We love BCSYC and cannot recommend them enough. Our older daughter has been there for 2 years and…read moreour younger daughter has been there for 4 months. The teachers are wonderful and the leaders of the school are also great. I love that they value and teach kindness and inclusion. They have been great about communicating during COVID and I feel comfortable with their protocols. Their curriculum is engaging and I love hearing the songs my daughters have learned each week. My older daughter has Spanish as well and even learned to swim over the summer. I feel at ease knowing my kids are happy and well-cared for there.

We absolutely adore the teachers and staff at the Bala Cynwyd School for Young Children. Our kids…read moreare in the preschool and toddler classrooms, and we have been thrilled with the kindness and thoughtfulness of their teachers and administrators. Many of the teachers have been there for decades (a family member went to BCSYC 20 years ago and had three of the same teachers our kids have today). The teaching staff is quite diverse, as are the families. We have been impressed with their approach to COVID safety, including clear and prompt communication with families. The Spanish and music lessons have been a big hit, and our older child loved the swimming lessons last summer. It's an excellent program.

If you are looking for a warm, wonderful preschool - look no further! Class sizes are small, there…read moreare at least two teachers for each class, great indoor and outdoor play areas, great specials (like yoga and movement), and really nice, friendly families. After moving here 2.5 years ago, I was nervous about selecting a school for my soon-to-be Pre-K kiddo. I am so lucky that I ended up at Adath Israel. My daughter had an amazing experience here and was incredibly well prepared for first grade, both socially/emotionally and academically. My son is in the "3-4" year and I am amazed at how comfortable he feels in this school. He started when he was two, a few mornings a week, and next year will be full time. I love the flexibility in the schedule as well. I can even have him stay for a random afternoon and pay per diem! It's amazing to have such an accommodating place; it's a relief to know that they are so willing to work with the craziness that life can throw at you :) And lastly, I have made some amazing friends along with my children. Wonderful, down-to-earth, fun, friendly families make preschool functions something we all look forward to attending.

Excellent preschool! The teachers are loving and care about the kids. Great school, safe…read moreenvironment & wonderful teachers!

My 3 children and 2 grandchildren have attended this preschool. They have an excellent staff who's…read moremajor focus is the children and their well being.

I can't recommend Bala House highly enough. My oldest child loved her experience here so much she…read morecontinues to return for visits and events even as an alum. My younger child is a current student and absolutely loves it as well. The facilites are clean, pleasant, and thoughtfully constructed with young people in mind. Every single teacher is fantastic and kind. They go above and beyond to guide your child to reach their fullest potential.

My husband and I (and our daughter) are so grateful for this school. The administrators, staff, and…read moreteachers are all excellent. Not only are the teachers highly trained, qualified, career educators; every staff and administrative member here seems highly qualified and committed to creating a positive, educational environment. The curriculum and resources are wonderful, and the space (particularly the renovated rooms) beautiful. They offer flexible schedules with many different options for working parents or those that just want their child to benefit from the Montessori mornings. We really appreciate the fact that they foster, teach, practice, and celebrate diversity. One of our favorite events was the school's International Dinner. The outdoor space is great, and they have art, tumble tots, and music programs weekly, special events for the kids throughout the year (such as animal visits, ballet shows, music performances), in addition to the Montessori program and the after-care options (which features a lot of creative play, cooking, and play spaces that are updated with new themes monthly). I strongly believe that any childcare setting should make you feel happy whenever you walk in- and that is the case for us. I love walking in to Bala House. To be honest, I was actually very worried and unsure about starting my daughter in a Montessori school. I had never had this experience and from the outside the teaching model seemed a little cold and isolating. Also, my daughter has a ton of energy and I was worried she'd be too wild to sit nicely on a little mat "doing her work." And I was worried about the class size- 24 kids seemed like a lot. But, I was surprised to find that despite being on the young end, she sits and focuses on her projects. She seems to enjoy the opportunity to choose activities for herself, and she gets tons of interactions with other kids, in a mixed-age setting (she loves the older kids!) She's made a ton of friends and is learning so much- socially, emotionally, and academically. And- many days she begs me for more time at pick-up, which I take as the most important stamp of approval ;) I also have to note what a great experience this has been for us as parents, to have this community. When we moved here from out of state last summer, not only did my daughter quickly, happily, and easily transition into the summer camp program (a great way to transition in, by the way- although they also have "phasing in" days for new students to help with this process) - but we also had an instant network. It was easy to make friends through the school's many events and parent's association. It is a community I'm enormously grateful for. Finally, I have to give a shout out to Miss Adiya. We love you! :-)

