This is the best daycare we have been too we love the staff everyone is absolutely amazingread more

Since the new management stepped in this spring, the daycare has improved so much. April (the new…read moredirector) and Kylie (the AD) are wonderful--great communication, lots of fun activities, and my daughter truly loves her teachers. The facility is clean, with live cameras (sensitive areas blurred), and we get regular updates and photos. It's play-based but also encourages learning, teamwork, and responsibility. I feel confident my daughter is safe, happy, and cared for every day.

When looking for a spot to bring your child for care, it can be kinda stressful! Both on the child…read moreand the parents! But I could not be happier with the decision to go to Apple Tree. Our son started here at 18 months! And we have been here for almost 3 months now. They told us that there would be a transition time for him and the parents and they were so right. But we found that they paid attention to the small stuff and saw he was connecting to a certain teacher and that has really helped feel more at home! I really love how they have a mobile app that gives the parents up dates through the day on what the kids are doing, eating, playing with, learning, and how nap times and diaper changes go! And they send you photos! That really helps the parents feel good about how these long days are going. The meals are varied and so are the snacks! They have both indoor and outdoor time and the school is very clean! The staff is very informative and friendly and I always feel great about dropping him off there! The parents get their own safety code for the door so they can drop by anytime they like! It might be a bit more expensive that other places, but you get what you pay for and I couldn't be happier with our decision. Our song even looks forward to giving the little Apple Tree Bear on the sign a High Five when dropping off or picking him up! Oh so fun! I feel he is developing skills here he would not get at home with busy parents working. And that feels good! The memories that will be made here!

This is such a wonderful school. My nephew attends and our entire family is so glad we found them…read more We have been really impressed with their online app so we can all keep up with his achievements. The teachers are also amazing. I can't recommend them enough!

When my children were younger, this preschool was phenomenal for their first experience. The…read moreteachers were kind and supportive. The office staff was always willing to answer any questions I may have. My children learned so much, and I learned so much about Montessori and how it helps children. I would recommend this school to anyone!

We have been at the Ankeny location for 7+ years. They have become family to us! The teachers are…read moreso loving and care deeply about the kiddos! Highly recommended!!

We had been taking our kids to Little Endeavors since 2018. It is extremely unfortunate that our…read moreexperience has turned so negative. Before I get to the recent negative experiences, let me first share that the pros of Little Endeavors (Ankeny). The facility is a good size and includes both an adequate space for use as an in-door gym and good age-appropriate equipment. As for teachers, there are good (Denise, Allie, Maggie, Peg), and there are bad ones (which I will not name). Until a month or so ago, the list of pros included the amazing director (Sara), which really set this daycare center apart from the others. Since her departure, the pros have not outweighed the cons for us (which includes an annual tuition increase), so we decided to leave Little Endeavors. 1. Three minutes before drop off/center opening, we were notified that three classrooms would be closed for the day due to staff shortages. Three minutes! This forced us and other families having to find alternative care at the drop of a hat before we could go to work. 2. Also due to staff shortages, they reduced the center hours by up to two hours for weeks, causing obvious impact to families and work schedules. There were some other minor things that just started adding up that I won't go into detail here, but all of this to say that we felt it best for our family to leave for a more dependable, affordable daycare center. So, we put in our notice on a Wednesday, which gave two weeks of what our youngest (oldest no longer attends daycare) would have been at the center. We were aware of the two week notice policy, which states, "....A two-week written notice is required for families wishing to terminate our services. Failure to provide notification in writing will result in being charged for the two weeks." Since the policy does not provide a definition of a week (calendar week? week of services?) AND because the new director did not give any notice of two-week policy infringement upon confirmation of receipt of our termination request, we were completely blindsided by being charged for a third week of services (for the week after our youngest's last day at the center)! Thinking it was a clerical error initially, we emailed the new director asking for a correction. From then, it has been back and forth with different reasonings and information. First, she said that since we notified on a Wednesday, that the two-week policy would get us to two calendar weeks (another Wednesday), and in her explanation she made it sound like had we notified her one day earlier, then we would not have been charged at all (because our youngest was not attending Little Endeavors on Mondays or Tuesdays). Later, she said that they run their billing cycle on Mondays, so we would to have notified before Monday...like, what? She said that she consulted the General Manager, which also felt that they were justified according to this unclear policy in charging us for a third week! We even looked to compromise; if they would refund us for the two of the three days, then we would consider the matter resolved. That was over a week ago. On top of all of that, the same Parent Handbook that references this two-week policy also states that the initial deposit will be used for final week at Little Endeavors: "This security deposit will be applied to your account balance the last week(s) you are in the center." This was NOT done. So, we had to pay three weeks for our full tuition, meaning we were charged for an extra week AND our deposit was not used. AS OF 12/02, WE HAVE NOT RECEIVED OUR DEPOSIT REFUND! As a business, if your policy is unclear, you do not give appropriate notice, and you give the wrong information, that is considered a mistake (or a few). An ethical business will fix their mistakes. To the families that send their kids to Little Endeavors - GOOD LUCK! And be sure to read the nonexistent fine print. Needless to say, I am glad that I am no longer giving my money to Little Endeavors and its unethical business practices.

