I couldn't be happier with the quality of care my children have received from Safari Childcare! My 4 1/2 year old son transitioned from a home daycare to Safari with ease thanks to the loving and caring teachers and director. He has been there for 2 years now and absolutely loves going to school every day! Ms. Kelly has instilled a love for learning in him and encourages his curiosities by always helping him explore his questions. She has taught him many developmental milestones all while teaching him to be kind. My son truly loves and respects Ms. Kelly as his teacher and I couldn't be happier that he has such a positive role model in his life. Not only is Ms. Kelly a phenomenal teacher, but she is also a caring and loving person. My 7 month old son has been coming to Safari since he was 8 weeks old. Because of the quality of care my older son received, I was not worried at all about my transition back to work even though my son was so young. Ms. Mary, Ms. Claudette, and Ms. Nancy have exceeded my expectations in the infant classroom. My son enters his classroom every morning with a smile. The love and care they show my son while also providing activities that promote his growth and development are top notch. The teachers in this classroom truly know and understand children of this age and are wonderful at what they do. Ms. Julie, the director, has done a great job communicating with us and establishing a positive environment for the children and families that enter the facility every day. We absolutely love all of the planned social activities (holiday gatherings, muffins with mom for Mother's Day and doughnuts with dad for Father's Day, and graduation just to name a few). These activities take a lot of planning and allow for families to get to know the teachers and one another better. I feel extremely fortunate to have found such an amazing team of teachers to work with my children. They are well taken care of and learning so many new things each and every day! Thank you so much to all the hard working and dedicated teachers here at Safari! read more

No star at all! Don't risk your child's life by leaving them on their hands. State should take their business license away. Apparently my 4 year old child fell at playground in the morning, broke both main bones on her arm, one was sticking out I saw immediately when I picked her up in the evening. No one called me nor did anything after she fell. They ignored and pretended that never happened. She could have been killed or seriously injured because of their neglect! Teachers did not notify me, instead they sent her to a room to sleep it off. She slept all afternoon, no one notified me of this unusual sleep pattern either, when she woke up 3 hours later, she sat on the floor holding her arm all afternoon, no one bothered to look, ask or cared to call me about it. I came to pick her up after work at 5 pm as usual, found her sitting in the corner of the floor, by her self, holding her broken arm all day. As soon as I looked at her arm I saw the broken bone poking out almost 1 inch, took her to manager office, manager/owner denied knowing nothing about, then I took her to ER. She had a cast for 45 days, both main bones broken. Do not risk your child's life leaving to these careless peoples hands. Unprofessionalism is top notch, safety and caring for your child is zero. read more

The worse daycare chain I've ever seen. This place has a new director almost every year. Very hectic environment and since we switched to another less crowded daycare, my son's behavior changed and he stopped biting and is a happier boy now. Very bad experience read more

I worked here for a few months; I have taught preschool for 22 years, working at 5 day cares over that time. This is the worst run place I have ever worked at. The ratio in my room was 16, but my assistant and I had 22 or 23 on a regular basis. Children were being bit, as it was out of control in there at times. The assistant was expected to literally change every diaper while I was watching & teaching 22 two year-olds by myself as she did that. Management blamed me, saying I wasn't watching the kids. We were not allowed to veer off the schedule for even 5 minutes, and the director at the time thought writing worksheets were age-appropriate for 2 year-olds. In short, there was no way I could teach in such a ridiculous environment, and there is no way a child can learn in such a chaotic environment. Go somewhere else. Trust me. read more

My children 4 and 1 have been going here several months. I am extremely happy with the care they provide for my children. From monthly calendars of meals and the break down of curriculum etc, I always get a form of how my children did that day. For my son being so young in the infant room mrs Mary and Claudette are phenomenal and have helped us with nap routines and getting my son off a bottle. KUDOS to them. I recommend this school for anyone who wants their child Loved and cared for like their own ... read more