Love Ancona Montessori! Our 2 children have been there for over 2 years and currently attend the…read morepre-k 3 and pre-k 4 classes and we plan on sending our 3rd child as soon as she is ready! Teachers are attentive to the children (and parents) and our kids love them. The owners are onsite, involved, and take pride in the school. Activities and lessons are hands-on. The children are constantly learning through instruction and play, its amazing and a joy to witness. We live about 15 minutes away and don't mind the drive to continue our children at this school in Wynnewood. Highly recommend!

Great school! The owners are very hands on and treat the children like their own. All the…read moreteachers are great. My little one has learned so much and gained so much confidence at her time at the school.

Our family has been very cautious with the ongoing pandemic due to health issues. We have followed…read morethe recommendations of the CDC and mandates set forth by the governor and his office because we are not medical professionals. When I spoke with the owner, Jodi, of the school, after the mask mandate was declared by the governor, I wanted to confirm that they would be in compliance with this order so that I could feel safe knowing that some medical precautions were being taken to keep my child (and our family) from contracting COVID. Jodi explicitly stated that some of the two year olds "are disgusted by" wearing masks and that wearing masks "upsets them" so the staff would "not force them to wear" masks. This was obviously concerning, especially since earlier in the summer, Jodi had told my wife that the school would not be enforcing mask wearing unless the governor mandated it, and now that it was mandated, Jodi would be going against the medical advice of those advising the governor and made it clear that even though the governor's mandate was now in place, the school would still not enforce it. I called and spoke with Jodi to request a refund of our deposit, due to the continuing concerns that we had, after Jodi made it clear that mask wearing would, in essence, be optional for those in the two year old room, despite the mandate. Jodi claimed that I was "twisting [her] words," that "the governor is crazy" if he thinks two year olds will keep masks on all day and repeatedly said that she knows from her personal experiences while raising three kids that two year olds will not keep masks on. As a father of toddlers who have navigated this pandemic with masks on, I feel very at odds with Jodi's assessment of children's capability to follow directions from adults and wear a mask. In the end, Jodi refused to return our deposit and explained that it would remain on file for six months in the event that we decided to send our child there in the future. Truthfully, after our experience with Jodi, we have very little interest in sending our children there, pandemic or not. Had we been given assurances and felt the least bit comfortable with Jodi's handling of this matter or her willingness to comply with state mandates, then we would certainly be interested in enrolling our children in the future. Under normal circumstances, I understand why the deposit would be non refundable within the 30 days notice; after Jodi made it clear that the school would not mandate masks unless the governor ordered it, we were resigned to the fact that we would likely forfeit our deposit and not send our child if it was not mandated. We were relieved when it was ordered but a bit distraught when Jodi expressed an unwillingness to comply with or encourage mask wearing in the two year old room. If Jodi had assured us that the school would be complying with the mask mandate and helping children to adjust to mask wearing instead of letting them go unmasked, then our child would be in the school at this very moment. Instead, we've found a better program that is serious about protecting the health of children.

