We have been fortunate enough to have our son at Needham Montessori since he was 15 months old (he…read moreis now 2.4). He can't wait to get there each day and engage with his excellent teachers and friends. We have noticed a big difference since he started there with his independence and helpfulness around the house. He helps set/clean the table, feed the dog and empty the dishwasher, all without prompting! He also makes sure each plaything gets put away before he takes the next thing out. We feel he is so cared for and loved and he is thriving!

Needham Montessori has become a part of our family. We are so fortunate to have found a place with…read moreteachers that are so caring, loving and nurturing. Our son has absolute thrived here. He has blossomed over the past year into a bright, happy, social and confident kiddo. We are absolutely thrilled with his progress. The teachers foster his interests and encourage his independence. My husband and I also have a totally open line of communication with the directors and teachers. This is so important to us! The directors Christine and Allen are 2 of the nicest people you will ever meet. We love Needham Montessori!

Pine Village is a Spanish immersion daycare and preschool, with classes from infant to…read morekindergarten. There are a number of locations (10 by now?) and my son went to two: Brighton (for a transition summer before the new school opened) and Newton Highlands, and we toured West Newton. We LOVE PINE VILLAGE! It's clean, organized, professional, and so warm (emotionally, but also on cold winter days, literally). Spanish immersion. The teachers are native Spanish speakers but there are teachers who speak English (for kids who don't speak Spanish yet, and to talk to the parents who don't speak Spanish). The Directors are fluently bilingual and are around at dropoff and pickup if there is any linguistic confusion. (So no Spanish? No problem. Kids are supported in learning but are understood in English and parents can communicate.) My kid came in as a toddler knowing no Spanish and within a couple months he understood everything but responded in English, and now in preschool is expected to speak Spanish (with gentle prompting) given his abilities. There are Spanish books everywhere to read, or for teachers to read out loud. The price is on the lower side of area daycare/preschool, based on about 13 other schools I looked at. Still not cheap exactly, but maybe licensed trained and educational child care shouldn't be cheap, right? The 3 facilities I looked at are in different spaces, but all seem pretty nice and have access to play areas. The West Newton one is in a UU church basement near Mass Pike, and has a HUGE indoor space for winter running around. The Brighton one is in the bottom of a city block, with big windows, and a small playground/big field across the street, and a short walk away over a sky bridge is a huge glorious public water park with 2 big playgrounds, and Charles River walkways. (Pretty awesome especially in summer.) The Newton Highlands one is also in the basement of a church, in two large rooms, with a permanent smaller indoor play area and (depending on church uses eg play) access to the large empty room next door. There are two small fenced playgrounds and a short walk away is a big field. I'm told there are sprinklers for hot summer outdoor play. In addition they have group exercise classes, such as yoga or Zumba, which kids do according to interest & ability. Pine Village has a dedicated curriculum quality rep, who goes between all the locations to ensure that quality of education stays high across the sites and that best practices are shared. They're ok with different locations having their own 'flavor' or feel, so long as the quality stays consistent. They also really focus on emotional self regulation. Deep breathing like blowing up a balloon, and taking a time out to gather one's reserves when too emotional.

Needham location needs severe improvement. My son did not…read morelearn Spanish and his naps were way too long. He would arrived at 8:00am and at noon they went to nap until 3:00. I would then pick him up at 3:30. Terrible if you ask me. My son is 5 (late birthday) and he only needed an hour of rest. He never wanted to nap honestly. The teachers at times would put them to nap at 11:50 which made me a bit furious....I would pick my son up for lunch and sure enough when I would drop him off at 11:50 the teachers would place the kids down for a nap 10 min early. They need to move this location into a bigger suite/building. It doesn't look like they invest much because it's obvious inside they need new toys/everything really just an upgrade. For the amount I spent to have my son attend, I expected better. Lastly, Jenn Doyle from enrollment needs to be fired. She's rude and takes forever to get back to you. She typically has the same lame excuse stating that she is in a meeting which an attitude. I pulled my son out of Pine Village because I felt that he was not learning at all. He is now in another Preschool where he's been learning really quick academically in order to be ready for kindergarten. Look elsewhere or stay away from the Needham location. Lastly, my son learned horrible habits of hitting and biting from other children. That stopped at his new school because the teachers would not tolerate this. But, at Pine Village the teachers my guess is that they did not pay attention to the kids or no consequences happened for example. pulling the child aside. And this is why it persisted. The teachers are nice here but they have a high turnover...My guess is that the higher up's do not value them and simply do not pay them well. The higher up's only cares about profit and they are rude. They should try treating the staff every Friday to maybe lunch as a thank you. Lastly, in order for teachers to receive a bonus they ask us parents to donate money. We pay a lot for our kids to attend school. They should maybe give them a bonus on their end...