My 1.5 year old has been here for a little over 7 months and a year at the old Safari. I love this location and the attention and care they provide for my daughter. She is learning a lot and I have a lot of communication with the directors and teachers. They will always keep me updated, posted about what is going on with her or what they need more from me. Sad to see so many negative reviews when I've had such a positive experience with the teachers and directors. read more

Avoid this place at all cost!! The only good review must be from an employee because this place is horrible. If you love your kids, take them somewhere else. In 2 weeks my niece got a UTI and then the week after there was a lice outbreak. Not only do they not change diapers which was the cause of the UTI, they also don't care how cold it is inside. If I could give it no stars, I would. Please avoid this dump. read more

Once upon a time we were very happy with Safari. Safari had lesson plans, and a cleaning service, and teachers who seemed to have cared about the kids and their job. Stephanie ran a tight ship, if you were being lazy or doing things half way, it seemed to me, that the issue was addressed immediately and was rectified. When Stephanie left we were very sad to see her go but knew she was onto bigger and better opportunities. I kept my son at Safari trusting that who ever would have taken over the directors job would continue with making sure that the kids were learning and being cared for in good faith. Quite the opposite was done, which is sad for me to say because I was a huge advocate for Safari and anyone I knew that was looking for a daycare, I would recommend where I brought my son (when Stephanie was director). The cleaning crew I believe was no longer coming after the day. The employees were in charge of the cleaning. Half their staff is under 20 years old which unless you stay on top of them wont do the chores in the facility. A few times I picked up my son he was playing in the bathroom and no one knew where he was OR he had poop spewing our of his diaper ( which left his butt raw). The director in charge even though very nice was VERY young and VERY inexperienced. I would get answers to my concerns like ''changes are being mad'', ''I don't know'' OR ''I'm sorry'' Whether he cared or didn't he was being paid for a job that was not being done correctly or efficiently. I am a pretty patient mom and I know that day care providers don't have an easy job. I am not saying that there were a select few I trusted with my son. But mostly I lost all confidence that Safari was taking care of my son. Also, there was no more curriculum and no plan of action. My son was bounced around due to ratios. It was rough on my son because he went from LOVING school to hating coming every single morning. Again, there are 3 teachers I can say that I trust loved their job and cared for the kids. The others are their for a paycheck and to ''babysit''. With little to know notice they raised my tuition from $220 per wk to $240 per wk. Because I arrived a little late I ended up paying $265.00 per week. The daycare center doesn't take pride in their facility and that shows. You get what you pay for is an expression and unfortunately Safari isn't work the $260. At this point, I would look elsewhere. read more

STAY AWAY!!!... 1 star to this daycare is too much. We were actually customers to them for many years, trusted them with 2 of our children. For starters understand they have the "Highest" turnover in employees I've ever seen. Our kids struggled getting acquainted because their teachers don't last. The care is mediocre (again depending on what teacher is there- sometimes good and sometimes bad).. But for us they were flexible and affordable. UNTIL new management came in (Laura Hass) - tuition rates change with little to no notice. And when we complained we were harassed with threats of our child being disenrolled and they went as far as saying there were "Rumors" of my husband throughout the facility of misconduct at home and at Safari. None of which was true We decided to take our child out, and it happened just as she was graduating preK, so they extended one nice gesture and allowed her to attend the last day for graduation. The day came and my husband took her (I could not because I had a previous engagement with our older child). He entered and converse with a parent to exchange numbers for a play date. That's when he was accused of spreading rumors.. And before you know it he was escorted out of the place, all while our 5yr old cried and couldn't understand why she couldn't graduate. And to make matters worse they threaten him outside to call the cops. The whole situation traumatized our child. We are taking legal action and registering a complaint to the department of healthcare and family services. If caring for children is what they preached - they never thought twice about our daughter wellbeing who witnessed everything! That's not a childcare. Find a better place! Your child deserves it. read more

