Our first child attended BKA starting when he was 2 in 2018, with our second joining shortly after…read moreat 5 months. Our third has recently begun as well (at 6 months). Our first stayed through pre-k, the second stopped only because of the free local 3k, and our third is still happily enrolled. We've trusted this school for over 5 years with our 3 children, and have looked forward to sending each of our kids here. The admins are responsive, the teachers, for the most part, seem to love children and their jobs (we've had one over the years that wasn't great, but she is gone now). Many of the current teachers are the same as when my son started over 5 years ago. There is always strong communication throughout the day, they regularly post eating/sleeping/potty events as well as photos and videos so we can always see how our kids are doing. They eat healthy food and are given a wide variety of fun activities. As infants they help them learn to sit, walk, fine motor skills, even potty train them. As they grow older there is an academic schedule to help them learn their letters, counting, colors, etc. One of my sons went through a hitting phase, and the admins and his teachers sat with us to give us tools to help him, and made sure he wasn't endangering others in the class. When I bring my two older kids in to pick up the youngest, all the teachers remember them and there's always plenty of smiles and hugs. They do follow the DOE schedule, so are closed more often than I'd like (yeah, its annoying), but its worth it for the quality of care at a reasonable cost. As other reviewers have noted, Covid was not easy, especially on daycares. Yes, dropoff/pickup was inconvenient, yes it was hard to plan around cases shutting down classrooms, and yes it took a hit on morale and staff turnover, BUT these are all a direct result of them taking precaution and carefully following safety guidelines. I'm happy to say that none of my children got covid while at BKA, and I thank their thoroughness for this (these were pre-vaccine days, it was scary!). For the most part, all is back to normal now. I get that there's always an exception and some reviewers have had bad experiences, but we absolutely adore BKA, and most the parents we chat with do as well. It is a loving, caring, clean daycare (with outdoor space!) that we couldn't recommend more.

My son started in this school when he was 22months (1year 10months). He was diagnosed with autism…read moreand was non-verbal. His very 1st day my son was sent home in a soggy diaper, wet clothes, and shoes on the wrong feet. I informed the school of various triggers, and habits. This was completely ignored and he would come home completely distressed everyday. My son also has a texture issue so he is very selective with foods. The school had me supply his food/milk/snacks/diapers/wipes ect. and pay over $300 weekly. The entire time my son was there they allowed him to do whatever he wanted. He rarely engaged in class routine and wasnt encouraged to do so either. There was nobody there knowledgeable about his diagnosis thus making it impossible for anyone to work with him. I have since pulled my son out of school and have been home schooling him. In the 5months since we started my son says words can identify numbers and some colors and has been open to other foods.

I love GATED Academy! It is a second home for me and my 2.5 year old son. My son's speech and…read morevocabulary really improved at GATED Academy. The teachers are awesome and caring. They give each student one-on-one time. The school includes French, yoga, dance and music every week in their curriculum. There is a full size playground one block away from the school, so the students really enjoy outdoor play. I've done a lot of research around the Brooklyn area, they are the only school that offers late pick ups (7:00pm), take the toddlers to monthly field trips (apple picking, zoos, library visits, etc) and sends parents daily live reports (Kids Report) to your email and mobile. With the Kids Report, the teachers send me pictures of my son's activities, report of meals and snacks, records nap time, and when he runs out of pull ups. I love the fact that the students wear school uniforms. The school is very clean and organized!!! They serve healthy and organic meals for the students. GATED Academy is a dream come true for a first time parent. They put your worries at ease and address any concerns you may have immediately.

The nursery is truly OUTSTANDING! GATED Nursery is run by smart, kind and loving teachers. I have…read moreZERO guilt leaving my son in their care. The space is bright and clean with perfect toys and set up. It's such a healthy and happy environment. The younger (than me) staff are high energy and take pride in their important career. Teaching and fostering child development is obviously a priority for them. I truly couldn't be happier with GATED Nursery. I trust them 100%

Both my niece and nephew are enrolled at Stuyvesant Heights Montessori and I've heard nothing but…read moregreat things from the children and their parents! The kids always talk positively about their friends at school and their teachers (specifically Ms. Alana and Ms. Hawa). One of the major reasons my niece and nephew attend SHM is because of their French immersion program. When a French teacher speaks with the children it's only been in French and every time my niece and nephew have responded in French! I've definitely witnessed them speaking more French at home and feel like our family is getting our money's worth. The days when I do drop off the kids the Head of School, Ms. Tracey, has been nothing but sweet and respectful to adults and children. Ms. Tracey takes the time to have a conversation and check in with each adult dropping off a student. This staff at SHM have truly made my family feel like we're a part of their wonderful community. I cannot endorse this preschool highly enough!

