My son was enrolled here for 8 months. I enrolled him when he was 18 months. The location was…read moreconvenient and they had openings for his age group. Also my 13 year old niece attended this center when she was a toddler so I felt comfortable. Boy oh boy was I in for a huge disappointment! I don't even know where to begin. After the third month of enrollment, I started looking for a new facility to place my son. It took another 3 months to find somewhere I felt was suitable and we had to wait 2 more months until the fall semester before he could start there. Hence the 8 months stay at gateway. So this place has an incredible staff turn over. In the 8 months my son was there, literally 8 staff members left or quit or were fired. It was unbelievable! Every few weeks we would get an email informing us that miss so and so is no longer with the center and miss xyz will be starting soon. Sure enough as soon as miss xyz started the cycle would repeat. There was one teacher who was there in the mornings when I dropped my son off and she smelled like marijuana. It blew my mind! How the heck do you come to work at 7am with the stench of weed? The facility opens at 6:30 but is never staffed. I usually dropped my son off at 7am and there was only one teacher there. All the kids from all age groups had to stay with her until the other teachers wandered in between 8:30 and 9am. I'm pretty sure thats a state violation. I came to drop my son off one morning and the teacher was sitting in the classroom moisturizing her feet and taking great care to concentrate on her heels. I was grossed out and pissed. She did wash her hands afterwards but I don't feel that this should have been done at the table where the kids eat their meals. When you have a question for one of the teachers the only response you get is 'I don't know mom. I wasn't there this morning. I just came into the class 30 minutes ago.' At one point I just stopped asking. I brought bug spray to be used on my son. Of course it was NEVER applied. He came home every day with huge bumps from insect bites. The next day I would remind the teacher hey there is bug spray and a permission slip for my son, and l would pick him up again with you guessed it.....bug bites. So I started to drop him off with long pants only. If I did put shorts on him I would douse him with spray when I dropped him off. So they boast water play every Friday in the summer. The first official day, I dropped my son off with his swim clothes, and a change of clothes and his shoes in a bag. I come to pick him up early (thank god) because he has an appointment and he's in the class barefoot. Ok so I'm livid. The teacher said to me 'you didn't send a change of clothes or shoes for him.' I said yes. I gave it to the teacher this morning when I dropped him off. And she said " Well I don't start till 9 so I don't know." Ok that's besides the point. If you think I didn't bring a change of clothes and shoes why on earth didn't you call me and say hey mom we need shoes for your baby? Are you that dense? All the while the bag with my son's clothes and shoes were sitting on his cubby! So my sons last day was on Fri August 24th. I go back to gateway on Monday the 27th to pick up the rest of his belongings and the expensive SSS bug spray that they never bothered using on him. The spray is no where to be found. Only the permission slip and bag that held the spray are in the bin. One teacher asks another if she's seen the spray and she replies "its in my bag." I'm thinking it's in a bag with other odds and ends with class room stuff. Well just when I thought this place and the staff couldn't get lower the teacher comes and retrieves the spray from her purse. She said to me she had to put it up or they would throw it out. I take the bottle and it's pretty much empty. I'm wondering why because the spray was never used on my son. I was so pissed and disgusted. When does this place hit bottom? I could go on and on about this place with all the stories I heard from other parents but I guess it wouldn't make a difference. I'm so glad my son is out of there. Today was his fourth day at his new daycare and he's doing so well. If I could give any advice or would be to stay away from gateway.

My son went for backup daycare. The staff is super sweet and welcomed him with open arms. They are…read moreclean, safe an open communicators. It's officially my go to until he's 11.

YES. We scheduled the private tour and it was so fun! We met the animals and were able to give…read moresnacks and love. It's an amazing mission and we're in awe of their work! Playground review: it's a super nice space and is designed for ages 2-12. There's a ton of different equipment for all abilities. However frustrating when older/larger kids are wreaking havoc and abusing the equipment while moms are talking with their backs turned away from the playground. Don't be those moms.

The kindest souls for the sweetest rescues. This place doesn't get enough credit. My child and I…read morealways learn something new and have the BEST time!

JJ is the best! Great for pony rides and lessons for all levels of rider. JJ takes great care of…read morethe horses and the facilities are beautiful. Plenty of animals to play with including a mini donkey, mini bull, mini horse, kittens, goats, dogs and of course horses!

I've been taking lessons with Jeanne at the Charlotte Equestrian Club for three months and love it…read more I had long wanted to take lessons, but could never quite pull the trigger. I was so scared at my first lesson, but pushed through my fear and I'm so happy I did. Jeanne is a patient and thoughtful instructor and she has a clear connection with the horses. She also wanted to understand my goals and matched me with the right horse. Lastly, I feel completely safe on and around the horses and my favorite part of the lesson is grooming the horse afterwards. Her farm is also a respite from the hustle and bustle of the city, but so close - 15 minutes from Uptown. On the days when I have lessons, all the stress of the day melts away as soon as I hit the gravel driveway. If you're looking for lessons for yourself or your kids, I highly recommend Charlotte Equestrian Club.

My child, Haley, said she can sum up Holt School of Fine Art Classes in one word....Awesome!!!…read more Haley enjoyed learning in a "real" art studio. She learned about various techniques. I was amazed at how she learned shading and working with still life. We learned of the classes from the Living Social ad. We tried it and continued. Loved it. Holt is great with kids. The children really enjoy her and love the atmosphere of being in an art studio.

