How wonderful that Messiah University offers free Symphony Concerts led by conductor Dr. Timothy…read moreDixon and is open to the public. The 2025 Messiah University Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition winner, Anna Clement, played Beethoven's piano concerto No. 3--amazing grace and talent. The symphony orchestra consisted of nearly sixty students performing like professionals. Well done, and thank you, Messiah University. For additional Performing Arts Concerts Series, visit arts.messiah.edu

I just transferred this year, and I cannot believe I haven't been here all four years! I'm a…read morejunior, so my time here will be limited, but my heart will forever be on this campus! Everyone is wonderful, from the students to the faculty to the resident staff! I was welcome from the moment I stepped on campus for my very first visit, and the staff was incredibly helpful throughout the very stressful transfer process. The professors are fantastic with helping me through challenges that arise from being visually impaired. The office of Academic accessibility has been with me every step of the way, from allowing me to move in early to making sure I have accessible housing. BTW, the cafeteria food is by far and above the best I've ever had. Just come here. you have to.

Went on campus several times to host mock interview and informational sessions and I was blown away…read moreby the beauty of the campus, the great attitude of the students and staff, and it's overall prestige! They do amazing work and the students have a bright future ahead! Make sure you have a map of the campus because it spans several miles all over Hershey!

I attended Milton Hershey School from 1997 until 2010. I was five when I first arrived at the…read moreschool and eighteen when I left. It's far too complicated to thoroughly review the school, as I feel that it would require a more nuanced approach to truly summarize my experience. I will try my best to provide a high-level overview of the school, while maintaining some level of brevity. The school has undergone many changes since its inception, but there are some consistent elements that warrant being highlighted. The school has always covered the complete cost of food, clothing, housing, schooling, medical, and dental needs for every single child who is admitted. The campus is very large and well maintained. There are three schools on campus; elementary, middle, and high school. There are also health centers, environmental centers, clothing/facility centers, horticulture centers, learning resource centers, medical clinics, dental clinics, and fitness facilities, also all located on the campus. The students at the school reside in student homes that are overseen by houseparents. When I was at the school, there were about twelve students in each home. Each house is provided transportation in the form of a large van suitable for transporting every member of the household. Each home has a kitchen, dining room, recreational room, office, living room, computer room, houseparent apartment, bathrooms, mud room, basketball court, and parking garage. Students in their final year at the school participate in a program called Transitional Living. The objective of this program is to provide some exposure to a college-style version of living. Another intention of the program is to instill some independent living skills in the students and hopefully increase the likelihood of success post graduation. There are various career pathways that high school students can participate in, some of which include, automotive, health occupation, human services, information technology, carpentry, graphic design and business marketing. The career pathways are intended to provide occupational experience prior to college/tech school, which is also paid for by the school. The school changed my life in many ways, for better and worse. I like to weigh out this particular experience with heconsideration to the various opportunities that I was given while attending the school, and from that perspective, I can say that the experience was generally a positive one and likely did more good than harm.

Out of daycares in Lancaster this one came off less overwhelming than others. I enrolled my so n at…read more4 months old and he is already mastering sign language 1.5 months in! One thing I could say that needs work is teachers being more open to talking to parents/ sharing details about the kids day at the end of the day when being picked up. Seems to be lack of face to face sharing in that case. But we are giving updates through out the day which kinda make up for that!

We have been very happy with our experience at Chesterbrook. Our child has attended the Harrisburg…read morePike location for the last 3 years & is currently in the kindergarten class there. The teachers are incredibly kind & caring! We greatly appreciate the time & attention the teachers give now more than ever! The facility is clean & cheerfully decorated in whatever season or theme that is happening. Through the years our child has been delighted with the art & craft activities, science projects, songs, books etc. The days are always fun & educational!

Melissa Leanza (primary teacher) put my potty-trained child in pullups because she was too lazy to…read morechange a pair or pants if he had an accident. She did it without our consent (our 3 year old son told us). This is a fake Montessori School. The head of school (Robyn Stearne) couldn't care less. She's just trying to pack the school full of bodies and collect tuition.

One of the best schools around, made me who I am today and prepared me for life. I would highly…read morerecommend this school to anyone looking for an alternative to public school, because you are going to be getting a fantastic education from toddler all the way to 8th grade.

