Leah Lemelin helped me trust my body more, feel calmer, and more present with what I was…read moreexperiencing. I felt more in command and confident throughout. I thought I wanted a doula just for the day of delivery but what I found was that the work we did together before delivery is what altered the whole experience. It was deeply supportive and prepared me in a way I didn't even know I needed or was possible. So, even if you are an experienced mom, you are having a traditional medical birth, having Leah as your doula will deepen your experience and give it back to you as truly yours in a profound way. I can't thank her enough for walking with me through it and guiding me into myself so I could remember my own agency and power and strength in it all.

Mary has been our lactation consultant for 1 year. She had been part of my support network since we…read moresaw her during an at-home visit when my daughter was 1 month old. I'd count her as one of the women that I've most leaned on as a first-time mother. She is a walking book of knowledge on everything child related. She is kind and passionate and always available. I'm not sure where we'd be without her. We are so grateful to have her in our lives.

This place is not safe for Jewish families and if they won't protect Jewish families, how can any…read morefamily be safe? When we encountered a clear, documented situation of bias and antisemitism with a teacher the leadership team refused to even acknowledge that they stand against antisemitism much less take any steps to address it. Despite my attempts to have a dialogue about it, I merely got the old "sorry you felt that way" and my money back.

They have a wonderful program here and help families better understand their children's needs.read more

This review is not for Big Blue but for a specific teacher. Gloria is a real life magical mermaid…read more She is an incredible teacher, advocate, and role model. I'm truly in awe of her ability to maintain enthusiasm, warmth, insight, and intention through lesson after lesson. She is working on another level. She packs so much into a 30 minute lesson - challenging her students to build skill, creating a sense of community, encouraging them to support each other. We've had a few teachers at Big Blue, all clearly well trained, and our child demonstrates more growth in one session with Gloria than a month with his other teachers. I've worked in schools and observed educators in various settings for many years. Gloria has the passion and charisma that I recognize from the best teachers I've known. Even when my child was not in her class, Gloria advocated for his learning experience, working with the staff to make sure he was in the right level for both his age and skill. Whatever you are paying her, quadruple it. We are lucky to have Gloria in our community. Generally our experiences with big blue staff have been positive. Staff are always friendly and helpful. Gloria, again, stands head and shoulders above the rest.

As a parent, I am extremely disappointed with our experience at this swim facility. My son, is on…read morethe spectrum, and I expected a level of patience, communication, and professionalism that has consistently been lacking. Communication has been one of the biggest issues. Makeup lessons are frequently changed, rescheduled, or handled differently than what was originally communicated, often with little notice or consistency. It is frustrating to constantly seek clarification instead of receiving reliable information from the facility. Another major concern is the lack of instructional consistency. My son has been switched between multiple instructors during a single 30-minute lesson, which is disruptive and reduces valuable instruction time. Staff also do not appear to consistently review student notes. My son is currently in Bold 2, yet during makeup lessons he is often taught Bold 1 material by instructors unfamiliar with his progress. As a result, he makes little to no progress during those lessons. This is why I request specific instructors when scheduling makeup lessons--not because I expect those requests to be guaranteed, but because I expect instructors to understand where students are in the program before teaching. Additionally, if you need to contact the facility by phone, it is extremely difficult to reach a live person. Calls are rarely answered, and return calls are infrequent, making it even harder to get questions answered or concerns addressed in a timely manner. I also believe management visibility could be improved. Until recently, I was not even aware that each location had a General Manager. I have sent several complaints and concerns to Julian, who has handled them professionally and resolved issues quickly, and I appreciate his efforts. However, I feel these responsibilities should not fall solely on him. Having a General Manager who is more present within the facility, actively engaging with staff and families rather than remaining primarily in the office, could help operations run more smoothly and ensure concerns are addressed more effectively. I spoke directly with the General Manager, Kate, regarding these concerns. Unfortunately, she never asked for my son's name, reviewed his account, or took notes about our experience. While I was told the issues would be discussed with staff, the conversation left me feeling unheard and gave little confidence that meaningful follow-up would occur. The facility itself has additional concerns. The air conditioning system was reportedly expected to be repaired over a month ago, yet it remains unresolved. This is concerning not only for my son, who suffers from severe allergies, but also for employees who spend hours working in the heat and humidity. I do want to recognize Gloria, Julian, and Ozzie for their kindness, patience, and professionalism. They consistently make my son feel welcome/seen and are a major reason we have continued attending. My hope is that management focuses on improving communication, staff training, instructional consistency, facility maintenance, and customer service. Families deserve a supportive environment, and concerns raised by parents should be documented and addressed rather than overlooked. P.S I had to edit this review smaller since there is a 5k character. There was much more and details that needed to be said

As a parent, I was disappointed with Reach. We had one therapist who was qualified and knew what…read moreshe was doing but most of the others seemed to have no training whatsoever with special needs kids or even with childcare in general. The management was always defensive. We were doing 20+ hours a week of therapy and saw minimal gains. When we switched companies, our child got potty trained in just a couple of months with the new therapists. Reach's owners may be mothers of special needs kids themselves but they don't have the expertise to serve other special needs kids or to run a business.

