Sandbox in Palos Hills is awesome. First, they took my son in at very short notice when a situation occurred when I desperately needed a daycare to watch my son. Then, they helped him get potty trained when we had struggled to make that happen for quite a while. Finally, they always seemed to be understanding and friendly. You could tell that they care about the kids and the parents. read more

Terrible experience with one of the staff members. She was incredibly rude and extremely unpleasant and unprofessional. One of the kids was being physically hit and bullied and they did nothing about it except blame the parents and point fingers at the parents. Awful experience and very traumatic for the child. There was only 1 nice staff member there - Mrs. Sheila. She was the only kind-hearted person who cared about the kids. The rest of them could care less and as you read from previous reviews, they are just glorified babysitters. We would highly NOT recommend sending your kids here. read more

I just had to put my two cents in. My daughter and I adore Sandbox School! It was a really hard adjustment for me when we moved to the area, a few years ago. And, I remember this school being the first thing I felt really good about. All the teachers know my daughter's name. They keep things fun. My daughter is high energy and she always wants to know more. They can keep her engaged. She comes home bubbling with what she learned and did that day. In short, I can not say enough good things about this place. To be honest, sometimes when I'm dropping her off I wish I was 5 and could go with her instead of off to work! read more

My kids going into their 3rd year here. The teachers are friendly and helpful and really get to know the kids individually. They are very flexible with your schedule and making it affordable for your needs. They offer extra circulars such as dance and gymnastics. They put on seasonal musicals and plays. My child loves the tight bit classes and they encourage parents to sit in or offer events for parents to engage with their child once in a while. They are not the highest tech school, they have computers for the kids to learn yo play learning. Games on and get aquatinted with technology, but I think from baby - kindergarten, they don't really need it since they're still learning cognitive behaviors between people. I've really enjoined working with the staff here and my kid enjoys it a lot and always comes home talking about the gossip of her friends at school. Her older siblings get jealous they didn't go there because they like the variety of toys and games. read more

My daughter went to the sandbox this whole school year, and it was a wonderful experience. Everyone there is always happy and smiling, and they also did a wonderful job catering to my daughter's food allergies. She thoroughly enjoyed going there and was very excited on the days she got to go to sandbox. So that's all the evidence I need to know that she was very happy there. They also do a wonderful job with potty training. Unfortunately, we moved due to our expanding family and we will need to attended daycare that's closer to home. I was traveling pretty far to get to the sandbox because I heard great things. Highly recommended! read more

OMG in a word? Deplorable Swimming pool next to a dumpster outside? 20 kids to 1 teacher on a slip and slide where no one was watching them? Hello, I saw a kid wander off and no one noticed until I said something! Dirty, crowded, just plain ghetto inside Some kid had that bad cough that every mother hides their kid from Just sickening .They may wash their hands from start to finish but to me, it doesn't matter. I would never bring my child to a place like this and if they were all like this, I would have private nannying until kindergarden. Ugh. So sad. I heard great things about this place and it was ghetto! read more

My two girls attend this school & it's been a great experience so far. They have parent work shops, family fun night, all sorts of trips, plays, fashion shows, dance teacher that comes into the facility for lessons(which my daughter enjoys) (A.F.)My five year old started Aug. 2016 & (A.F.)my youngest started Jan.2017. My five year old doesn't want to leave. My youngest is adjusting well. Ms. Lisa is a great teacher & Ms. Sarah is the bomb too! I'm grateful she's in the toddler room with my baby. Ms. Karen the director is enthusiastic & comical. Really cool team of people. Would definitely recommend! read more

Sent two of my children here for total of 17 years. Know many of the workers for well over decade. I can say with all honesty they are nothing more than glorified babysitters who perhaps are getting to old to work with children? Our 7-year old son has autism and they simply don't know how to hand it. Part of it is the management and leadership there simply doesn't care, and doesn't want the inconvenience. I'm sure they do like the fact that I always pay weeks in advance and am NEVER later on payment in 17 years. Today the owner called us to ask if we could keep him home on Wednesday as they think that is the day they will get their accreditation visit from DCFS, and they want to somehow look good in front of DCFS without perhaps the risk of him being upset or meltdown. If that doesn't show you what they themselves think of their own skill level, don't know what does. That was pretty much the last straw for us. read more