As I know, the owner will end up responding to this review with false allegations and blame…read moreeverything on us instead of being appropriate and professional about our feedback (which we brought up to her over and over in a documented way for our safety), I will not put in writing all the reasons that we took our child from this program. The concerning things will come up over time and not during the initial tour or even the first few months. After we left, we had many parents (past and present) sharing with us that they had "unpleasant interactions" with the director and describing similar behavior we experienced. Some prefer to avoid drama and go with it, and some spoke up and had a direct conflict with her that led to them leaving the program. The bottom line is that while I think your child will be safe in A to Z, any interaction with the director when you are not pleased or have a concern will most likely end up being an unpleasant one and you will end up feeling attacked if you will not back down. This is a cheaper program, but we feel that there are much better programs out there that can combine nurturing environment for your child AND more pleasant and cooperative interactions with the director and staff that are worth the extra cost. When I read Tiffany's review, and based on our experience, I believed her without knowing her and her story, but the patterns are the same. I can also see that the director's patterns of blaming it all on the parents and not taking into consideration any feedback haven't changed in the years since it was posted.

This was a suggested "Like" for me on Facebook, and it reminded me of the experiences I had with…read morethis place back in college when I used to babysit. Glad to see this place is still thriving! My interactions with staff during pickups were always friendly and pleasant, after the first few times when the director wanted to be REALLY sure that I was authorized to pick him up, and the little boy I babysat often did not want to leave his friends and teachers when I would come to pick him up. Once I was able to pry him away, he would babble to me all the way home and all through his dinner about his day playing on the playground, all of his friends, and what he learned that day (I can't believe they teach Spanish to pre-schoolers! I wish I had gone here myself!). If I lived closer (and who knows -- maybe in the future I will), I would not hesitate to give this place a visit when selecting a preschool!

Excellent. Two of my kids are here they love it. Very happy with the teachers and the program. Kids…read moreare well looked after. It's a safe environment. They learn so many things and great network of parents too.

Poorly organized!! After touring and several days of speaking to them they confirmed a spot for my…read moretwo kids, they then said that the spots weren't available and they had gotten me confused with another parent. I had already notified all of the other prospective daycares and this is leaving me with no child care. Glad I won't be taking my kids here if they can't keep track of people. If you look at their google reviews it appears that communication is a constant issue for them.

We greatly appreciated our time at Happy Child. The arts & crafts projects were phenomenal, and the…read moremusic and martial arts classes were fantastic. The provided bfast, lunch and snack were also very convenient. We will miss our time there!

We've been so happy with the education, care, and love that Happy Child has provided to our child…read more She has been coming to the Happy Child pre-K program for the past two years, since she was 3. She looks forward to coming in every day and her language and math skills have blossomed since she began here. The curriculum is excellent and keeps our little one busy while ensuring she feels prepared and confident to start Kindergarten next year. We will miss you, Happy Child!

The Talent Acquisition team at Bright Horizons is unprofessional and unethical…read more Also, we did not have a positive experience in daycare. As a result, we ended up using the JCC Early Learning Center, and had a MUCH better experience!

Best daycare ever. It doesn't make a parent feel good to leave their child with anyone else but…read morethis daycare has made it into a great experience. The teachers are incredible and the administrators make you feel like everything is going to be ok. The technology is great so I'm able to see what's going on daily with pics and videos and get updates on development from their perspective. No paper filling out ever- all done via app. The teachers also keep a bright horizons journal that's updated monthly with pictures and stories that is an amazing keepsake. My daughter LOVES all her friends and teachers and it makes drop off a positive experience.

I have two children in preschool and toddlers at Creative Kids and they really enjoy it. They are…read morewell cared for and teachers adore them. My kids enjoy the art and music enrichment classes in addition to their daily activities. They are well fed and the kids enjoy the food. My older son is learning a lot in preschool/pre-K to prepare him for Kindergarten. The school is clean which makes me feel comfortable and secure. I am happy to send my kids there and would recommend to other families.

My 3 year old daughter loves this school. As a parent, I love it even more. This school has it…read moreall! Aside from academics, she's learning music, art, dance, gets regular exercise and loves her teachers. A huge selling point for me is the teachers speak multiple languages with the kids. My daughter is 3 and she's already speaking 3 languages: English, French and Russian!

Both of my children have attended Upper Falls Nursery School. Their experiences have been…read morePHENOMENAL! UFNS has helped my kids learn to interact with their peers in constructive ways as well as develop self confidence. Randi and Linda are both fantastic with the kids. They are experienced in child development and it shows. My favorite thing about UFNS is how inclusive it is. In the 2 years we've been going there, my children have had classmates with so many different backgrounds, heritages, and families. It's an amazing experience for my young children to get to meet other kids who aren't exactly like they are.

UFNS is so much more than a nursery school. Randi and Linda have become a part of our family. Under…read moretheir masterful guidance, our daughter was able to thrive in her first school setting. We are so grateful to have found such a great community school and I can't recommend it enough!!!