Mckinney center is worst place ever to send your kiddos, especially if your children are neurodivergent! They are not transparent, professional, and have so much turnover and change management which really throws you off. Staff that is hired is qualified on paper, but never available on a consistent basis and neither do they come across as confident when teaching children. This was the biggest mistake we made as parents picking Sylvan. Please don't waste your time or money with the Mckinney location! High level Management will never return your call. They simply don't care. read more

My son has a severe language disorder, he's almost 7 and diagnosed at age 18 months old. So for him, understanding language and then expressing language is very challenging for him. Due to his diagnosis, learning to read, understanding the alphabet, phonics have all been an uphill battle for him. Throw in covid and unfortunately he got further behind. So, in steps Sylvan. (He had a private tutor, who was a substitute teacher), who tutored him once and then quit because she didn't feel she was a good fit. I met with Ms. Gabrielle, the Center Director who was so welcoming and really understood a lot of my concerns. She addressed one of my concerns regarding my son needing accommodations to see and hear letters and sounds and she was able to make this accommodation for him and if not, it was a deal breaker for us. Second, Our private speech therapist had a 40 minute conversation with Ms. Gabrielle about how my son learns, where he's at with his language and what not to say because he honestly doesn't understand what that means. She has proven herself to be so instrumental in my sons ability to learn. She has also communicated this to my sons teachers. In about 4 months, my son has almost closed a years worth of learning. His teachers, Ms. Jen, Ms. Heather, Ms. Mimi And Ms. Rachel are treasures!! They really know how to teach and having them at sylvan is an asset and I'm hoping the directors notice this. These teachers truly care and I can see my sons self esteem and confidence surge! Thank You So Much Ms. Gabrielle and to my sons teachers! read more

Went to take a state exam & there were technical difficulties which lead me to be locked out of my exam for 24 hours. A case has been created & i have to wait for pearson vue to call me to reschedule & it has been 2 weeks. I would recommend going somewhere with updated technology so your whole life isnt on hold. I feel bad leaving this review, its noone that works theres fault but they need better funding. read more

My son has always struggled a bit and needed intervention at school via tutoring or by being put into a special class a few times per week. In fifth grade, we noticed he was really behind and the issues we'd hoped would correct themselves turned into red flags. We immediately began researching local tutoring facilities and stumbled across Sylvan McKinney. Let me say that we live on the border of Frisco/McKinney and it was a 30 minute drive round-trip, but we wanted the best. When he was tested at Sylvan, we found that he was still on the 4th grade level. We immediately signed him up. With our schedules, we opted for him to go twice a week, two hours per session. Fast forward to a year later, he's in 6th grade, he is now caught up and is actually ahead of the curriculum in some areas. He currently struggles with typical boy things like organization, but we're working on that. Sylvan does offer a program to help students with that - it's called Study Skills (I think). We chose to work with him from home since we're competent we can do that. As far as his academics go, he went from needing help on ALL of his homework to being able to do it on his own (for the most part). It was hard leaving Sylvan after our year there because we'd developed relationships with their employees and teachers. My son had a few teachers that he absolutely loved. He actually cried about not being able to see them every week. The following week, he even asked if we could stop in and say hi. That tells me they left a lasting impression on my child. They're there for the right reasons. They were also very flexible with scheduling meetings, great at explaining costs and fees, and were very understanding when we had to cancel a session due to last-minute illness or other emergency. It's not the cheapest in the world, but you can't put a price on good education. If your child is struggling, get them help now so that they don't continue to miss out on key concepts needed to be successful at school read more

The worst experience ever. My daughter attended one session. The dynamic of the environment was not explained before signing up. I did not realize there would be children of all ages and all topics at one table for the session. She is used to going to The Math Coaches where it is one on one or small group for the SAME subject. At Sylvan, there were kids of all ages at her table and when she asked her tutor if her answer to her homework was correct, there was no definitive answer, "I think so". Therefore she felt that he could not help her if he didn't know if the answer was corrected or not. In addition, my daughter attended one session - we have fought over cancelling since it was not the right environment for her (too chaotic for her documented ADHD and anxiety along with 504 plan in place for small groups and other accommodations). The person in charge (Gabrielle Harris) REPEATEDLY assured us they would not continue to bill us and was working with her billing department on getting us a refund. I called the center again before the third payment was to be transferred and was assured again, it would not happen and she was working on a refund. The next day, there was a sternly worded email from someone higher up (Teresa Seale) telling us that we would indeed continue to be charged and there would be no refund. It was then that it became painfully obvious they don't care about the welfare of my child. They only care about my money. Initially when I told them it wouldn't work due to the chaos (they apologized for the 2 children who were the distractions) and lack of knowledgeable tutor, they wanted $392 a month instead of $149. Given that one session was a disaster, and my daughter's anxiety caused her to have panic attacks at the thought of going back, they wanted more money for us to try one on one sessions. My daughter sees two neurologists and a counselor but Sylvan didn't care about her mental health. They continue to bill us monthly even though my daughter has been in their building ONE time. Do not think they care about your child. They only care about your money. This was further evidenced by the email sent out about how they are dealing with the Covid-19 virus. They are still expecting your child to go in. This first sentence of the email is a bold face lie since they only care about your money and not the mental health of your child. "At Sylvan, our first priority is the overall health and safety of our students, employees, and the communities we serve." "We ask that if your child shows any cold or flu symptoms to please let us know and not attend sessions until your physician clears them to return. We will treat these as excused absences and will work to reschedule their sessions when your child is healthy. We will be enforcing a similar sick policy with our staff. All we ask is for a 4 hour notice of cancellation." If you want a place that values your child's overall health (mental and physical) do yourself a favor and look elsewhere for help for your child. read more

We first starting going to Sylvan when my soon was in 4th grade. He had always made straight A's in math but starting in the second semester of 3rd grade he started struggling. His teacher tutored him after school and he did well but his confidence was dropping then the first 9 weeks of 4th grade he lost all his confidence. Homework started being a war and huge break downs. We knew we needed to get his confidence back. That is when we turned to Sylvan! We had called around to a couple of places but Sylvan made us feel right at home and listened to our needs. He went from low C's to A's again. But the best part is his confidence is back! He is now going into 6th grade and has ask to be in Pre-AP math. He wants the challenge and believes in himself! I am so thankful for what Sylvan has provided for him! I would recommend Sylvan to anyone that has a child struggling. They listen to your needs, make a plan and they communicate very well. You will always know how your child is doing. read more