So happy to have such a fantastic art center in the area. I have taken a bunch of classes: stained…read moreglass, fused glass, embroidery, encaustic painting and have enjoyed every one. They have such a wide variety of classes.

The goal of the Arts Center is to "engage people in a creative experience" and it delivers. It's…read morefun to stop in at times to browse their exhibits which includes a faculty student gallery, the Wallace and Foyer galleries, as well as a main gallery. The best part is they are free and open to the public. They offer a range of classes for different age groups such as creative writing, performing arts, culinary arts, digital arts, studio art, crafts, dance, and more. I found out that the last Friday of every month being Troy Night Out, makes a great night out exploring arts and culture. The exhibits are open during the day and seem to draw me in after brunch in Troy. I find them pretty unique and definitely one of a kind. I'm hoping to take some classes in the near future such as sculpting with clay or a few of the culinary classes. Overall a simple and neat arts center with plenty of activities for art and culture seekers.

I really like this camp and my kids have a great time. Its a little on the pricey side when…read morelunch/snacks are not included but I don't think I would change camps.

From the owner: TSL Kids Crew offers day care, nursery school, summer camp, and after school programs at several…read morelocations throughout the Albany/Schenectady/Troy NY area. At TSL Kids Crew's Albany location, available services include day care for ages 0-5, after school care for ages 5-12, and summer camp for ages 5-12. With a well-trained staff and child-focused mission, you can rest assured that your children will be in great hands.

I debated quite a long time about whether I should write a review about our experience at Woodland…read moreHill (WH). After talking to so many other parents that experienced and are experiencing similar issues as we did. I would feel remiss to not help another family trying to make a difficult decision to either put in or remove their child from WH. WH has a beautiful property and facade, there are some good people that work there. However, that is where my praise for WH stops. There are a few main issues that I and others have had with WH that I feel should be shared. They do not give you a good idea where your child is academically. There are very few points of contact from the teachers. They send home 2 very vague progress reports a year with "WH language" by which I mean they tend to use words that are very neutral or ambiguous. The 2 parent teacher conferences throughout the year are very short, and there is little time to discuss. When I was able to meet with the teacher, they would revert to a thing my child said which seemed to divert any attention from the teacher. Every meeting we had they said the same thing, anything else they said was generic and neutral. Multiple parents that I have spoken with that left the school were astonished about how far their child was behind. They were embarrassed to not have noticed it and had to hire tutors. More importantly. There is a MAJOR BULLYING PROBLEM. The concerns that I had brought up to the teachers were actually about bullying and not academics. Again, these concerns were brushed off with generic language like talking to a politician. We were assured that a specialist was going through every class, and urged to wait for that to happen. It was months before that specialist got to our classroom, and nothing changed. Several parents have contacted us with the same issue, asking to get together so that our children can play so they can feel better after being bullied all day in school. For two years my child told me when he walked into the school that he felt "empty inside". They would come home and tell us that it was the worst year of their life. They saw a child from WH and literally ran and hid because of how they had been treated. You can see the school trying to bring in faculty to address this problem. Ironically from my experience, the faculty that were tasked with this were the same faculty that clearly had no experience in child education and were the very faculty that made my child afraid and uncomfortable to walk into the school daily. There is a yearly fundraiser for WH where they hire a professional auctioneer. There are people that pay $30,000 for a reserved parking spot, that you will never see a car in. Do you really think they would tell the parent of that child that they were bullying other children or do anything about it? What some other parents said to me rang so true. WH is more like a daycare than a school. Sure, some children will thrive in this environment, and WH will be sure to prop them up on a pedestal when contested. If for any reason you are trying to decide if you should make a financial sacrifice to give your children, then I urge you to not make this choice. WH will make you feel like you can't get an education anywhere else, and if your child leaves you are doing them a huge disservice. It is a multi-level marketing \ cult mentality. Once you see through it is nothing but BS. If this review sounds jaded. It is. The experiences I was promised from WH were all false. They claim that the older children will build the younger children up, bring up their confidence, and foster a love of learning. In reality, mine's confidence and spirit was crushed. My child was frozen with panic, forced to skip recess and lunch. These false promises go right down the extra curriculars. You sign up for a cooking class and make brownie mix from a box. Leaving the school was the best decision we ever made for our child, and they are finally healing from the years of turmoil by attending there.

I'm grateful every day that we found WHMS! Where do I start?…read more This school encompasses everything that is good about Montessori school---they teach kindness and self-sufficiency and self-directed learning. My daughter learns so much there every day. Her teacher, Nancy, is the embodiment of calm and awesomeness--she's like a Zen master! We visited another school and my three year old daughter cried through the entire visit. When we visited Woodland Hill, she was calm and happy and said, "Mom, I really want to go to school there." I love their values around sustainability, peace, and treating others with respect. The school itself is exceedingly well-run, organized, and structured (in a good way). I feel that it is the best of all worlds, and the tuition is beyond reasonable for what they offer. There's a great community of families; I haven't met one single person I don't like, and people really work together. It's fun getting to being a part of this.

I've had two children attend Morning Star with my second child to complete kindergarten there next…read moreyear. Oh, how sad we'll be to leave! The community really lucked out with the presence of such an amazing early childhood learning center. The teachers each have over 20 years of experience in Montessori education! With music classes, Spanish lessons, come and observe days, extended day options, outdoor play... This school really is a gem. The environment is immaculate, safe and very engaging for children. Five stars!

From the owner: Morning Star offers children unique learning experiences according to Dr. Maria Montessori's…read moregroundbreaking and progressive educational philosophy. The children are exposed to beautiful, handcrafted materials that teach peace education, geometry, geography, cursive handwriting, art history, botany and zoology, as well as skills in daily living, sensorial training, language development and mathematics. This expansive curriculum is presented in a multi-aged learning environment where children have the freedom to choose, and experienced, certified teachers to gently guide them.

Excellent variety of classes. Great staff. Superb instructors, especially Concetta and Holly. Fun…read moremembers, look out for each other. There's something for everyone. Carol and the Housekeeping team are in top of the place, clean and well managed. Front desk staff are welcoming and atterpntive.

Great professional staff with a never ending lists of classes and fine gym equipment. The pool…read morerocks!

Mega points for being reasonably priced for a couple and having three pools: one indoor and two…read moreoutdoor (one of the outdoor pools is for the kiddos). The indoor pool is on the small side, but it's also (as far as I know) the only indoor pool that doesn't require an apartment lease or hotel room booking within the city of Albany, which makes it the biggest indoor pool in town. The gym facilities also look pretty extensive, but I haven't actually come for the gym yet -- I'm in it for the swimming. The staff I've interacted with have been universally nice and helpful. My biggest complaint would be that the indoor pool closes so early, I assume for staffing reasons. Also, keep in mind that they require you to reserve your lane ahead of time for the indoor pool. I like the policy, since it saves you from going to the gym, getting changed and showering only to realize that there are no free lanes, but if you like to be more spontaneous about your workouts the JCC pool might not be for you.

Hello Albany JCC, it's nice to meet you…read more My kid is taking swimming lessons at the pool here. What is nice is that they let you try this out for one session without becoming members. There are a heck of a lot of services and activities associated with the JCC. The largest would seem to be the nursery school, the gym and the pool. If you had a nursery school aged kid, and enjoyed to lift weights and swim for some good low impact cardio, you would probably never leave this place. But that's just not me.