I was very surprised to see that the above ratings were so poor. I have had nothing but the BEST experience at Safari! The staff is amazing and my daughter always leaves so happy. Her self confidence has grown and because of the staff she has improved in all areas of development from gross motor to fine to speech. They have taught her so many wonderful things and have been so patient with my daughter and I. I give Safari 5 STARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! read more

Really awwful place . Used to be one of the cheaper daycares around, but they raised their rates by A LOT with not even a week's notice, told everyone to either pay the higher rates or leave. Threw my daughter out of the program immediately because I asked a few questions about mistakes on my bill, did not give me any warning or time to let me arrange other care. I have used three other daycares without issue and no one has ever had a problem with me asking questions about my bill. Management is very rude, will make things up to justify kicking you out. I heard they are under investigation by DCFS, scarry! Do not use ! read more

I wish I couldnt even leave 1 star. They are the most unprofessional place I've ever had to deal with. Two of their office were closed by DCFS and they do not give any notice to parents or disclose any information as to why they were shut down. Corprate doesn't return calls. I had to find out online. I arrived at the daycare to drop my son off and was told the stresmwood location closed and offered me a farther location. This was the second time we had to move my son because of them and both no notice given!! I pulled him out of Safari because I couldnt drive him that far everyday and now I've been told I owe "them" money for pulling him out without notice!? Yet they forced me to go elsewhere because they got shut down. Again. I owe them money in 2 days or I go to collections but I never knew I even had a balance until now because they dont notify anyone about anything. After I took my son to a new childcare facility his behavior is wonderful and he is flurishing and I finally see people who care for my kid. I cant believe I took so long to find somewhere better. Most anywhere has to be better than here read more

Safari daycare has been nothing but great to my two girls! My 3 year old loves daycare and constantly talks about her teachers and daily activities! And my 9 month old Baby girls eyes light up as soon as we walk in the building each morning! This gives me a huge peace of mind and I am able to go to work with no worries! Safari daycare is an absolutely wonderful daycare and I would definitely recommend this daycare to anyone! The teachers and staff are wonderful and keep you engaged in your children's daily activities. read more

My children are 4.5, 2, and 1 yrs old and have all been coming to Safari since they were about 4 mths old. When my first born came for the first day I was terrified because I was leaving my baby with someone I did not know but as I gained more trust in the staff I couldn't imagine taking my babies anywhere else. My 4.5 year old has grown up with the same group of kids that he started with as babies and they have become his best friends. He also loves all his teachers. He has become a smart, independent and caring child who is ready to graduate and move onto kindergarten in the fall. I have two other kids following in his footsteps and I am confident that all the teachers at Safari will give them the same care and attention that my oldest has received. read more

I want make it VERY clear that I am not surprised by the one good review here, considering that it is 3 years old. When we first placed our daughter with this facility, we loved it. We found the Director at that time held her staff to a strict, but caring standard, and despite obvious challenges from upper management, they provided a caring stable environment for the kids to develop. However, fast forward to today, through multiple, disorganized and unclear appointments in Directorship along with at times what has become a laughable process of policy and fee changes, and we were left with no choice to make other arrangements. We had persevered long enough, mainly in an attempt to support the wonderful teacher our little girl had grown to love and admire. To see that teacher struggle to maintain her exemplary standard through all the madness was in itself a sight to behold. But enough is enough. At the writing of this we are, after a month of emails to the main office, still waiting for reimbursement of our "security" deposit that is levied on all families that attend. Be aware however, staff are directed to slug little fines on parents for such crimes as forgetting to sign your child in correctly. Such charges are applied within minutes of discovery, and will not be reversed even if you call with apologies within minutes of leaving. Many discussions with parents of children that have been pulled or intend to pull them bring stories of similar frustrations. I always try to be a loyal and positive supporter of an establishment, even if I see challenges. Since moving our little girl to a new day care however, I am sorry I didn't do it sooner. I wish Safari the best of luck, but under current conditions, the outlook is bleak for those that unwittingly trust the care of their children to this atrociously managed business. read more