It took me a long time to write this review because a part of me wanted to just let it go. However,…read morerecently I was contacted by a parent I personally know who explained that they had pulled their child out of this school, and that pushed me to finally speak up. I became a teacher's assistant here in September 2022, straight out of college. Tracy Mina was actively recruiting new college graduates for positions at the school, and I applied and was accepted. When I first started, there were three classrooms. As time went on, I noticed a pattern: almost no teachers stayed longer than a year. Many would simply quit rather than deal with the environment. The longest-standing teacher there is Mrs. Tiffany. The only two teachers I personally saw who had actual teaching degrees and who were truly exceptional educators were Mrs. Stephanie and Mrs. Alana. Both of them eventually left as well. During my time there, I realized I was one of the only staff members who pushed back on some of the things Tracy allowed to happen in the school. Many teachers chose to leave instead of confronting her. One of the most disturbing issues was the way she spoke about race and ethnicity. It was blatant and uncomfortable. I had a student who was very fair-skinned but whose mother was from Mexico. Tracy would compare him to other students and say things like, "He's always going to get further because he's white." I also had a very intelligent young boy of African descent. Tracy once said, "He's just going to be another statistic because of how he acts." In reality, he was simply acting like a normal child--playful, loud, joyful, and full of life. At one point I had even considered sending my niece to this school because I trusted that she would be in good hands with Mrs. Alana. However, the blatant racism I witnessed completely changed my mind, especially since my nieces are mixed.Another major concern was the pressure put on teachers to lie to parents. I had a student who clearly needed behavioral support because she had never been in a structured school environment before. I told Tracy about my concerns, and she instructed me to lie to the parents and tell them their child was doing perfectly because she was afraid they might pull the child out and stop paying tuition.This situation happened more than once. When I refused to lie because of my integrity, Tracy told both me and the lead teacher that we were no longer allowed to speak to any parents unless she was present.There were also financial issues that directly affected staff. On after-school days, if parents picked their children up late after 6 PM, they were supposed to pay $2 per minute. Several times my co-teacher and I stayed until 6:45 PM waiting with children. One day a parent apologized and told us he had already given Tracy the late payment. We never received that money.When the head teacher later mentioned the situation to a parent, Tracy came into our classroom while students were present and began yelling at us, saying we were not allowed to speak to parents without her present.Another alarming situation happened one winter when the building had no heat for almost an entire week. Another teacher and I had to walk down the street to a store and purchase electric heaters ourselves so that our students would not sit in freezing classrooms.At the same time, Tracy would often cry to staff about not having enough money to pay us and would try to make us feel guilty for asking for raises. Meanwhile, she owns two brownstone homes in Brooklyn and a house in Martha's Vineyard. To be fair, after a year of me working there she did follow through on a promise to give me a $10,000 raise, bringing my salary from $35,000 to $45,000.Since leaving, I have remained in contact with several parents from the school (despite being told we were not allowed to have relationships with them). Many have since pulled their children out after seeing the constant teacher turnover, classrooms with one teacher responsible for 15+ children, and hearing from other parents about what was happening behind the scenes.For these reasons, I cannot recommend that anyone send their child to this school while Tracy Mina remains in charge. The last time I was there, the school had hired a new creative director who was wonderful and clearly cared deeply about children. Unfortunately I do not remember her name, but she was a French woman. If she eventually takes over leadership, perhaps the school could improve. Otherwise, I do not see this school lasting long.I originally got into teaching because I truly wanted to be someone who cares for children and helps them grow. After my experience here, I changed career paths entirely and moved into law enforcement. That is how negative my experience at this school was. She also turned off reviews on Google, because many people spoke out and gave a negative review.

