We have been taking our son to Children's Center of Lake Forest for the last ~7 months. To be…read morehonest, the location wasn't the most convenient for us, and we had been considering an alternative location closer to home. However, we have opted to stay with Children's Center of Lake Forest, because they take such tremendous care of our son. There is a genuine love for our son there among so many of the staff, that makes both my wife and I feel so incredibly comfortable and confident in the care he is receiving. Would highly recommend Children's Center of Lake Forest!

My first experience with any childcare professionals was with Eva, a mother herself and staple…read moreduring weekdays. The facilities are clean and organized. Tony is like a perverbial father or grandfather. The kids love him. I would highly recommend Laura and crew. Eva is our angel.

Great teachers and an incredibly kind, welcoming staff. From the moment you walk in, you can feel…read morethat the school truly cares about the students and their success. The teachers are patient, knowledgeable, and genuinely invested in helping every child learn and grow. The staff is always friendly, helpful, and makes both parents and students feel comfortable. What stands out the most is how excited my kids are to go to school every single day. They come home happy, talking about what they learned, and looking forward to the next day. That alone says a lot about the positive environment the school has created. It is clear that the school focuses not only on academics but also on building confidence, character, and a love of learning. We are very grateful to be part of such a supportive and caring school community. I highly recommend this school to any family looking for a place where their children will feel valued, encouraged, and excited to learn.

If you are thinking of sending your child to Goddard Deerfield, please read this review and…read moreconsider other options. About us: Hard working blue collar parents of 2 kids and one more on the way in July 2022. Our daughter attended Goddard Deerfield for over 1 year and we initially enrolled our son to start in August of 2022. Problems: The owners of this location, Jane and Genia, consider your child a walking dollar sign and nothing else. They will put the economics of getting every dollar out of you rather than creating a safe environment for your child or respecting any of your parental concerns. The situation and response: Goddard's AC system had broken during a 90+ degree week. Goddard has no extra classrooms so their response was to have the children in the classroom at that temperature for 30-40 mins at a time. We decided to not send our daughter to school until the AC situation was fixed due to extreme heat and ventilation issues that could lead to spread of COVID (my wife is currently pregnant with a high risk pregnancy). The AC repair took over 9 days and no surprise, there was a COVID case in the classroom during this time. This left our daughter out of school where we had to pay for additional childcare for 2 weeks. We reached out to the owners for a credit of our tuition for the time and that is when Jane's true colors showed. Over a phone call a screaming and angry Jane claimed: -"AC breaking is an Act of God and that they had to pay $5,000 to repair it so they are not liable." -"It builds character for children to be in that heat because life isn't always perfect" -When I told her again that my wife was pregnant and our own doctor said this an unneeded risk. Jane claimed "COVID is overblown and it's just an excuse now. My sister in law had COVID during her pregnancy and was fine, so your wife shouldn't be worried" We were so shocked by this response. After that last bizarre call, my wife had a 1-1 in person conversation where Jane took ownership of the things she said but the damage had been done. We knew our daughter would not be safe in their hands and that ownership would potentially target our children. Even worse ownership behavior: Our daughter stopped attending Goddard in June and our son was enrolled for upcoming August start - we asked what the process is for terminating enrollment and how we would receive our refund of enrollment fees and they took that as an opportunity to immediately cancel his enrollment, keep the enrollment fees, and take money from another family to fill his spot. Not only did they not return the money, they cancelled his enrollment and filled his spot in a breach of their own enrollment document/parent handbook. We now have to consult a legal expert to recoup our fees. I am a small business owner myself and would never ever target or leave a negative review unless it was 100% necessary to warn others. There are other schools in the area that will look after your child, look elsewhere. During the last few months of dealing with Goddard I felt like a failure of a parent to have not seen the other red flags and cannot believe I allowed my child to be in the care of Goddard Deerfield. The worst part of it all is that this is all I know about, what about all the other things that may have happened while my daughter attended school here that owners with this character may have put their own business in front of my child or any child? If you think maybe this is a one off situation and your child could be okay, Google search "Goddard Deerfield Indeed reviews" to see how their own teachers review the school. It is very evident that this is a common theme. Reach out to me if you have concerns as I have documentation of all of this.

We chose this daycare because of its convenient location directly across from our workplace. During…read moreour tour, we were told they accept YWCA childcare assistance. We provided copies of our recent pay stubs as part of the process. Based on our income, we anticipated qualifying for assistance. However, we were informed that they do not accept back pay and that families must cover full tuition out-of-pocket until subsidy approval is finalized. In our case, the approval process took eight weeks. That would have required paying two months of tuition upfront while waiting for assistance. If a center works with YWCA-funded families regularly, it was unclear why no flexibility could be offered given the documented income information we provided. For many working families, paying full tuition for weeks -- or months -- while waiting on approval defeats the purpose of childcare assistance. Families relying on subsidy support should make sure they fully understand this policy before enrolling. To make a long story short if you can't afford the daycare tuition on your own, don't even apply.

Do not recommend. The teachers need more training and coaching on how to interact with children…read morewho may have more emotional learning challenges.