The Learning Clinic is a second home for sure. Every single person working in here has something…read moreunique to offer. This is the place where dreams become possible. There is nothing that the learning clinic cannot do. Whether it be ACT, SAT, math, science, reading, comprehension, the learning clinic will give you the necessary skills to make you a resourceful, proactive, and more confident individual. I have had the pleasure of working with Dr. Jordi Kleiner, for two years and what we have been able to accomplish together is beyond what my parents and I could have ever imagined. I would also highly recommend Craig Elerkin for ACT and SAT (though he has been able to help me beyond preparing for these tests). The learning clinic grows with you. I have been able to use the clinic throughout high school and I am certain I will continue to use their services in college. Whether your child is 5 years old or 17 it is never too soon or too late to consider the learning clinic. Bring your kids here to allot them the tools to be independent learners and thinkers. The location, the experts, the environment, the guaranteed success, what is there not to love about the clinic!

From the owner: Learning evaluations, educational support, and standardized test preparationread more

My son entered the Northwestern Music Academy as a beginner cellist with limited skill but much…read morepotential and talent. Mindy Park is an outstanding educator who was born to teach children music. Her pedagogy is rooted in technique and skill rather than route memorization. Within two semesters, she was able to place my son far ahead of his school group. NMA offers unparalleled group and individual concerts and recitals in grandiose halls, where pupils learn to play in a professional music setting at a young age. We are excited to see how he grows in his musicianship throughout the years through this prestigious program.

I was so surprised to see that Kindermusik has not been reviewed yet and we've only known about…read moresince 2009 when we became parents! One of the important things to us as parents was to introduce our kids to music at an early age. We have tested out a variety of different music options here in Evanston, and our favorite is Kindermusik through the Music Academy at Northwestern University. You can start as young as newborn in the Kindermusik Village where both my kids have started - my daughter just finished up the Kindermusik Village session this summer and loved it. She went from just humming songs and melodies to actually having 4 songs memorized and singing very loudly and proudly! Their Our Time is the 18 months - 3.5 years session where it's a parent/tot activity. My son just recently wrapped up Kindermusik's Image That series where he loved the fact that he was dropped off for 30 minutes (it was our Saturday morning coffee break routine while he was in class) and then, we rejoined the group for 15 minutes sharing time. The classes are really great - you have quality materials (books, dvd, toy, etc) and the teachers are really fantastic. Julie Friend is an amazing resource, personable, talented, and we have really loved having her as our teacher. I'm most excited for my son who will be starting Kindermusik for the Young Child, Year One with Pat Heinenman this year because he'll be learning how to play the glockenspiel and sight reading, which is an essential tool for learning any musical instrument. Year Two is learning how to the two-stringed culcimer and the soprano recorder. The other music places are good, too, but our personal preference is Kindermusik as both my children will continue their music education here. They're great to work with, their schedules are flexible and accommodate both the stay-at-home parent and the working parent. The quality of the music education is proven through the results that I've seen with my children.

My son was diagnosed with dyslexia in first grade and by 5th grade was several grades behind in…read morereading, despite the Title I interventions that the district provided him. His dyslexia was affecting all of his coursework because he simply couldn't get past the words to get to the content. I decided to look for a dyslexia specialist and found Kim Ainis. Her program absolutely put him on the right path; he's now in 7th grade and reads at grade level. Her program is intensive and requires dedication; it's an ongoing process. But the time my son and I have put into the program practices was worth every minute, resulting in his new confidence in the classroom and outside of it.

It took me 10 min to make sure i typed th address right but much fasterthan it use to!!!! LOL Kim…read moreis the bestest evah!!!!!!!!

Cherry is a wonderful safe place for kids to grow and learn at their own speeds. It is inclusive…read moreand loving!

