amount of days per week that she is there in the summer. We still receive a daily report of how much she ate, diaper changes, and what she did all day.

This location isn't currently open. Regardless, I can't recommend this company. We had our kiddo…read morethere (he started a little after 12 months), and there was a range in the quality of teachers like at most other daycare. I did notice some teachers in the older kids' classrooms sharply yelling/screaming at kids from time to time (not what I wanted for our kiddo, but he wasn't in that room, so it was a "cross that bridge when we get to it" situation). The problem was the purposeful lack of communication and withholding of information. The director and company knew their lease was up. They knew their new space wasn't finished yet (literally not built, and no occupancy permit). They knew in January it wasn't going to be ready and ended up asking for lease extensions for about 4 months. They never told parents about this tenuous situation; it was always just, "oh, we'll be moving in [insert new month]." Not a word that construction wasn't even going on at the new place because BUILDING PERMITS hadn't been issued, and that they had no other backup plan. Well, the lease extensions ran out entirely and the building owner told them they had no more extensions and had to vacate. Did they tell parents? No. They waited until there was just 2 weeks before abruptly telling parents their only Pittsburgh location was closing. Oh, but we could request to be put into one of their suburban locations, the closest of which was 30 minutes+ each way with traffic (and at least 45 minutes driving near the end of the day because of rush hour). So, at least 2 hours each day of driving to/from daycare; out and back, out and back. Even getting a straight answer from them about which suburban location they'd place my son at was a nightmare. We had no other option, because they purposefully waited so long to tell us parents what they had known for months. We did the 2 hour drive for two weeks to see if it would work, while frantically searching for other daycares with open slots. The suburban location also treated anyone from the city like a second class citizen. Suburban staff acted like the Pittsburgh kids weren't their problem, they were just taking up space; it really seemed like there had been no planning or communication about the Pittsburgh kids coming. NO PLAN for parents to sign kids in and out; wouldn't let us use the electronic sign-in/sign-out system the suburban parents got to use, wouldn't give us door codes like we had at the other location and like they had for their suburban parents (until Pittsburgh parents repeatedly complained), no bins for kids to store stuff like extra clothes (and they literally had empty bins in my son's room; I heard a Pittsburgh teacher politely ask if they could use them for our kids since they were empty, and she was VERY FIRMLY shot down, "No. You CANNOT use them." No explanation.), not enough hooks, etc. for coats/hats/mittens, and they crammed all the Pittsburgh kids into one classroom regardless of age: infants, one year olds, and older toddlers all in the same room. Napping was a nightmare. I felt so bad for the Pittsburgh teachers. All in all, I wouldn't trust this company or the Pittsburgh Director (Maggie) again. The two stars is only because we had one excellent teacher who we really liked and miss. Hilarious note: the company employee's five star post was posted AFTER they closed this location.

From a parent's perspective... the director / leadership at this place with Maggie is the worst…read moreI've ever seen and I've brought three children through this facility over the past 5 years. Her communication is absolutely horrendous and extremely unprofessional. An alleged abuse incident involving my child and his behavioral tech occurred at the facility and was reported to DHS by daycare staff. Yet, Maggie - the director - never called us to tell us this happened. We only found out because DHS called us to come to our HOME and investigate. When we questioned Maggie about it she said, "I didn't want to bother you with it". Are you kidding me?!?!? Whether this report was unfounded or not, we - the parents - should have been notified. That's communication 101. This is just one example of her poor communication but I have an entire list. *Also... people who have been accused of child abuse work here. Leadership will tell you it's unfounded / retaliation between disgruntled teachers and maybe that's truebut I wouldn't risk it if I were you.