My two sons have been going here for 11 months, and I can say without reservation that these folks are awesome! Please don't let the bad reviews scare you--they got a new site director in early February 2015 who is on the ball and seems to have resolved all of the earlier issues with teacher turnover, broken promises, lack of student assessments, spotty communication, etc. (which I definitely saw and had issues with under the old site director). In my opinion, Kids & Company is a much more welcoming and nurturing place for everyone (teachers, staff, children, parents) as a result of this change. Additionally, although occasionally there is nobody in the office (because they're taking care of things), someone is usually nearby, which increases security and makes it easier to resolve issues and ask questions. This is a big improvement over the previous site director, who was often not in the office when we arrived and never seemed to be there after 5:45, so sometimes days went by without me seeing her, even though they close at 6. The new site director is almost always smiling, which to me says a lot about how he feels about his job and contributes to the welcoming atmosphere.
The teachers are incredibly caring, loving, thoughtful people who are very good at what they do. We were all a little sad when my younger son transitioned out of the Infant II classroom, as we had all grown to love those ladies! But the Infant III teacher is really nice too, which makes the transition a lot easier. My younger son has thrived here: he is outgoing, happy, and starting to say lots of words, which at 16 months is quite good. My older son has really benefited from socializing with the kids and Preschool teachers, and while it's unclear to me how much he's learned here (in terms of pre-reading/writing skills), he is much more outgoing and able to interact easily with other kids than he was before we started. (According to the daily reports, his class frequently learns things that I taught him before he started day care, and although I know that some of the teachers go beyond reinforcement to teach him new or deeper content, I don't think this always happens. I haven't asked them to work on this; I just try to supplement his learning at home.)
We have a pretty unusual schedule, and the director, teachers, and staff have been very understanding and accommodating! We will soon be leaving Chicago, and I can only hope that our next day care experience is as good as this one has been. read more