From the owner: As a developmental early childhood education program, Cherry Preschool offers a safe, consistent,…read morenurturing environment that encourages the social, emotional, physical, and intellectual growth of children at their own rate. We include children of all abilities and backgrounds and teach understanding, and acceptance. We welcome children who are at-risk due to special needs, financial and other family challenges, partnering with families to provide quality education and a sense of community.

My last of four kids is graduating this year. Amazing place for special ed all the way to my high…read moreachieving student. Not only do they get an outstanding education but they are surrounded by the beauty of diversity in staff and students alike.

My daughter got an excellent education at ETHS and loved it there. There are tons of clubs, sports…read moreand activities -- something for everyone. The teachers are generally very strong as is the administration. No school is perfect but I think ETHS is one of the best.

I have always had a fiercely inquisitive mind, constantly questioning everything (For instance, if…read moreevolution produces the best and brightest in the species, why does it produce people who don't believe in evolution?). So I was happy to find the interactive, monthly lecture series, Science Cafe. You know this free event is legit, because it's sponsored by Northwestern. Who else knows science better? DePaul? Right. Alumni pay to have their names taken off of buildings. UIC? Uh-huh. I've seen more sophisticated scientific breakthroughs in a Dustin Diamond science project. The event is held at the bar, FireHouse Grill. Ironic that I'm visiting an alcohol-filled venue to improve my brain when such venues have previously done so much damage. Too bad the venue couldn't also improve my damaged fender or make that kid walk again (But on the plus side, he no longer has to wait in line for rides at Disney Land). The patrons are a shockingly older group. Still, great to see such fervent curiosity from folks so close to death. If I were FireHouse Grill, I'd ask patrons to pay their tabs in advance. Anyway, when you show up, pick a seat, sit down, and like a panda mating ritual, you know its game on when someone starts presenting. The lecture I attended was called "The Array of Things," dealing with Argonne Lab's efforts to put sensors all over Chicago to help improve our quality of life. For instance, sensors could change cross-walk signals more quickly based on BlueTooth signals from pedestrians' mobile devices. That means when the city is all wired up and you want to cross the street more quickly, find the intersection with a lot of people with smart phones. Or, find an intersection near an Apple store. Another example is if you're a young woman walking home late at night, sensors could tell you what streets had lots of people, so you could avoid muggers. By the same token, if you're a mugger, you could see the streets with only a single lone woman walking. That saves time! It may sound scary that there are all these devices tracking what we do, but its coming, so we might as well embrace it. As the old saying goes, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." Or to put that in a more modern context, if you're kid already has autism, might as well get him vaccinated.

Yelp removed my review because it wasn't "business-oriented" enough for them. Let me see if this is…read morebetter for you, yelp. Dear Parents, The staff supervision at this facility is seriously LACKING. It has a claustrophobic little time-out room with a tiny little window on the door. That's it-three walls and a door with a tiny window. If your child's teacher believes your kid deserves it, he'll be thrown in there for HOURS at a time, with no one checking in on him. This may be okay for prisoners when they are thrown in the hole, but not for mentally disabled children. I would sooner set my flesh on fire than see any relative of mine sent here. My brother was left in there for hours with a bully who was much larger than him and TOUCHED HIM INAPPROPRIATELY. This was possible because THERE WAS NO STAFF SUPERVISION!!!!! You can message me for further info...I'll be more than happy to give it. How's that yelp...is that 'business oriented" enough for you? What's it going to take to warn other parents/family members?

From the owner: The Jewish Child and Family Services Therapeutic Day School (JCFS TDS) provides services for…read morestudents in grades Kindergarten through 12th grade. JCFS TDS believes that the best education cultivates the academic and personal potential of every student, helping them to become their best selves, discover their passions and prepare them for success in the larger community. We serve students who are classified in the following special education categories: Emotional Disability (ED), Specific Learning Disability (SLD), Intellectual Disability, Autism (includes autism spectrum disorders), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Other Health Impairment (OHI). We work with Chicago Public Schools and with school districts from the North Shore, Lake County and the Western Suburbs to receive referrals of students who need an alternative to traditional public schools.