Reach ABA is the best of the best. We had 4 ABA companies so far. Reach is very organise , smart,…read moreprofessional and they do work with children. They other ABA's kind of babysit . I wish I knew them earlier. I strongly recommend them.

What a wonderful organization and creative community! I…read morediscovered this organization at the Printer's Row Lit Fest, and a friend recommended it too, and I am thrilled to know about this place! I attended an information session today and everyone was so kind and welcoming. They also provided an incredible food spread. The space is very warm and inviting. Really positive atmosphere. It was a lovely two hour event, which included socializing, an ice breaker, a writing exercise, and a Q&A. They offer a wide variety of classes, workshops, fellowships, and free events too. Lots of ways to become involved and find your writing community. I look forward to participating more in the future.

As a new author eager to grow within Chicago's literary community, I volunteered with StoryStudio…read morein December to give back to a space I truly admired and to earn class credit through their Work/Study program. I believed I was joining a reputable, nurturing organization for writers. Unfortunately, what began as an act of goodwill became one of the most disappointing experiences I've had with any arts organization. Despite showing up, completing my shift, and following up multiple times in good faith, my volunteer credit was never honored until I had to chase it down months later. Worse, after being told I'd be contacted for future opportunities, I was met with total silence--no returned calls, no responses to emails. Then, seeing new volunteer positions advertised publicly while I was still waiting for even a basic reply was frankly demoralizing. To make matters worse, when I finally did receive a response, it included vague recollections and misplaced blame about my punctuality--something that had already been cleared and verified by their own staff as a harmless scheduling miscommunication caused by conflicting information from the studio itself. Instead of accountability or an apology, I received an impersonal brush-off and a polite "we're all staffed up." As a writer and volunteer who genuinely believed in StoryStudio's mission, I expected better--basic professionalism, follow-through, and respect for the people who donate their time to keep the organization running. What I encountered instead was disorganization, poor communication, and a disappointing disregard for volunteers who aren't part of the inner circle. For new writers looking for a supportive creative home, I'd urge caution. Writers deserve better than to be ghosted by the very spaces that claim to nurture them.

It's a good place to learn how to swim for the little ones .! I seen my kid improve a lot, in a…read morelittle time .! A lot of coaches too in this facility.! Great staff . I give 4 stars just because sometimes they spend time fixing googles , it can take them ( 5 minutes by doing that , looking at the time ( clock wise) too I se them a lot .! In every minute count for me .! Instead of checking the clock they should focus more on starting the class.

Not a great place unless you don't have other options. Both Gold Fish and Big Blue are designed to…read morekeep you in the program and paying money by having your kids make very slow improvements, but not really to teach them how to swim as quickly as possible. They get hung up on micro movements and use it as an excuse to stall progression. It's rediculous. Off the two we did like Gold Fish better. This issues is was particularly pronounced when we brought our daughter to swim lessons in another country. The approach was night and day. She learned more in two lessons there than she did in 20 lessons at Gold Fish. The teacher even pointed out that our daughter hadn't made much progress in one year since he had seen her last. Gold Fish is a racket. They will teach your kids to swim.... eventually. But you are much better off putting your kiddo in a different swim school or in another activity they enjoy. Note: we did share this concern directly with management last year. It resulted in our daughter magically being passed to the next level... which her instructors had stated she was ready for weeks prior, but the "tester" refused to pass her. We again spoke with the "tester" this time and expect to hear back from management, but like last time it won't change their business model or practices of keeping you in the program vs. teaching kids to swim efficiently.

The program is terrific, however, the office isn't super responsive. I tried to pause my son's…read morelessons for the he summer and never got a call back. Now they want to charge me for an additional 30 days. Disappointed.

Best for music instruction. Great staff and philosophy. They have a strong culture and community.read more

I graduated from Players Workshop in Summer 2001…read more As a stage and film actor, I find the training provided at PW extremely useful and inspiring. Thank you, instructors Steve Roath and Jeff!

If making choices in life are a challenge in any aspect of life or career, this program is for you!…read morePlayers Workshop will help to fine tune your ability to access your internal creative core. Once you have started unlocking and breaking down your fears and barriers, your ability to give presentations, engage in conversation and perform in life are at a renewed and heightened level. This program is great for developing teamwork skills and being able to trust your inner self.