I was shocked to see a bad review of Sandbox. I have four children. My youngest two are current students and my oldest are now thriving in grade school (thanks in large part to the excellent preparation they received at Sandbox- both academically and emotionally). Sandbox has a very caring and dedicated staff. There are teachers who have been there since long before my oldest started there and they are still there to take care of my youngest. That continuity makes my husband and I feel very comfortable with this school. My children are always warmly welcomed every morning and the teachers do a great job of helping my youngest one say goodbye to me. I always feel secure leaving my children there. When I pick them up, the kids are always playing happily and I receive a report of how their day went. I think the facilities are wonderful. Other centers I have visited have a small and cramped feeling. Sandbox is very spacious. The children are divided into age groups that are in separate classrooms, allowing the younger ones to nap while the older ones play or do classwork. I also like how it is far removed from the busy street- located behind a larger school district building. There is a fenced in play yard for the smaller children and a larger public park adjacent to the property for the older children. In addition to Sandbox's wonderful academic program, there are other extra-curricular programs that operate at the school regularly- like dance and tumbling. It certainly makes my life easier to not have to drive around to extra places for my children to be a part of these activities. As for L.K.'s bad review- in the 9+ years our children have gone to Sandbox, I have never seen a teacher-student ratio like she described. In the summer they do set up small wading pools and sprinklers in a field next to the parking lot. The dumpster is in the parking lot- the children play in the grassy field. The inside of the school is clean and definitely not crowded. I'm not sure what L.K. means by "ghetto" so I don't know how to address that concern. Whenever someone asks for a school recommendation I always recommend Sandbox. We have had a great experience over the past 9+ years and will continue to do so until our youngest graduates from the program. read more

I love this day care! They accepted my two foster kids with disabilites, without a problem . No one wanted to take my kids with disibilities but they accepted us and there a wonderful daycare. They are a wonderful school teaching my kids. They come home everyday learning New things. It's a nice clean wonderful learning environment for my kids. I would highly recommend this daycare to anyone. read more

We have been sending our children to Sandbox Preschool for years and absolutely love it as well as our children do! We think the staff is kind, caring, and most of all loving. Too say that it is ghetto, dirty,or sickening is a matter of opinion on some and maybe they should just stay home and watch their own children if they are looking for PERFECT!! Keep up the Great job Sandbox as you have for the last 40 years!!!! read more

I would not recommend sending your child or children here. My son used to go to sandbox and was in the Daycare program there for about a year and a half. There were instances where I would walk into the classroom to pick my son up and I could overhear kids being yelled at in an inappropriate manner. I get you are disciplining the child but, instilling fear in them is not right. In my opinion, the teachers (not all) are phony and fake. They act one way when you are present and different when you are not. I remember walking in one day and I hear a teacher screaming at the top of her lungs at a child that picked up a toy truck, seems harmless, but it was late in the day, and the teacher had already cleaned up her classroom. Last year my son came home and told me that a teacher had kicked him in his back as they were exiting the bathroom. As he was telling me that I was in complete shock. The daycare had just closed so the next day I requested a meeting with the owner and director of the daycare. They were really rude to me and told me my son is LYING. That really hurt me to my core. Instead of saying that they will look into the incident of alleged abuse, they brought up the fact that I owed them money because the state of illinois had a budget crisis. And I had to initially pay them for the services until the state can reimburse me. They had no compassion what so ever. Those two issues should be handled two different ways. Going back to the abuse inflicted on my child. After getting nowhere with the owner and director, I immediately called DCFS and reported the incident. Unfortunately they couldn't do anything because there were no visible marks on him. My son no longer goes there. After the incident that occurred on or about mid July 2015. One day as I was standing in line at a gas station, I happen to run into another parent and her child and she told me that something very similar happened with her child. What a coincidence. I didn't even know the mom, my son happened to recognize her son and that's how we started sharing our horror stories with this daycare. The torment and despair is evident because there have been a few instances where my son and I drive past Sandbox and my son will tell me something along the lines of, "Mom, remember my teacher kicked me at this school?" Every time I hear my son say that, it truly hurts. I never laid a finger on my son and find ways to talk to him when he seldom misbehaves, and don't understand why the unnamed teacher thought it was ok to kick my son in the back? It was a nightmare. So far that's 2 complaints with DCFS. Mine and the parent I talked to at the gas station. I will never forget what this daycare did to my child and how uncooperative the owner and director was. And how much mental anxiety and torment I went through to find answers. Please pick a daycare that has cameras that record audio and video. That way if you ever encounter your child claiming abuse, you ask to see the camera footage for the day in question. Sandbox does have cameras in their actual location, but the daycare was in a different building when my son complained about the the teacher kicking him. Sandbox was temporarily occupying a school across the parking lot and it did not have any cameras. The unnamed teacher knows what happened and refuses to come clean about the incident. In my opinion she is a bully and should not be working with kids. The other day I ran into a teachers aid from that same daycare and she told me, she wouldn't put it past that teacher that something of that sort could've happened. Another teachers aide I ran into shortly after the incident with my son told me that the teacher in question that abused my son is a BIT** and is really rude to kids. I know some kids lie and makeup stuff for attention, but I believe my son because of the way he described the kick. And he had just started sharing things with me verbally instead of crying and throwing tantrums. Every child should not be labeled as a LIAR, Sandbox should look into every incident with patience and compassion. What if this was your child that came home complaining that a teacher kicked him. Now that I am almost done with school. I will have more time on my hand to try and pursue it being a LAW to have working, recording cameras in daycares. And If I succeed in my mission I would ask the law be named after my son. God Damn this daycare for doing what they did to my son. read more