Our 5 year old currently goes to the child development center and we absolutely love the place. I…read morecan't begin to speak highly enough about the daycare. The center is broken up into multiple rooms. The kids start out in the baby room then it goes toddler room, 2 year old room, 3 year old room, and preschool room. Each room has a teacher and an assistant in it. The best part of this daycare is all of the amenities. During the summer months the kids get to go horseback riding once a week, go on a boat ride once a week, go on nature walks, and swimming once a week. The facility has an indoor heated pool that the kids 3 years and older get to swim in once a week all year long. The daycare has multiple outdoor play areas for the kids to play and they rotate the kids between the different play areas. When we were looking for daycares we called around to a number of the daycares around Ankeny and Easter Seals was one of the cheaper daycares which is amazing considering all of the amenities that you get for the money compared to the other daycares. This daycare is truly a hidden gem.

Great school and nice staff. Very friendly and welcoming for all children. New to the area and we…read morewere able to sign up my 3 year old son quickly. It was his first time in a classroom setting and it really helped his development.

We couldn't be happier with Cadence In Urbandale! Our daughter loves it there. She's always excited…read morein the car on the way to "go see friends," "play water day," and all the other activities they do. They potty trained my daughter mostly at 20 months before I even had time to research what to do! They are amazing and we love them!

Addy loves coming to school because her teachers have created a safe & loving environment. We know…read moreeveryday she is well cared for & is learning so much!

I started working at crayons 2 pencils at the beginning of 2024 and it has been amazing. I truly…read morehave never worked at a place that has made me happier. It feels like one big family here. If you are searching for a daycare or are looking for a job crayons 2 pencils is the way to go!!

I've sent both of my children to this daycare and preschool starting from the age of 3-months to 5…read moreyears! This means that I've been been working with the Director and Asst. Director at Cadence for the past 13 years! They are 2 professionals that know their business and do a great job with the kids, teachers, and parents! That leadership  tenure is so important- and they both do a great job. There are also a good amount of teachers that have been at this daycare for 5, 10, 15, and 20+ years...which is serious retention! That tells me that these teachers want to be there! Things are organized and ran very well. It's always been a great feeling to be able to walk down the hall and the teachers know me and my kids, and all of the teachers and leaders are conversational and happy! I've been very pleased with the school's curriculum! They offer centers for rotation and variety and cover the important development areas of: gross motor skills, socialization, independence, counting- math, speech, reading, writing, shapes, colors, interactive/imaginative play, outdoor play, working with others/team work, music, arts and crafts, and more! I've never had to worry about my children getting bored- and they have fun...they want to go to school everyday! Finally, the food they offer for breakfast, lunch, and afternoon snack is quality and very healthy! I've appreciated the great variety that they put into their menu, which promotes the kids to always be trying new things and to eat what you get! This daycare and preschool has remained my #1 choice for 13 years! I highly recommend this school to anyone who wants their kids to have fun and variety, in an excellent educational environment, with strong teachers who are positive and loving! I wouldn't send my kids anywhere else!

I cannot say enough wonderful things about Heartland Cadence Academy! Our three children are lucky…read moreto attend a daycare that goes above and beyond when it comes to providing a safe, fun learning environment. The staff are very caring and attentive to their needs which makes leaving your kids in their care easy. Not only is there and emphasize on education but also on teaching kids to be kind and caring. I highly recommend Cadence Academy!