Our family has had a fabulous first year at Harrisburg Academy! We find the teachers and…read moreadministrators very responsive. The curriculum is exceptional. The values, educational emphasis, and vision of this school as an International Baccalaureate (IB) World School are second-to-none. If you want the best for your child (K through 12), this is a terrific school! What I find exceptional about the school is the level of care of the teachers and staff. My child is not just a number. With small class size, the attention on each child is great. Teachers and staff members, who do not have my child in class, know him by name and greet him daily. There are plenty of school-wide activities that are wonderful to participate in, as a parent. It truly is not just a place to get an amazing education, it is a family of like-minded individuals, who want the best for their children and who want something more than the typical public school education. I'll finish with this: what sold me on the Academy is the emphasis on preparing "thinkers" for a world that is constantly-changing; they gear their education to teach children "how" to problem-solve, not just how to memorize for the test; they acknowledge the global-connectedness that our world is currently experiencing, and as such their philosophy is train the students to be prepared for the globally-connected workplace, not just how to graduate with a diploma. As a full-continuum International Baccalaureate (IB) World School they are preparing these children for the future. I want my child to be his best and have terrific educational opportunities. I have no doubt that that is what we are getting at the Harrisburg Academy. We hope to keep our son there through grade 12! I hope this review was helpful to you.

If your kids are into the arts and sciences this is the best private school for them! The tuition…read moreis high but it includes before and after school care for elementary aged kids. The best part is that parents can volunteer in the classroom without so many restrictions as public school. Background checks are required of course. With the new leadership I expect many great things to come at the academy. It has recently become an IB world school for all grades K-12 (not just a couple years in high school at other schools in the area). This is hands down the best preschool around so even if you end up moving your kids to public school in 1st grade you'll get your money's worth.

When we first enrolled our son at this daycare, we truly believed we had found a safe, caring, and…read morestructured environment for him. This daycare has a strong reputation at other locations, and in the beginning, things seemed promising. Unfortunately over time, this specific location became a complete nightmare for our family. Our son is 3 years old. Like any toddler, he loves to play, have fun, and be around other kids. He is loving, energetic & curious. Toddlers misbehave sometimes & that is normal. That is why classrooms are supposed to have structure, supervision & teachers who know how to redirect behavior appropriately. Instead once our son began copying another child's negative behavior, he was quickly labeled as "the bad kid." We repeatedly explained that he was being influenced by another student, but the situation was never handled properly. They also were aware & knew this!!!! We were told certain children could not be separated because one child's mother worked there as a teacher & had another child enrolled in a different classroom. Rather than correcting the environment or helping the children succeed, we were constantly being called to pick our son up early when no other parents were being called! We felt as though at this point our son was being targeted. Why continue to pay for him every week when he was spending less than an hour a day in school. We tried working with the director & offered suggestions that could help improve the situation, but our concerns were dismissed. We were repeatedly told adjustments would be made but nothing ever changed. We even had a behavioral therapist come out to the site and observe & assess our son! Nothing was wrong with him! Again a typical 3 year old following what everyone else was doing because of 1 or more specific classmates misbehaving. One of the most concerning parts was what we personally observed on the cameras. Multiple teachers were sitting down on their phones instead of actively supervising the children. We witnessed moments where children were not being properly attended to at all. At one point, our son eloped from the classroom & the assistant director was heard telling a teacher, "Run after him, this is your classroom." The fact that we even had to screenshot so many incidents says enough on its own. What truly pushed us over the edge were the serious safety concerns. An autistic child was reportedly left outside alone for around 10 minutes. Another child was also left alone on a separate occasion for another 10 minutes! How does that happen in a daycare setting? Who is doing headcounts? Why are children not being accounted for properly? These are not small mistakes. These are serious failures in supervision and safety. There also seems to be a major lack of structure & support within the facility itself. The teachers appear overwhelmed & unsupported, which ultimately affects the children. We even offered to volunteer our own time to help because we genuinely wanted things to improve. We were met with promises & nice words but no real action. Over time, we noticed a very high turnover rate not just with children leaving, but with teachers and administration as well. After withdrawing our son & researching other daycare options, we met former teachers from this location who immediately recognized us & asked what happened. Some directors from other facilities even had former students from this daycare enrolled with them. Hearing multiple people reassure us that we made the right decision to remove our son confirmed what we already felt in our hearts, our child was no longer safe there. At the end of the day this is simply our family's experience. Other families may have different experiences but we strongly encourage parents to do their research, ask questions, observe carefully, & trust their instincts. A daycare can have a great name but that does not guarantee every location operates the same way. Children deserve patience, protection, structure, & care. Parents deserve honesty & peace of mind. Unfortunately, we no longer found either here.