Holt is a great instructor. The class is low-key and relaxed, with lots of individual attention. I…read morecannot draw ... but because of this class, I am learning how to do something I thought I could never do. I highly recommend taking some classes.

We love woodland and Mrs Carolyn! It's a beautiful place. Ms Carolyn is kind and patient. The kids…read moreget to be outside a lot. They learn about nature and kindness. Theyre read to and do art. There's a tree house and lots off cool play areas outside.

We were part of the Woodland Discovery family for 3 preschool years with my oldest son. I consider…read morethis outdoor space one of my favorite places in the greater Charlotte area. I always felt a sense of magic whenever I walked the woods, gazed at the pond, and saw the joy on each child's face on the nature playground! I was always in awe of the unique activities and ideas flowing through the children and teachers! Ms. Carolyn is such an incredible soul who values children and offers each of them an invitation to receive an incredible love of learning. The foundational skills of curiosity, social interaction, creativity, exploration, and problem solving are rock solid after my child's preschool experience. His connection to nature and love for science couldn't be more beautiful. There is no other preschool in our area that comes close to this unique forest school experience. In addition, we took advantage of the summer camp offerings and birthday party packages as well!! We drove 25 min between our home and the school. It is worth every moment of commuting to give my child such a rich childhood experience. I plan to continue my relationship with Woodland Discovery when my youngest is old enough to begin!!

This place is amazing! My son has attended Level up summer camp for 2 years and it is one of the…read morebest camps around. Amazing staff and so many planned activities and structure.

Today we had our son's 8th Birthday at Level Up! To say it was awesome is an understatement. We…read moredecided prior to the party that the kids would build individual rooms to be put together to create a dungeon. Mark and Mara had everything all set up prior to the kids arrival. They then step by step told the kids what the needed to create their rooms. After the dungeon was created, Mark pulled out a game Level Up! developed, 'Dungeon Madness: Time Crash.' Every child was immersed into the game. We had to pry them away for cake, which has never happened. Oh and they were having so much fun the party ended an hour later than scheduled. We cannot thank Mark and Mara enough for making our son's birthday top notch! Check them out and ask them about Dungeon Madness: Time Crash.

My son has done this camp for 3 years and really enjoys it. Having a brother who is a professional…read morechef, I feel this camp is the closest camp to chef school out there. Students have the option of baking camp (they bring home daily baked goods) or cooking camp. My son did the later. They learn food prep and clean up, how to properly sauté, chop, hold knives etc. They prep the daily lunch that is served for all the students. The bakery group usually sends home daily baked goods with this group in exchange for lunch. The last day parents are invited to feast on all the recipes that the students learned to make throughout the week.

My daughter did this camp and thought it was a waste of time. Unlike other cooking camps where kids…read moremake their own dishes, this is a line cook approach so she would only do a small part of a dish like cutting onions or kneading dough. She said she didn't get to actually cook anything. The instructors cooked which defeats the purpose of a class like this. The foods the classes prepared became lunch for everyone but then my daughter's class had to clean all the pots, pans, silverware, dishes etc. They spent an hour and a half washing dishes daily! For a $600 camp I did not expect that. The students were not allowed to bring home any leftover either (in the savory food camp). I can't recommend this camp.

If your child is talented or if you're looking to enhance their inner acting ability this is a…read moregreat place to send them for two weeks out of the summer. The instruction they receive at SMACK camp is remarkable; they are busy from the moment they arrive at camp until it's time to be picked up! Stage direction, vocal instruction, creative design, communication and voice projection are a few of the skills taught and mastered at SMACK camp!

Coaches are too busy comforting the kids who are too scared and need to go home until they are…read moreready or too busy with the unruly kids to actually teach. WAYYYYY too many times I had to check someone else's child becasue their parents failed to do so. Parents sit in the car or are too busy on their phones and laptops. They treat this place like a drop in daycare. The amount of times I've seen a brat harass my child and nothing was done is ridiculous. My child simply wants to learn a cartwheel. One simple thing. I even paid for privates. Yet nothing. It appears you have to be a certain color or have the same views as the people who work there in order for your kid to advance to the next level or else your kid is just there for fun, not to learn and grow in their craft. They mainly cater towards white boys and push the black girls to the side. Ive seen the girls team practice and the boys team practice and the boys get more instruction and conditioning than the girls. It's a shame because the girls are all black, I wonder how it would be if the girls were white.

Went to the adult tumbling class today..this was just a recipe for disaster. If you want to see…read moresomeone break a leg or get kicked in the head this is your place. To start there were at least 30 people in the class, with 1 coach. Having been a gymnast in the past, I know how important safety & caution is in a gymnasium. Not a single rule or cautionary measure was explained at start of class while many of the attendees had never been in a facility before. First 30 mins was stretching & warm ups, including people throwing extremely dangerous moves including front tucks with no effort to stop potential injury after multiple disastrous executions. At one point the coach even said "you all signed a waiver", seeming to not care if anyone was hurt. Second half of class was a free for all with all of the gymnastic stations...although it wasn't possible for the 1 coach to monitor everyone, she didn't even try and instead practiced her own tumbling. There was no cool down stretching. This felt like a cash grab, won't be back.