Evanston Animal Shelter is a top-notch animal shelter that truly cares about rescues. They're…read moreprofessional and conscientious. If something were to happen to me, and with no other options, I have confidence that my beloved dog would be taken care of conscientiously by Evanston Animal Shelter.

I would like to give them one star for ghosting people on phone calls and emails, as I and others…read morehave had happen, but since they do take care of some animals, and I do like animals, I will show them some mercy . Considering that they got over 6 million dollars from the City of Evanston, I am very unhappy with their poor communications and the fact that they are only open to the public for about 2 hours a day. One of the two cats I adopted turned out to have obstructive airway disease and since they were in charge of my two cats for months, one would have thought that would have been disclosed. The medication cost over $2,000 that first year because what was prescribed was not off patent and the cat was too obese to take prednisolone safely. Why was my cat obese? Ask them. Further when I asked if I could donate the huge cat carriers back to them and some food bowls they gave me (since I already had those items) they refused them as if they have all the money in the world to buy new supplies, other shelters would have jumped at the opportunity, a donation in kind of about $100. I applied to volunteer and heard nothing from them for over 2 months after emailing and messaging them following up on my status, to no avail, until I had to actually go in there to find out what was happening. I could go on but in my opinion this is an organization that is not managed well and they could do much more with the funds that they have been given. I'm pretty sure, imho, that they will ask some pals or cronies to add some high star reviews to try to balance out the negative ones, of which there are quite a few, but all I can do is try to get them to get their act together there by posting this. Finally, as to others here saying that some people there are rude, I completely agree. It is not a pleasant experience. If they try to get more taxpayer funding without improvement of their management, I intend to go down to City Hall to cite my many reservations about this organization. Update on 2/18/25: I stand by my review in spite of the response from EAS: To EAS I respond as follows: Unfortunately the cats were obese from a medical standpoint so you may want to consult with a veterinarian on animal obesity. I note that you did not post the photo of one of them I emailed to you after he had some cat nip the first night I got them, but chose the "skinny" video :) so I posted my photo of one of the big boys I adopted. Further, it is my understanding that my cats were elsewhere in foster care under your auspices until they were put into my care as fosters. If you take no responsibility for their care when at foster locations, that could be problematic, especially for them, since you foster out many animals. As to communications issues: I sent an email Sept 8, 2021 asking about a vet. No response to that. I found a vet myself and did not contact you again until early Dec this year when I put in a volunteer application. No response to that. On Jan 7, I sent a followup email asking the status. No response to that. After that I wrote a msg to your Facebook page. A day or two later someone answered and said she would follow up with the dog volunteer area. I waited approximately a week and still had no answer. I wrote again to see if anyone heard from the dog volunteer group, but received no reply. Growing quite annoyed with the runaround, a few days ago I decided to walk over to EAS and find out what was going on, which I did. I told The person there, also the person who did not answer my email of Sept 8, 2021 that I had emailed and messaged and gotten no reply so decided to walk in. He told me I must be mistaken as EAS has no email address posted on its website and was rather brusque (rude, in my perception in addition to being uninformed) gave me no apology and then insisted I must have emailed a vet with a similar practice name to EAS. He subsequently agreed to follow up, nevertheless. Moreover, with regard to my claim of poor communication, there was a post on your facebook page not long ago telling the public that people have been rude to EAS staff/volunteers when they don't get back to them and how they shouldn't be because everyone is so busy( too busy to hire volunteers who might answer phones, I guess.) If EAS cannot acknowledge the problem, it certainly will not be fixed. Re: funding: So it didn't go into your pocket, you say, but why spend 6 million dollars so you can be open approximately 2 hours a day to the public? I certainly hope the number of adoptions skyrocket going forward , you train people not to be rude (as mentioned here and elsewhere in reviews) and you answer communications because certainly the Evanston taxpayers should see something for their generous funding of your large facility.