I came to YoungerMusik hat-in-hand, at the end of April, with only two months left in the school…read moreyear, because my daughter's UPK program was really not able to work with her - she had some behavior issues, all COMPLETELY NORMAL/common for her age, and rather than working with her and with us, they hounded us to "fix it" - even though almost all the behaviors in question only happened at school. It got so bad that we felt like we had no choice but to look for other options, and YoungerMusik saved us! I reached out to them via Yelp, someone called me back later the same day (on a Saturday, no less!) talked me through what their program was like, the hours, the fees, and set up a visit for us to look at the school to see if it was a good fit. Despite a slightly dingy exterior at first glance, they have a nice, bright space on Bath Avenue, with two rooms and a play area set up in the backyard. They gave homework every day, and my daughter LOVED doing it - she was always excited to do it, even though it wasn't always easy for her, and it was definitely helping prepare her for starting Kindergarten in the fall. There were more than enough adults per kid - though they are bound by mandated ratios based on age, I think the adult:kid ratio was usually close to 5 kids per adult, which is the best I've seen. They were always warm, friendly, and communicative. My daughter's completely unacceptable behavior that necessitated daily communication (frankly, *harrassment*) by her UPK director at our prior school magically disappeared - the team at YoungerMusik was able to manage her and integrate her successfully and I had no issues in our time there. They really just saved our family for the last two months of the 2020-2021 school year and I would happily recommend them to another parent.

My son has been attending this Day Care for about a year. The staff takes good care of him and…read moreseems to really care for him. He comes home trying to sing the songs he learns there, and telling me what he does there. I look forward to him continuing to learn and thrive there.

My son started at Two by Two when he was 23 months (he's in Pre-K now) and everyday I'm glad for…read moreour choice in care. When we were exploring local options, we knew our decision would be based on where we felt he would be 1) safe, 2) healthy and 3) loved. Everywhere we toured, we felt like he'd be safe and healthy. What set Two By Two apart was that we felt like he'd would be cared for by professionals who created genuine, authentic connections - as aunties, as kin. He was so little and our care priorities were more about him feeling seen, heard and addressed. Now that he's approaching Kindergarten, he's getting the same care while also getting support with socialization, learning emotional regulation, and the basics of academics (letter and number recognition, phonics). He has a group of close friends, uses feeling statements and is reading sight words and writing his name. All huge wins without robotic structure or impersonal instruction- which while inevitable in our school systems can wait until the elementary years. Two By Two continues to make progress in communication, family engagement and facilities. We've seen growth here and have been grateful for their request for feedback and impressed to see it implemented. Considering our care priorities and the experience that our son and we have had here, we will continue to recommend Two By Two to our neighbors and friends.

Daycare means so much to our family, and we are so grateful to have found 2x2. The genuine…read moreattention they give my daughter makes me so happy. I truly love both drop-off and pick-up because of how kind and welcoming the staff are to me. Most importantly, I know it's the highlight of my daughter's day.

Wonderful center with amazing staff. Children get succesfully prepared in all main academic areas…read more Fully recommended!

From the owner: Our mission is to provide high-quality, comprehensive early childhood education and support…read moreservices to as many children and their families as possible. Our childcare program includes: education, health, nutrition, mental health, social services, parent involvement and special needs through a partnership with United Community Services (UCS). In addition, supplementary services are provided through collaborative ventures with other community agencies. For over four decades we have successfully prepared our children for kindergarten, while helping their families gain independence and become advocates for themselves.

58 Belmont Ave. was just closed down on 5/11/18 due to Mr. Marty Handler's negligence. The DOH…read moresuspended childcare services at this location due to the lack of teachers credentials and too many children in a classroom without enough teachers to supervise. Mr. Marty Handler, the owner, doesn't care about the families and their children in this Brownsville area. He only cares about making money. He's team doesn't care about the cultures of these families in this community! Now the families have been displaced. Mr. Marty Handler plans on changing the name of Brightside Academy to Beanstalk. Please beware of this type of childcare services. Please do your resource thoroughly before you put your child in daycare anywhere. But beware of Brightside Academies and the new name called Beanstalk.