Great park for the family. The Water Tower is a special place in the heart of Chestnut Hillread more

Water Tower Rec Centers offers a nice variety of programs, facilities, and activities. Their…read moreupkeep is decent, as is their parking. While nothing offered is worth shouting to heavens about, nothing provided is worth openly complaining about. Overall, my experiences with Water Tower Rec Center have been "A-OK" and fits a solid three-star review.

My son is graduating pre-K this year after spending two wonderful years at Mt. Airy Christian Day…read moreSchool. While we are excited for the future, this transition is bittersweet as we will truly miss this special community. My son is well-prepared for kindergarten this fall, and we could not have asked for a better academic and social foundation. The professional tone of the school is set the moment you arrive, where we are greeted by Mr. Hassan every morning. His presence at the secure buzz-in entry door makes the start of each day feel safe and welcoming. Upon entering the pre-K wing, the environment is always clean and inviting, with bulletin boards and displays updated regularly to showcase the seasons. This high level of organization is a direct testament to the leadership of the Center Director, Ms. Simpson, whose clear systems and procedures ensure the school is well-managed. Working alongside her, Ms. Collins does a fantastic job managing the administrative side, ensuring all student records are updated and that family communications and event reminders are posted in a timely fashion. Anytime I have reached out to any of the staff members, my calls and requests have been handled with a prompt, professional response. The entire staff is incredibly loving, and that warmth is felt every day in the calm, orderly atmosphere of the classroom. My son is greeted warmly every morning by his teachers and classmates, fostering a strong sense of belonging that has been wonderful to witness. One of the many highlights of our experience has been the teaching team of Mrs. Nichols and her assistant, Ms. Shelly. Together, they are a fantastic pair who maintain a classroom that is both joyful and project-based. We loved that the curriculum focuses on hands-on projects, which kept our son excited about learning every single day. For working parents, the before and after care programs are an added convenience that we truly appreciated. Furthermore, Mrs. Nichols provides weekly homework that helped us build our son's skills together at home, and the school's use of IXL and the Teaching Strategies app provided us with excellent resources to extend learning beyond the classroom. I especially valued how connected I felt to his progress through the regular photos and videos the teachers post, allowing us to see his engagement in real-time. Between the excellent classroom instruction and the fun field trips, our son has grown significantly in his social, emotional, and academic development. We are so grateful to Ms. Simpson, Ms. Collins, Mr. Hassan, Mrs. Nichols, Ms. Shelly, and Ms. Reham for making these last two years so memorable. If you are looking for a quality preschool experience that balances academic growth with a nurturing, loving, and structured environment, this is it!

My daughter attends this school and loves it. They welcomed her with open arms and teach very well…read more She's excited about going to school which is a great sign. I recommend this school

My daughter and I knew we would love COA when we first toured it with Ms Sandra the director. My…read moredaughter started her learning path with COA September of this year. She's a preK student. She has two great teachers by the name of Ms Amanda and Ms Angie, my daughter admires these two women so much. Learning: her teachers have broaden her knowledge on so many things from counting, problem solving, expressing herself, learning the letters in the alphabet and not just by singing them. She's learning how to tell the difference between lower case and upper case letters. Learning about her body parts and how they function. To even diving into fine motor skills and gross motor skills. Going over the roles people play in our community was another. There's much more but that's all I can think of. Events: the events they have are great and brings a huge smile to the little one's faces which just warms our heart. Child updates: I enjoy receiving daily updates and pictures of what my child is doing in preK as well! Another main reason I chose COA Security system: what COA has in place is great and is another main reason why I chose COA. Everyone that we personally have encounters with at COA has been nothing but friendly, kind, sincere, caring, compassionate, and respectful. To name a few of course her teachers Ms Amanda, Ms Angie, then there's Ms Sandra, Ms Daina, Mr Mark, the Chef and the front desk lady (sorry if I spelled anyones name wrong). There's so many others too I just unfortunately don't know everyone's names. I love how COA promotes a supportive learning environment, academics, social, emotional, physical fitness, and health development. I believe their motto is "Mind and Body Matters." Which you can see throughout their curriculum. My daughter loves going to school. I know she feels valued, respected, and safe. The kids are great too, she's made so many friends. Never not once heard anything bad about what other kids do to each other or to her. Once my youngest turns 3 I will definitely apply for her to attend preK here at COA too. Thanks COA team for making Olivia's preK journey so far extraordinary. Ps - so sorry for the rant!

The first year we were there it was fine. Ms. Charlene was the best teacher we could ever ask for…read more There were some red flags that we realized but nothing too serious until when Ms. Charlene would call off and there was a sub, all hell broke loose. I watched as she would drag the kids because she was trying to clean. But the second a parent walked in she could somehow pick them up gently? By the time my baby went to toddler B, which had no Ms. Charlene I will add, it got worse. There was a video them reading to the kids and there was a split couple of seconds where a little boy started hitting my daughter. Instead of doing anything the teacher recording chose to cut out my daughter who was getting hit and tackled while the other teacher continued reading like nothing happened. They had more slides that showed my daughter still being hit and they just ignored it. There were a couple instances where my daughter would come home with bumps, like she got hit or somrthing, on her face and when I would ask what happened all of the teachers would say they don't know what happened and they weren't in class at the time. No accountability at ALL!!! Finally for a good year I've been paying almost $300 per day after coverage by CCIS, I voiced my concerns since i was even getting charged when my daughter was absent due to getting sick. After I got approved and it was her last month in Children of America. They called me and my husband saying that they can lower the co pay to $50 and if it was too much we can even lower it to $30. Where was that when I was spending almost a grand per week? Now that I'm leaving you want to help me out? If it wasn't for Ms Charlene trust me, my daughter would be out a long time ago. The teachers for the toddler class has put me on edge, are rude to me, my husband, and my kids who pick up my daughter. They don't watch my kid at all even with me paying a $300 for co pay a day!!! I should've pay more close attention to the red flags a long time ago.