This brand new (as of May 2019) Goddard is definitely somewhere worth sending your children to,…read moreespecially compared to others in the area. My son transferred to Goddard from Kindercare, where he was learning virtually nothing (the 4-5yo teacher there didn't even read books daily), and he loved the new environment at Goddard and got a much better education. He had a marked change in attitude and happiness as well and started to bring home art projects regularly. Pros: * Classrooms are HUGE and clean, as everything is new * Owners are willing to invest in resources and toys in the classroom * The playground is large and sparkling clean. There's also an indoor gym for inclement weather. They exercise 2x a day which is good. * They use Tadpoles, so you get notes on the day and a photo each day. * Over the summer, there are water play days. * Strong focus on academics as well as art, with daily projects to bring home * They're open most days and take very few days off. * Teachers have strong discipline. * Snacks are provided in the afternoon. * There is open and honest communication. Whenever a bump or bruise occurs, they tell us about it, unlike at Kindercare where sometimes we got the we don't know what happened excuse * Kids don't want to go home at night, which is the best indicator they're doing a great job. Neutral Notes * They do enforce logistical rules at this daycare (aka. labeling everything, taking water bottles home nightly to wash), which some fellow parents have felt are burdensome, but we like it because it prevents spread of disease which happened a lot at our old Kindercare. * They offer pizza catered in for lunch once a week at $4, and since a lot of kids elect in, we do it too for ours, but some parents might not like that societal pressure component. Areas for Improvement (they're still a 5* school, but no one is perfect): * One teacher we had was resistant to filling out info in Tadpoles and need to be complained to in order to give any info. * Teacher turnover is moderate, which is to be expected at childcare centers, but hopefully will stabilize over time. * They gave us the impression milk would be offered to students daily, but it turns out to be sporadic from what our son has told us.

Excellent private school. Easily the best on the Main Line. The reviewer that says "it is no…read moreBaldwin" probably did not get in. The teachers are dedicated and know every student. The curriculum is challenging. Also, if you are looking at Yelp to decide where your kid should go?... shame on you.

FANTASTIC school and community with dedicated and remarkably engaging faculty. The kids at Friends…read moreCentral School (FCS) are kind and caring, humble and free of elitism! You (kids or parents) don't have to be beautiful, wealthy of wear expensive sneakers to feel valued here. And the parents are a thousand times friendlier than the ones at Gladwyne Elementary. If you read "Battle hymn of the tiger mom," Baldwin is more like the mom and FCS is more like the dad. They both end up as Ivy League professors but take different paths to get there. So, it depends what you are looking for. FCS is intentional in teaching excellent academics (just look at the list of colleges the kids attend), critical thinking, intellectual risk taking and compassion. The school uses various strategies to foster psychological and social well being and the result is that kids are not bogged down by loneliness, depression, anxiety, etc. Sports are in perspective alongside drama and music, and other co-educational activities. The curriculum integrates concepts with interesting experiences, such as going to the Rennaisance Faire as part of the social studies lesson on societal structures or examining cheek cells through microscopes for a biology lesson in cell structure. No wonder the school makes kids eager to learn and study! Our child has attended three schools and is by far the happiest at FCS. . Check it out for yourself: Friendscentral.org OPEN HOUSE Sat. Oct. 15, 2016

Awesome school! I feel like not many people know about this school. They start a 6 weeks all the…read moreway up to full day kindergarten

We have sent our children here since they were babies. Now they are 4 and 2. Although we have had…read morecertain issues here and there we have generally been very satisfied. Most of the teachers are moms and have a lot of experience with children. In addition, the facility is great with a huge backyard and play sets. Finally, the two people who are the most important to the place are Judith who runs the school and Jen who runs the summer camp. It's a big job to run this organization and we are lucky to have them at the helm. Judith is especially skilled at keeping the parents and teachers in check. Some have complained that she's not flexible enough but I think that's one of the reasons the operation runs so smoothly.

Temple Beth Hillel Beth El's ECC is absolutely wonderful. The teachers are warm and loving and…read morereally enjoy working with the children. The classrooms are large and beautifully decorated. The children play outside most days - there is a huge covered porch for rainy days! My kids were so happy here and we were sad to part ways. Highly recommended.