Kindercare on Huron blvd is a well-run, reliable, and convenient place to bring your child. First…read moreof all, the center director and co-director, Brittany and Kayla, are fine, professional, and caring people with a staff that mostly follows their example. If you work at the UMN you'll have the added benefit of using their parking lot to store your car while you work, UMN charges $160/month for a spot just blocks away! Your child will receive multiple meals as opposed to other centers that charge extra or make you provide meals. Only downsides are the expense and some rooms seem to have a high-turnover rate.

KinderCare's drop-in care is an absolute God-send! My 2-year-old son's father and I have a unique…read moreschedule between him, so full-time, and even strict part-time daycare isn't much of an option for us. He had been attending another daycare with drop-in care outside of the cities, which was going alright aside from the distance away from work/home. However, when I called them on this last Monday, they were unable to get him in, and weren't sure if they were staffed enough to get him in any time soon, and couldn't give me any answers as to when they would be able to. Meanwhile, this is two months after I have fully registered him, and he has been there for a few weeks and started to get comfortable. So there I was, without childcare, and frantic. I called KinderCare late that Monday afternoon, after reading about them online, I spoke with Kayla on the phone and she was extremely helpful, put me at ease about everything, and was able to get my son in the next day and for the rest of the week with no problems, in their Discovery Preschool area. They made it very easy to get him in on such short notice, and I felt extremely comfortable with my son going there. He enjoyed his time there, and the staff kept me very informed and welcomed to all of the goings-on while my son was in their care. I would recommend their drop-in care to anyone I know who is in need of childcare at a short notice. They made my entire week better. And I will now be sending my son there on a more regular basis.

We sent our baby to EFC, Eagan for about 5 months and decided to leave because it was not the best…read morefit for us. While the staff was generally friendly and accommodating to our specific needs but there were more negatives than positives. She was not sleeping well, not eating well, was getting sick often and they always seemed to have staffing issues. The toys/baby gear were very outdated and there didn't seem to be a big focus on a scheduled curriculum. It was very evident that the teachers worked REALLY hard but often seemed to be mismanaged and chaotic. My mom gut told me this was not a great for baby so moved to a new center and she is now thriving, learning and so happy to be there. Sorry, but I do not recommend.

After few months at this daycare my daughter was still crying every morning before going there. I…read moreasked the teachers, the managers, all they repeated the same: She did great, she just cried few minutes after you left!. I keep going to that daycare with the hope that everything was just about her. The kids didn't play with her so she was playing by herself at the playground.... After 10 months I decided that it was not normal (my daughter cried every single morning) the kids still didn't play with her, the teachers keep telling me that all was fine and the managers not taking any action. Finally I changed daycare and after the second week my daughter was smiling, have many friends and play with them. I see that she loves her group and the teachers and also they love her. Also this daycare is less expensive! I lost my time and my daughter's time at Especially for Children. I don't recommend this daycare for new kids as it could be an awful experience.

My granddaughter is a student at Everbrook Academy in Brooklyn Park, MN. I have had the pleasure of…read morepicking her up on several occasions & I was extremely impressed with the school. First, the staff made sure to check that I was authorized to pick her up. Second, I noticed the cleanliness of the facility. Also, all the staff seemed to know my granddaughter by name. My daughter uses the parent portal & often shares photos with me which are periodically sent to her on a daily basis. She also shared a folder that was sent home showing progress, assignments & detailing learn goals, etc. The folder was filled with photos of my granddaughter participating in assignments & activities over a period of a few months. Each section of the folder contained handwritten notes about my granddaughter's progress and I was impressed with the fact that every note was positive. I really cannot think of one thing I do not like about this facility. I highly recommend it!

Our daughter began attending the Cradle Club in downtown Minneapolis in October 2019 when she was…read morejust six months old. To say I was nervous about placing her in someone else's care would be to put it mildly. We had done our research and toured multiple facilities and just kept coming back to Cradle Club and the feeling we had from our tour, during which Sharita knew each of the children by name, the children seemed happy and excited about learning and playing and the teachers also seemed to be enjoying their time. The experience felt personal and as if we would be joining a family and a village that would help us raise and care for our little girl. We made the right choice. The teachers and the directors helped with the transition from my maternity leave to daycare and welcomed our daughter in such a way that she and we grew to love bringing her to school each day. The teachers truly care about the children and greet them with joy and huge smiles and excitement for the day ahead. The attention to detail and individual needs is evidenced by the care that goes into moving up to older classrooms and ensuring that we as parents feel heard and our child's needs are met. I would highly recommend Cradle Club!

We've sent our toddler to the Minneapolis Cradle Club location since she was 5 months old. She…read moreabsolutely loves her friends and all her activities (playground, art, songs, dramatic play, Spanish, etc.) in the toddler room. We love Cradle Club all-around - her teachers have all been wonderful, and we've always felt that it has a much more personable, "family" feeling than the average center (and very different from some of the more corporate-feeling centers we toured!). We couldn't be happier!