They kicked us out after 4 years of bringing our kids there after I discovered they were padding the hours, overcharging and Amanda ignored and lied. We are currently filing suit for damages. read more

(SAFARI CHILDCARE-HANOVER PARK ILLINOIS)This daycare was not cleaned most days. The floors would be mopped but with old mop water. The staff were mean to the children. Very short and irritated. My child witnessed a teacher scratching an autistic young boy. The staff would put the kids in front of movies all day. They watched 2 full 2 hour movies and called it a free time for school agers. Most of the toddlers kids were always running out of the rooms to get away. My 10 year old witnessed a 2 year old crying all day never to be consoled or comforted. The staff are extremely unprofessional. I would not recommend this daycare to anyone. They send pictures to the parents but from what my daughter states a 10 year old. There is no real supervision. They are completely understaffed for the amount of children enrolled. They feed the children toast every morning. A lazy, quick way to feed the children. My children were starving everyday I picked them up. read more

safari is the worst... I'll start by saying the only reason I picked this day care was beaucse it was on my way to work ... but now I can drive half hour if I had to not to ever come back to this place ... for one when I started the director had a cold personality then 3 weeks later the switched some else to be director she never introduced her self nor was there an announcement that we had some one new not even 2 weeks after that the lady quit and had someone else start ... if that wasn't bad enough the director tells me oh yeah today is the last day for your son unless u want to pay full price for your day beaucse your application hasn't been approved just yet ... so I had no warning no heads up and now I have to find someone to watch my son till i get approved so then a week passes I check my account I wasn't told that till he comes back he's going to get charged for his spot 55 dollars ... I got so fed up with them they handle everything so unprofessionally I said forget it just give me deposit back and I'm done with you guys that was about a month ago and still haven't gotten my deposit back I called them about it and they send me place to place so funny how they can take money from you easy but when they owe you it's a hassle ... but one good thing the teachers rock ... only good this about this place read more

The worst place to put your child. Matt is so unprofessional and a piece of work. Please please please do not place your child in this facilities care. They do not document any incidents and state they do. Our family asked several times for incident reports and Matt stated that the reports would be emailed to us. We never got any emails and he stated that we need to stop calling the facility or else. It is no surprise that they do not have anything on file about Gina's daughters incident. They put on a great front when you first show up to place your child in their care. However, after a couple of weeks you learn. My husband would drop off our 15 month old child and there would be 8 toddlers to 1 teacher. According to the DCFS handbook, 408.65 if the Caregiver is Alone there should be a ratio of only 3 children under the age of 24 months. I would pick up my daughter and usually saw only one caregiver with at least 5 children. At that point it alerted me but I didn't dig deeper into the dcfs rules until the daycare was unwilling to report incidents. If your child shows any normal behavior problems such as biting they will terminate services before even setting up a behavior plan. Most children experience this behavior and childcare facilities understand this but not Safari. Once we heard of the behavior, we tried to get ahead of the game and ask what behavior plan we needed to put in place in order for our daughter not to hurt any other children. All the teachers and the director stated that all children experience this and it was nothing to be worried about. After a few of these incidents, they called my husband in to pick up our daughter for a 1 day suspension. They discussed that by the time our daughter was to be dropped off again there would be a behavior plan in place to help assist her in her biting phase. But that was not the case, my husband was home an hour before they called stating that they were going to terminate our contract and services. I called Matt numerous times and asked for the director LAURA H, he stated that she was no where to be found but would call me back. I am still waiting for a phone call. During my last phone call with Matt he stated, "You get what you pay for. There are parents here that pay a lot of money for services and you pay x amount." Mind you we signed up for services during their winter promo (probably to get people in the doors). If he is willing to say this to a paying parent, I can only imagine how he was/is treating the children at this facility. This is the scenario that went through my head and broke my heart, "Your Mommy and Daddy pay a lot of money, here let me give you all the attention you need...your mommy and daddy don't pay that much so go starve." I'm so grateful that we were able to get my child out of this horrible place before something really awful happened. read more