We've been part of this daycare community since their very first day open and I can't say enough…read morewonderful things about our experience having our daughter there daily. She's now 2 years old and absolutely loves going to school every day. From the minute we walk through the door, she's excited to see her teachers and friends, which says everything to me as a parent. The teachers, owners, and the rest of the staff are incredible--truly caring, attentive, and always going above and beyond to support her growth and happiness. She has learned so much during her time here, from social skills to early learning milestones, and it's been amazing to watch her confidence and curiosity grow. She's built friendships, and the parent community has been just as kind and welcoming. We've always felt supported and connected, and the environment is both nurturing and fun. From open house events to spirit weeks with different themes every day to toddler parades and "trunk or treats" - there have been so many fun activities for the kids and parents. I'm so grateful to have found a place that feels like a second home for her. If you're looking for a daycare where your child is safe, loved, given opportunities to learn, and treated like family, this is it. We looked at so many other schools in the area and this was far and beyond the best one we toured.

I know this is long, but if you are looking for childcare for your children I would take the time…read moreto read it. Our boys were enrolled in Best Friends for three weeks and I am beyond relieved to have them removed and in another daycare. Prior to becoming an educator, I worked in an excellent childcare facility for ten years. I believe that a parent who has no experience in childcare may not notice issues or know any better, or may think some things are "normal" that are not. First, let me start by speaking to what I feel is the integrity of the child care director. After reading on their website that they have been given five stars in Great Start to Quality, and are the "highest ranked" program in Oakland County, I looked them up on the site to find they do not have any stars. After contacting GSTQ to ask why, I found that her in home daycare had been given five stars but her center has not been rated yet. Using her in home rating in order to get more parents into her child care center, which is currently not rated, is dishonest. They updated their site to state they were in their new location so certainly they could have edited the information about their star rating at the same time. If you browse the Google reviews of this childcare facility, you will see that, in response to a poor review, the director Tori violates parent/caregiver privacy by publicly stating discipline issues with the parent's child. This is highly unprofessional and demonstrates a lack of respect for the privacy of past clients. Publicly sharing discipline issues also violates FERPA which i believe extends to state licensed child care facilities. I would expect a professional to remain respectful of a child's privacy even when they receive a negative review, particularly on a public forum. The program director, Tori, is expected to facilitate learning for young people, particularly those in early literacy. However, when students are doing activities with directions on the white board, words are often misspelled and in speaking, poor grammar skills are used. This is an issue in parent communications as well, which concerns me when my children are learning how to speak properly from the adults they are around all day. In our three weeks at the facility, the daycare closed on several occasions. Two were the result of snow days, which I understood completely. However, two were due to it being cold outside. The director stated that the building furnace was unable to keep the building warm. This is not a weather issue, it is a building issue that needs to be remedied as we live in Michigan and it gets cold. However, she still charged parents for those days as if it were a weather issue or "act of god." Parents still have to work when it is cold, so buildings need to be capable of staying warm. If the building can not stay warm then the onus should fall on the director to bear the financial responsibility of closing. The infant room, where my two year old was, was very damp and smelled strongly of something like wet paint. Every day at pickup the smell would hit me as soon as I opened the door to that room. Also, I was told that they would assist my son in potty training by taking him to the bathroom every 15 minutes. This did not happen. My four year old was in the big kids room. The activities seemed developmentally appropriate for the younger kids; however I told them when we registered that my son was working on reading and kindergarten prep. They told me they would work with him and instead had him doing activities that were not scaffolded to his current ability level and were therefore too easy. The culmination of our frustration was in our final week there, when I arrived to find my son and another child standing in separate corners facing the wall, with their backs to their peers, apparently because they were not cleaning up. This consequence is not only archaic but also highly inappropriate. It shames the child, confines them and excludes them from the learning activities being completed. It is punishment, not a consequence, and I would expect individuals who are trained in child development to know how incredibly inappropriate this is. We began looking for new childcare immediately when this happened, but then were given a termination notice without reason. This, again, demonstrates the lack of professionalism of the owner, as a good program director would sit down with a parent to explain their reasoning. They would not just leave an envelope up front and hide from the parent at pickup. When I asked via email for her reason, she deflected and would not provide one. I suspect that her reason has to do with the fact that I know enough about daycare to know that they are not good at their jobs, whereas a typical parent may not know any better. I was fine with the termination as we were leaving anyway, but the lack of professionalism in how it was done is very unfortunate and indicative of how this facility is run.

My experience with tori was very stressful. I was going through a divorce and at the time my ex and…read moreI used tori as childcare. Ms. Tori was very biased towards my ex wife that, although my ex wife registered my son I, his legal/biological father am supposed to have full access to any and everything that is relative to my child. Ms. Tori refused me access to these documents stating that they belonged to my ex wife. I was consulting an attorney about this behavior by Ms. Tori and only because I snapped on this lady during pick up of my child, she covered herself by deleting/kicking my child out of her daycare. If I could give Ms. Tori negative numbers I would. VERY BIASED AND VERY ARROGANT. I just wanted to make sure people know what and who they're dealing with when you select this business. This is my repost!!!