We have loved everything about Doodlebugs. We have a 3 year old in Tues/Thurs class. Management is…read moreon top of everything with excellent communication and adhering to safety rules. Very organized. Teachers are amazing! They make your child feel special and loved. Cost is affordable. Food served is good quality and has a good amount of fruit and veggies offered. Most important to me is that this school is safe. Would definitely recommend.

My son started at Doodlebugs in Dec 2023 at 18mo. He came home a couple months later singing the…read moreABCs. He was very feral, and we were so surprised they trained him to sit in chairs. He's the biggest little hype man. Always super excited for everything and he brings that energy with him to Doodlebugs. They do a wonderful job directing his energy towards a variety of activities. They've worked hard to bring out the best in him. Especially Ms Olivia who worked with him extensively when he was adjusting to a bigger kids class. He recently just turned 3 and he's counting, recognizing letters, sings a long list of songs, and is so polite. He absolutely loves it there and we're looking forward to having his little sister start when a spot opens for her!

Both of my children have attended Sunshine Academy and our family absolutely adores them! ALL of…read morethe teachers there are wonderful, patient and kind. I am so glad I found them 2+ years ago. My daughter is in kindergarten now, but my son is still attending Sunshine Academy and there are times I wish I could just sneak her back into the daycare.

Taking my son out of this daycare was the best decision I've made. Unorganized they don't keep up…read morewith payments and lose important documents. Will not admit when wrong! I would not recommend this daycare

Both of my children have been at LAOS since they were twelve weeks old. My oldest is now 8, my…read moreyoungest has two years left before kindergarten. These caring kind and compassionate people have loved and helped raise my kids for 8 years and I couldn't be more grateful to have found them in 2018. As with all daycares there is turnover but Alexis hires only the best. We've never had a teacher we didn't like. They're always doing art projects and water days and sensory lessons, my youngest gets mad when we DONT go to school to see his best friends and teachers. If you want somewhere that will genuinely love your kids this is the place for you. If you're someone who needs everything to be perfect all the time maybe steer clear.......mainly because I don't want the fantastic staff here to have to deal with you

I am so grateful for the amazing childcare provided at The School House and Learning Academy. Miss…read moreEliza, David and all the Teachers have been such a blessing for my family. They are so caring and attentive, and they truly go above and beyond for the children in their care. My son absolutely loves going there every day and always comes home happy and full of stories about all the fun activities they did. I couldn't ask for a better place for my child to learn important life skills and grow into a kind and helpful individual. Thank you to everyone at The School House/ Learning Academy, for all that you do! He will be ready for Kindergarten!

I absolutely love and trust the staff at Smarty Pants Daycare. This is my first experience with a…read moredaycare. I enrolled my child there when he was about 12 weeks old. From the start they have been super friendly. They love the kids as if they are their own. It's so cute to watch them greet each other every day. What I love most are the updates via the apps. When he was little they were super detailed on feedings and changes. Everyday you receive at least one photo along with an agenda. One con, and shame on me for not inquiring, is that they assume you know what's going on. I really don't know many of the teachers names. I know a few that are at the front desk regularly. They provided a menu sample, but not clue if that changes on a weekly basis or what he's eating. I have no clue when he changes rooms, except the code in the app changes. I'm not complaining, but just note that you might have to be proactive with getting some info if you are concerned. They have been super helpful on milestone transitions. They'll let you know when it's time to change from a bottle, when they can have a blanket, eat at the daycare, etc. All in all I'd highly recommend this daycare. They are very transparent, it's easy to get updates, place is new and super clean, and it's such a warm and inviting place for the kids.

Thank you to Smarty Pants Preschool for taking care of both of my babies! One from 13 weeks to VPK,…read moreand most recently my daughter at 4 months. There's not many people I trust and I'm so thankful for Jillian Hernandez, her family, Lauren Nicole, Makaela Redmond, and all of the SP teachers! Thank you from Chloe, our littlest smarty pants! In regards to the negative review, it is common place for many daycares to follow even school calendars. The practice of having the school close so that the staff can celebrate holidays with their own family is well known in advance and practical for keeping happy teachers for decades. Smarty Pants stayed open for me and my family during COVID lockdown so that we could work. Tuition is paid for closed holidays so that staff can be paid. I completely disagree with the one star review listed here. You pay for the quality of care you receive.

Steer clear! We enrolled our two-year-old here 10 months ago, and we have had numerous issues with…read moreJillian (one of the owners). Anytime we have brought up a question or a concern, her immediate response was to threaten to "release us" from our contract; basically, if you don't like the way she does something, she has no interest in discussing it and would be happy to leave your child without daycare (obviously, any place good has a waiting list). Which is exactly what happened to our family a couple of weeks ago. The facility electively closed the entire week of Thanksgiving and still charged tuition, and I questioned the fairness of that closure and payment: see the attached photos. Smarty Pants cashed our post-dated check a week early, "released us from our contract" the next day, and will not return our NUMEROUS attempts to reach them about why they won't return $275 they took from us. There is rapid turnover with the teachers, as well. Jillian acts like they run a non-profit and is constantly asking for "donations" (we spent $150 on our child's back-to-school supplies). Everything about this place is a money-grab, and there is no true relationship with families.

i can't say enough good things about this school. my son has special needs/developmental delays…read moreand this school has been amazing with him. My son loves going to school everyday and he has learned so much with the wonderful VPK staff.