We have used this daycare for 2 of our children. The first child was very low maintenance, so no problem, they didn't have to do anything for him (literally -- every time I picked him up they were just sitting around). However, our second one has special needs. He has been with Sandbox for 5 years now. Out of the blue, this week, we were told to keep him home on the day that DCFS was coming in to accredidate them. Just in case he had a bad day! What? Don't they have any faith in their staff? Don't they have any respect for their parents? Don't they care that all children deserve to be treated fairly and justly and with love? I guess not. Hello, DCFS? Yes, I'd like to report a problem..... read more

I'm not sure if this other person has had any prior experience with children's daycare centers, but childcare centers have a tendency to look "used" after children have been there. Sandbox in Palos Hills is a fantastic place for kids. The staff is consistent--there are always familiar and comforting faces for your children to become accustomed to. The facility is large--and while, yes, there are toys and equipment that are donated, they are safe and enjoyed by the kids rigorously, and there is ample room for the children to utilize those toys. There are two outdoor play areas--one for older children and one for younger ones. I usually don't write reviews like this, but I felt it was necessary to dispel any misapprehensions that this other reviewer may have perpetrated. I sent my daughter to Sandbox nine years ago. She loved her time there. She spent about five days a week there from the age of three to about five. We felt very lucky to find a place like this where she was taken care of and comforted so well while I was at work. This was the third childcare center that we had been to. The first two daycares were newer facilities, though their staff appeared to be frustrated and intolerant with many of the children, making it uncomfortable for me to drop off my child in that environment. Today, I have a son who is six years old and he has been attending Sandbox since he was eighteen months old. While both of my children have very different temperaments and attitudes about their independence, both of my children love their teachers, teachers' aides, and classmates. There is nothing "ghetto" about Sandbox in Palos Hills. Using donated toys and recycling playground equipment is fine with me. This implies that they use their tuition funding to pay their teachers. I prefer that the people who care for my children be well compensated for their time. Additionally, Sandbox has all kinds of fantastic programs--puppet shows, animal shows, picnics, field trips (age appropriate), etc. This is not as common as one would hope in this business! Sandbox in Palos Hills is one of the few places that actually takes the time to schedule these events on a regular basis. I definitely recommend this center to everyone. This is a fantastic way to start a child's education. They will have a positive outlook on school if they start here. read more

I don't have anything but the highest opinion of sandbox. I had sent my daughter there and I feel fortunate to have found such a wonderful child care facility. My daughter now has two sons and no one compares to sandbox. After seriously negative experiences with other places, she has always returned to sandbox. It has been difficult to find any other daycare when virtually every other facility falls short when comparing it to sandbox. There is nothing ghetto about it. I don't think L.K. knows the true meaning of ghetto. A building does not make a daycare. There will always be a cough or sneeze around from children to adults, and in my experience sandbox has done it's best to prevent any self- absorbed parents from dumping their sick kids at the door. My daughter currently placed her sons in a modern looking facility for the summer and she won't be back. It's difficult to compare other child cares to sandbox because they pale in comparison to the superior sandbox experience!!!!! read more

I put off posting this for a year but I feel like I need to warn parents if you're considering sending your children here. This place is exactly what a review below says. A bunch of glorified babysitters. The people that work there are literally kids themselves. One even fifteen years old! She told me! Is that even legal? The older ones have been working there forever that they wouldn't bother leave a comfy place where they could get away with murder. The owner and the owners daughter are even worse. I even overheard the owner talking about kids as "oh yea, that's the one that owes $xxx" How can she think of kids like that? The owner!! Her daughter treats her employees like crap which, in turn, makes the employees work like crap. I've come in with them just sitting around while the children run the class. And whenever they were being accredited, you can bet that they will do everything in their power (including asking some "difficult" children not to come in, like said below) to make themselves look like a picture perfect daycare. Which they are far from. I wish DCFS would surprise pop in to see how they really run. What parents see is not what goes on behind closed doors. read more

Cannot believe the previous comment. My son has been at sandbox since he was 15 months old. I looked at two others in the area and was not impressed. We even moved and i continued to drive my son each morning to school there rather than taking him out. I absolutely love the staff they are the most caring and loving people. They are willing to go beyond to accommodate you and help you if needed. and the building is nice and small its not over whelming all the classes are organized great. As for swimming by dumpsters its not what you think at all and now that they moved the swimming area i wish it was back where it was! I would recommend this school to anyone who asked me. Of course you cant avoid the sick kids but its a day care/preschool your kids are going to pick up germs, just like the park and mcdonalds! read more

i have an update to my story w/ sandbox. i was informed by the owner that the women whom treated me so horribly quit. i guess guilt got the best of her, i am pleased. i still will not return there. this was my first time ever having to use a daycare & it was such a horrible experience that i would rather not deal w/ any daycare centers. the owner graciously said she didnt want the money i owed & she also informed me that if your child is sick & misses a day you are NOT to be charged. she clearly said you are only to pay for what you use. buyer beware, i believe unbeknownst to the owner, parents are being over charged. read more