LoMastro Performing Arts Academy — Local services in Lake Forest

A deeply concerning experience—please read if you're a parent. I’ve never felt more terrified in my life. Last Tuesday, I was just a few minutes late picking up my 5-year-old daughter from LoMastro after her ballet class. I had called the front desk at 4:39 PM (class ends at 4:40) to let them know I was slightly delayed because of a passing train. They assured me, “No problem, we’ll be waiting.” When I arrived at 4:43, my daughter was gone. No one at the front desk knew where she was. Her teacher had no idea. Panic set in as the staff started checking classrooms and restrooms. At 4:48, I called the police. Thankfully, a kind stranger found my daughter—alone, terrified, and walking along Waukegan Road, trying to find me. LoMastro has known us for over three years. My daughter has attended since she was 2½. But despite that relationship—and despite being told I was just minutes away—they allowed a five-year-old child to walk out of their building completely unattended. They didn’t make sure she stayed safe. They didn’t even notice she was missing. This was not just a miscommunication—it was a complete breakdown in basic child safety. I trusted this studio with my daughter. That trust is now broken. We’ve withdrawn her from the program, and I feel obligated to share this experience with other parents. No child should ever be put in that situation again. I sincerely hope LoMastro re-evaluates their safety protocols, because this was entirely preventable. If you have a child attending this studio, please talk to them about what to do if you’re ever late—and please ask LoMastro what steps they’ve taken to ensure this never happens again.

I want to add more details, especially after reading the owner’s response, which I feel minimizes the seriousness of what happened and is more focused on protecting the studio than fully acknowledging a life-threatening failure in basic child safety. Let me be very clear: My daughter never went to the restroom. She walked straight out the door, completely alone. There were only three other girls in her class and the studio was empty. When I arrived just three minutes late, there were four adults at the front desk and none of them had any idea where she was. She wasn’t “on the sidewalk” nearby, as the owner suggested. She crossed THREE streets and was eventually found in front of CIBC Bank, which is twice as far as where they claim she was. A woman at Starbucks, who was on a work call, saw a small child crossing the street alone and called the police. That is how my daughter was found—by police, not by a staff member. The studio did not realize she was gone until I showed up and asked where she was. I was the one who called the police in complete panic. The police found her though the call of the lady and once they realized was the same little girl they ask the lady to bring my daughter back to the studio. She was only on Sam lap, because I was running in the middle of the parking lot near Chase Bank screaming her name, and the lady came back from Waukegan Rd. A couple of hours later, the manager called to apologize and offer me a refund for the class. After I alerted other moms, and word started to spread, the owner finally emailed me to say sorry and mention that “new security measures” had already been put in place. This situation wasn’t a misunderstanding—it was a complete failure of the most basic responsibility a children's studio has: keeping kids safe. It’s terrifying to think what could have happened. This was a life-and-death situation. I’m sharing all of this not out of anger, but because every parent deserves to know the full truth and ask hard questions about how their children are being cared for. Please don’t assume your child is safe just because they’re in a familiar place. Talk to the studio. Demand to know exactly what their safety policies are—and how they’re enforced. Don’t wait for a wake-up...

I was very disappointed with this institution after sending my daughter here for one semester. My daughter was in competitive rthymic gymnastics (invitational) since she was in kindergarten and now she is in 4 grade. She had been competing state level so she had very intense training background for rthymic gymnastics which is dance made up with gymnastics and ballet. It was heart breaking but she decided to quit rthymic gymnastics because she decided to focus on something else for her future but still wanted to continue to dance especially ballet. She was placed in level 2 and it was fine with me. However she said the class was too boring every sing time after the lesson. She mentioned that during the trial, they never asked her to do some movements (I do not know all the dance terms) and she could not show what she had trained from the other institution because they did not ask her to perform during the trial. I asked for another trial for re-Val because of her background and the past training it was legitimate for her to feel boring in level 2. I asked for this in September, October, November and December and they said they were still evaluating students so wait, and I believed them. Just last week (January 2025) they told me my daughter can’t even have trial lesson for another evaluation. I felt my voice was never heard. Although other students’ parents there told me I should talk to Loren, who is the owner, I was never able to get hold of her. I guess other parents were easily approaching her but I never got a chance even after email, phone calls, and talking to the front desk. I was willing to sign up for pay for another evaluation, sign up private lessons (I told them in email) do any thing so my daughter can actually enjoy lesson; however I felt my kid was not welcome in this community and never been seriously...

When faculty on vocation, sub-teacher Session Handled Poorly sub-teacher made zero effort to make the student feel welcomed.

We signed up for the summer session based on the positive reviews here and a close friend's recommendation. However, we were surprised and disappointed by one incident at the studio how they handle the session requiring another teacher to sub. Normally with other practice, we will be informed one week in advance there will be a sub-teacher. (even with mom/baby, mom/toddler classes we've been!)

In summary, the faculty staff does vary, and not everyone is warm and welcoming. One staff member who was covering while the main teacher was out of town DID NOT even try to greet my daughter, introduce himself, or welcome her into the studio. Every child is unique, I don't think it's very kind to expect every child opening up immediately and joining with a new staff into the studio without knowing who this person is. I am actually very proud of my 6 years old being able to make judgement and decided not to going in NOT even knowing this person's name... and similar situation happened as we had a make up class at Midtown Tennis, my 6 yrs old had no issue working with a new coach with the big smile on his.

When we shared our concerns with the management, we received a quick response; however, the answer we received towards our concern was filled with inaccuracies. The management's comment on the team making effort to welcome the students are not true and it really depends on the teacher. We decided to complete the summer session we signed up as we had no issue with the...