WORST DAYCARE (PHOTOS ARE NOT OF THIS FACILITY)…read more PLEASE READ (11/3/2022) PARENTS BEWARE...DO NOT PLACE YOUR CHILDREN IN THEIR CARE!! THIS PLACE HAS 20-30 children in each little room(entire place is about 1,000 sq feet) have way too many children in the rooms with only one (sometimes two)teacher(s) This week , Ive personally witnessed staff members standing over the toddlers, aggressively pointing and screaming in the their faces just for toy job another child's plate while I was a few feet away! Another morning I witnessed a staff members snatching a toy out of a toddlers hands because they werent cleaning up fast enough in the morning!! They let my scared and upset baby just stand and cry all by himself EVERY SINGLE morning (ive never had longer than 20minutes to wait and watch on the front live 4"x4" video feed that is displayed on a tv mounted by the entrance/exit. I was late yesterday because I had to go back in and help him wash his hands and sit down to eat because the staff wouldn't even attempt to console him!!! As a mother, there's nothing worst than witnessing such cruelty before you have to be at work! Feeling forced to leave your child in their supervision!! Scary to think if this is how they behave in my presence; what are they doing when there is no witnesses knowing the babies don't communicate well enough to verbally share with their parents! A few days ago my baby got out of the playground and ran across the parking lot to the front door where I was walking in. The scariest part is that he ran across the parking lot at 5:00 while cars are whipping in and out not looking for a two foot toddler running, unsupervised!! Since I couldn't see him due to cars parked in the driveway in front of school (not in parking spots) I didn't see him until he was right behind me! He was completely filthy (Which is nothing new, everyday he has dirt all over his face, in his hair, his Clothes are almost always ruined after he wears them once to daycare.) sunburnt/sweaty, crying hystericall! As soon as he got in my car he drank almost an entire 16oz bottle of water! For the last three or more hours of the day(during the hottest part of day) with absolutely no shade or protection from Florida heat, AND NO WATER OR DRINK OF ANY KIND EVEN OFFERED TO CHILDREN OTHER THAN AT BREAKFAST OR LUNCH, with children of all ages, from babies to elementary aged kids all on one playground with only one or two teachers "watching" them. Typically when I pull up they are in front corner (talking or on phones (which is why my baby was able to run out of fence into a packed parking lot without anyone even noticing!! At least, not until they heard me attempting to address them from the front door, where my son was now in my arms, still crying uncontrollably with his face buried as far into my shoulder as he could possibly get it! Instead of apologizing or attempting to rectify the issue at hand; they said nothing and then called CPS to TRY and report me, just deplorable!!! Unfortunately, I am unaware of any other options available to me, I dont have the financial ability to relocate him at this time and I just started a new job(so asking for time off until ELC is approved is not an option, and ELC doesn't start application process until your actual first day of work, because I've been reaching out the entire time I was actively pursuing employment. I'm a single mother, with no friends or family to help watch my children, doing the best I can to rebuild our lives after losing everything to escape domestic abuse. I've definitely experienced all the struggles that keep women in abusive relationships, as if the shame society puts in the victim isn't enough, there's facilities like this that make it terrifying to leave your child every single day Because I fear for my babies safety and well being every single of second of the day that he is in their care!! PLEASE SAVE YOURSELF THE HEADACHE AND PUT YOUR CHILD SOMEWHERE THAT YOU MNOW THEY WILL BE SAFE!

Many pros and cons to this place. I went in to inquire about a membership and swim lessons. Met Ms…read more Cynthia at the front desk and she was so sweet and helpful. She answered all of our questions and more. She also let us take a tour of the place. We ran into Hillary at the pool who was also extremely helpful and nice. We had so much in common which made me feel like this was the place to be. The actual facility could use a facelift, but because of the people we met, we are going forward with joining. I wish there was an outdoor track and a better room for the kids to play in. I will come back to update about pricing and quality once we've been there for a bit.

I struggle with this one a bit. I really do love the YMCA and for a while, this one was terrific. I…read morecome down to Bradenton to perform every year and have had a YMCA Nationwide membership for about a decade. have never had an issue with using my membership at other YMCAs, but this time the Y let me know that I could come in for free the first time, but after that I would be charged 6.00 per visit. The front desk person was very helpful when I inquired further and she explained that since most of their clients are visitors, their equipment was getting used but they didn't receive any of the membership due money from visitors and it was really affecting them. While I appreciate this, it sounds like there needs to be more of an internal discussion within the YMCA nationwide program. We discussed some of the possible options and the easiest, though still inconvenient one, was to suspend my hometown account and then start up an account at the Bradenton Branch. However, there didn't seem to be a way to bypass the enrollment fee and so I would have to pay that and then ultimately close the membership down after my three month contract in Bradenton ends in January. It was one too many hurdles to hop over to join a gym I have already joined. While I respect that this YMCA needs to make changes so that their facility can continue to prosper, I am disappointed that a program the YMCA touts as "Nationwide" isn't really. The ability to go to YMCAs all over was one of the major reasons why my family opted to join.

We relocated to Bradenton area at the start of the new year and my son's after care program at his…read moreelementary school was full and on a waitlist, with little possibility of getting a spot. I toured several schools in the area looking for a safe and nurturing environment for my son. I settled for a different school only because of price difference and availability. I pulled my son out before 90 because of the lack of communication. We were able to start at Primrose that following Monday and have not had any complaints since! My son is thriving and loves going to the aftercare program and attending on school out days. He loves his teacher Ms Martyn and all the fun activities she has planned! We couldn't ask for a better experience!