Compass is the kind of preschool I wish I could have attended as a child. I love all the natural…read morelight and bright colors. The space is clean and inviting. The staff is kind and upbeat--their well-designed facility and program make teaching easier! I think it's so cool how kids get to rotate through different rooms and stations throughout the day. What a great way to engage kids and make the day go by with ease! My children couldn't wait to test out the toys and activities on our tour. Compass Child Care is an asset to the community and to parents. Thank you, Compass!

We love Compass! Staff are amazing and truly care about our kiddos! We love the Bright Wheel app,…read morewhere we can communicate with staff, receive daily updates, photos, and videos to see our kids having fun! Definitely nice to have a conversation starter when they get home. They also schedule activities outside of day care, like renting out the theater at East Bethel for Frozen II or inviting us to the local pumpkin patch. They also had a nice Christmas program where the kids could get their picture taken with Santa! We love Compass!

I give the daycare's cleanness for 3.5 - 3.8 stars out of 5.0, but I give their care for my…read moredaughter only 1.0 star. When my daughter falls down and gets bleeding knees, the teachers had no 1st aid at all - Being a parent only heard excuses from the teachers and the school leaders. They're not responsive to our concerns at all. If the kids are so young, I would not recommend the daycare to parents because they're not really care kids, and no natural love for kids. You will feel teachers and school leaders protect and secure their jobs, not caring kids as their consideration.I am very upset during my daughter's stay so we leave here as early as possible.

Great daycare center. My son has thrived. It had been life changing. Comes home bright eyed and…read moreasking to go back. I have seen a change in development too.

I sent two children through the Normandale Preschool program and would recommend it to anyone -…read moregreat teachers, great program, flexable with extra hours, like lunch and afternoons. The teachers have all been there for a long time which, to me, says a lot about their dedication to the kids and the program. My son is now in 6th grade and his best freinds are still ones he met at Normandale Preschool!

We absolutely love this daycare and I cannot say enough good about it…read more They do so ma y great, unique activities and events for the kids and my boys love it. The communication between us and staff is always excellent. When we started here, one of my sons cried a lot and struggled with the transition. We were so impressed with how much time and attention they spent to acclimate him. They did many great calming techniques that our pediatrician was impressed with. Now, when we go to pick him up, he runs and hides because he doesn't want to leave! They go above and beyond with both their care and education. I also love that my kids learn spanish culture and language! Will continue to go here and will be so sad when they graduate to kindergarten!(thankfully not for a while)

It pains me to have to write an update on our experience at BCEC that ended up with my preschooler…read morebeing unceremoniously kicked out by the CEO, Leah, while, Tessa, the center director was on vacation. Things at BCEC started out strong and both our kids seemed to be doing really well there. We were happy with the infant and toddler teachers up until the day we left. After a few months at BCEC, my oldest daughter was regularly coming home from the preschool telling us how Ada yelled at her. Then we started getting notes sent home every single day outlining seemingly innocuous 4-year-old behavior. "Didn't want to nap." "Didn't want to sit still during story time." We weren't seeing any of the problem behaviors at home that BCEC was insisting were happening at the daycare. It got to the point where Tessa told us that she thought that our daughter needed to be evaluated for autism. We were shocked. We had no reason to believe that our daughter had autism, but we trusted BCEC because they were spending the whole day with her so we worked with the school district to have her evaluated. This whole time we were in regular communication with Tessa. We were coming in for regular meetings. We were bringing all sorts of tools to school to try to help our daughter follow the rules and schedule. Tessa ASSURED us that if they decided to "refer our daughter out" that they would give us plenty of time to find another daycare for her. When the school district came in to observe our daughter in her class the administrator told us that she spends time in A LOT of schools and she found the BCEC preschool class to be one of the most poorly managed classrooms she's observed. The curriculum was not age appropriate where Ada was expecting 3, 4, and 5 year olds to sit at tables and work on projects for over 30 minutes at a time. And when these poor kids couldn't sit still for that long she would yell at them. The administrator reported that our daughter was actually doing a good job of trying self regulate in a this very loud and chaotic environment, but even when she would try to go off by herself and sit quietly in a corner or under a table, the teaching staff would insist that she sit with the big loud group of kids. The administrator observed our daughter trying to play quietly by herself when a group of boys ran over and started hitting her with pillows which amped her up, but the teacher only yelled at our daughter for running with pillow not the boys who started the interaction. It was so bad that the school district administrator reached out to the executive team at BCEC to offer to provide some training on classroom management. The conclusion was that our daughter does not have autism, probably has ADHD, and the staff in the preschool classroom did not have the skills or desire to accomodate her. It was during this time that Tessa went on a two week vacation and I received an email at 5:30 PM on a Friday night from the CEO, Leah, who we had not interacted with AT ALL on this issue, that they were kicking my daughter out of the daycare and her last day would be the following Friday. Talk about a stressful time scrambling to find another daycare. The whole experience was so traumatic for my eldest daughter that she now refuses to speak Spanish.