We love Everbrook! We started our son in the preschool program about four months ago now. Starting…read morea new daycare is so stressful since you don't really know what it'll be like until you start, but we are so relieved that everything has been fantastic so far. Our son has been in a few different daycares across the last few years due to closures and us moving and I can easily say this is our favorite. We've never had a center director that has been as responsive, present, and supportive as Ms. Brittany has been throughout this entire process. The assistant director and the classroom teachers have also been wonderful! They have live-streaming cameras which make checking in very easy but the trust that has been built so quickly has made the cameras just a simple, fun perk now instead of a comfort necessity. The teachers are also great at providing frequent updates on the app. Our son loves going to "school" and literally runs in most days! We are so grateful to the entire team there!

This facility is not education based. I watched my child waste each day just playing or throwing…read moreballoons around. Absolutely no structure and they allow kids who repeatedly hit and harm others to remain at the school. After almost 2 years I had to pull my child as it took more of my energy to monitor everything on the camera rather than to trust the staff. If you want to pay $1,500 for pre-k for your child to be given a tablet or watch movies at lunch, then go to this school. Leadership does not lead and they say they will fix things and don't.

I have never met a more kind staff and owner. We needed short term daycare for our son and Tina…read morewas willing to make that happen. She accommodated our schedules and made us feel as if Hudson would be coming forever. The staff in his infant room made me feel at ease and welcomed him. They send you pictures throughout the day and you get a report at the end of the day. I am so happy I found Goddard, if even just for a short time!

When I was looking for day care for my infant, I was frustrated that I couldn't find any…read morecomprehensive reviews on local centers by real parents. So, here's me paying it forward for other busy parents who want to search for daycare: Cost: We consistently paid around $1350-1525 depending on which room our child was in. He started in infant and moved up to toddler. Pros: - Wonderful teachers. Most have degrees, and all of them clearly love children. They seem happy as employees, which is great. - Director on site is the owner. You can tell she really cares about her staff, the kids, and the families. She's extremely accommodating - we changed our schedules multiple times and she was able to help us each time. - Easily the cleanest, most updated site that we visited. - Our son loved it there! - They are great at transitioning children out of the infant room to toddler room to make the kids feel really comfortable. - Great communication with parents: they send multiple photos a day through e-mail, and keep great records of what went on each day with your child. They let you know when he hits milestones and is progressing with new skills. - Great outdoor area - Fun events (bouncy house, fire trucks coming on site, etc) - The hours are great, and extend until 6pm. - Automatic tuition withdraw is a nice option Cons: - Cost. We toured a few places, and it was the most expensive in the area, and included the least amount of "extras." - you have to bring your own bibs, sippy cups, and breakfast. For the price of tuition, I was always frustrated that I had so much work to do to get him ready for daycare in the morning. - constant messy clothes. I wish they'd invest in better art bibs/smocks, and I wish they'd provide bibs for meal time. If i forgot to send one, I knew for sure he would come home in a new outfit. - Food costs extra (about $60/month for two snacks and lunch each day) and doesn't include breakfast. - Some of the food was unimpressive at times (bread and butter for snack?), not organic, lots of breaded chicken dishes, etc Overall: the price was worth it for us, especially when he was an infant. We were really confident in the care he got, and he learned so much. We loved all of the art projects he brought home, and the communication they had with families.

This center is absolutely amazing! All 4 of my kids attend here and they never want to leave. The…read morestaff is so friendly and my children tell me all the time that they love their teachers. Mrs. Luisa is extremely professional and takes concerns very seriously. My children are learning and I always know they are safe here!

This daycare facility is very bad at handling children. Our children's pre-school teacher was…read moretelling us that our children were bad, hitting, biting, miss behaving and has speech problems daily. Our children switched to Tutor Time in Maple Grove and are doing fantastic. Them giving up and pushing our children out was very disappointing. Hopefully in the future the pre-school staff have a complete turn over, it's desperately needed. If you need pre-school go to a different facility.

We've had two children attend Tutor Time and have really loved the feeling of community provided by…read morethe staff. The security of live stream video in the classrooms was one of the original factors that attracted us to the school.

Tutor Time was initially a great place for our infant and he was there for 3 years before we…read moredecided to leave. As an infant, moving infant, toddler, & 2 year old there had been regular activities & lesson plans covering science, basic math, sensory tables, ABCs, etc. There were quarterly conferences with the parents/guardians. About a year ago, multiple long time teachers left for other jobs & after this, the classrooms became overcrowded, unqualified people were hired, and lesson plans along with conferences ceased to exist. Our son came home multiple times angry, sad, & with bite marks. Despite asking for more information about what we could do to improve his life there or what seemed to be causing his big emotions, nothing changed & we were just told "this is normal behavior". The director promised to look into the lack of lesson plans & all they did was document the morning story time. The rest of the day was unstructured. Our son didn't want to go there anymore despite his friendships with his very good friends because there was no consistency with who was in charge in his room. There were different teachers & aides every day. When we decided to leave, we told him it was because he is a big kid now & big kids go to new schools. However, one of his teachers at Tutor Time told him he was leaving to go to a school "to teach him how to behave" 2 months ago, this location was under a DHS investigation for a restricted disciplinary act against a child. I also witnessed & reported a new teacher screaming at 4 month old infants. Despite this, she was kept there for a few more weeks before she left. Our rate was increased multiple times per year all in the name of being able to hire better people, however, untrained people were consistently hired instead. The bright spots that Tutor Time has going for them are both Miss Brittany's, Miss Laurel, Miss Grace, and Miss Alison. They are wonderful human beings