I cannot say enough good things about this preschool- my daughter loved her time in the yellow room…read moreand i equally adore the staff and their focus on nurturing kind and loving human beings. Before the school year started we were able to meet our daughter's teacher, Sally, with a one-on-one classroom visit and she took special care to both share with us about her experience and what we could expect in the classroom. The staff wanted to know about our daughter ranging from her interests to level of potty training so they could help her appropriately;-) I was relieved that my three year old didn't have to be 100% potty trained before we sent her. They also sent home a picture diagram of the classroom schedule for the day so we could talk it through with our daughter and she had much less anxiety about her first school experience. Throughout the year, the preschool and staff continued to impress me with their awesome hands-on activities, music curriculum (brought in by mcphail music) and opportunities for my daughter to learn social, academic, and motor control skills. The fall parent-teacher conference was focused on how our daughter was adjusting to school and the new structured learning environment. The spring conference was very helpful in learning where our daughter excelled as well as where she could use improvement (especially before starting kindergarten). I thought our teacher, Sally, did a great job of clearly and directly communicating with us. Judson's director, Kelly Hollis, was new in the 2017-2018 school year and she has worked hard to get up to speed with the school's activities and students. It seemed like the year had just started and she knew every student's name and any individual needs (dietary, behavioral, or other). Our daughter had a bee land on her hand in the playground outside of school hours and Kelly happened to be there and very quickly calmed our daughter down (even though she wasn't stung she was scared by the incident). Kelly called and emailed us at home that night just to check on our daughter. You will be hard pressed to find someone that cares about the children more than Kelly. If you are looking for a great preschool community to be a part of- I would wholeheartedly recommend checking Judson out!

In response to the last poster- I'm a parent of two children that went through Judson in 2012-2013…read more Judson preschool offers a play-based curriculum, which based on the latest research is found to be a more effective way to instruct preschoolers. Blind focus on numbers and letters and hard academics doesn't actually help children succeed in Kindergarten. It's part of why Minnesota and other states are breaking away from the rigor of No Child Left Behind. Any kid can memorize their numbers and alphabet, or watch PBS kids to learn. We want children to understand the foundations and JOY of learning. In terms of donations, we expected to donate so that tuition could stay low. Donations are typical for private preschools. In the Catholic school my son previously attended, the suggest amount of donation- and parent volunteer times- were given in writing and we had to commit at the beginning of the year! I appreciate that Judson was more flexible and allowed parents to choose the amount of money and time they could donate. As a working mom, I need that. Parents that are not happy have ample opportunity to voice concerns to the management and teachers in Fall and Spring conferences. The school also does a survey at the end of the year. Parents can also serve on the Board. Judson school was a wonderful experience for my children. We've been through a few schools and daycare settings, and it by far exceeded what is available in the market. Even the NAEYC-accredited daycare we tried fell short.

My son started at Sandcastle when he was three months old and now he's on his way to Kindergarten…read morethis fall. It's hard to have someone look after your kids while you work, but I always felt he learned so much and was treated with love, respect and kindness--it put my mind at ease from the very first day. I'd recommend Sandcastle to anyone--they've been around for over 25 years for a reason!

I love this school for my son! It was a little rough letting him go at 8 months to their daycare…read morearea and to be honest they where a little unorganized and not the best visual experience in the basement but it was worth it. He moved up to the second level with the preschoolers and my son and i just LOVE his teachers! He has had the same three teachers for about a year now and jumps into their arms every morning. They are amazing. The food they serve isn't the best, just like grade school would I guess, no organic meals or anything but you can bring your own food for them if you can afford it. They have fun side classes and my son brings home the sweetest stuff that he's worked on. My son comes home with great knowledge and the teachers communicate to me everything each day. Their facebook page is also pretty great.

There is no better place for children to start out their educational and social/ emotional journey…read morethan Jean Lyle. My family spends nearly an hour in the car every day to get to Jean Lyle and we would gladly spend twice as long to go to this incredible place. Our daughter has blossomed under the expert and loving care of teachers many of whom who have been teaching here for decades. The student teacher ratio is amazing and the community of parents and kids is the kind of inclusive and welcoming space we all need and deserve. I don't write google reviews but Jean Lyle is pure magic and every parent should be lucky enough to be able to send their child here and watch them take flight.

Jean Lyle is a stunning gem of a school targeting children ages 3-6yr old. There are three areas…read morethat set this school apart from the rest for me: (1) Play-based philosophy: fundamentally, this is a SCHOOL not a daycare, with extremely low (like 1:4) teacher:student ratios often with student teachers and parent helpers on top of that. Children get to PLAY while they learn. With 45 years in business, this school was originally Macalester's "lab" school pioneering a caring and play-based learning philosophy that has continued, at its core. Curriculum if often driven by children's interests (oh you want to learn about sharks?) (2) The people: you know that one friend you have that makes you feel warm and heard? ALL the teachers here are like that friend. They really, individually, understand and love your children. (3) The facilities: many of the competitors i had toured sit in a small room most of the day. Jean Lyle has a huge gym and one Sunshine room dedicated to Art. Take a tour!

Wonderful preschool! The teachers are so sweet and my kids love participating in preschool. I love…read morethe flexibility of the schedule too. I've sent two of our kids here so far and definitely going to be sending our 3rd as well. Great, safe, affordable, environment.