Gardens Day Care — Local services in New York

I looked everywhere for the perfect daycare and was starting to lose hope until I found Gardens Daycare. The first thing that caught my attention was the cleanliness of the daycare. I can smell clean air when I walked in and that automatically gave me a good feeling. Ms. Garden gave me a tour and took her time to answer all of my questions and respond to my concerns. She has a Masters in Early Childhood Education, which is a plus. Her staff is wonderful and very caring for the children.

My son has been at the daycare since Sept 2015 and he loves it there. Since I am a teacher I get breaks and I often try to stay with my son to spend time with him but he always asks for his friends and teachers. He also sings many of the songs learned at daycare.

I must say that my son's verbal language has improved and now he does not stop talking. It feels great knowing that a team is not only caring for my child but also teaching him early developmental skills while I am at work.

The food they serve the kids always involves healthy meals.

The daycare hosts a few parties for the kids during the holidays which I think is amazing. My son is starting to understand different traditions and celebrations.

Gardens daycare also takes the kids out on short trips such as the library, the park and even the local firehouse! They also have a yoga teacher come in once a week.

The one downside for me personally was that there are no cameras but I do receive tons of pictures of my baby and hearing him talk to me about his wonderful day has been satisfying. They do a great job in being informative and send many pictures of your child so you can be at ease.

I am very grateful for...

As freelancers, were fortunate enough to be able to spend the first year at home with our daughter, but when more full time work came around it was time to put her into day care. After looking at a few others in the neighborhood, some of which had more perks and services (longer operating hours, live video streaming, organic meals, etc.) but had much higher price points, we found Garden's Day Care.

We found Gardenia and her staff to be knowledgeable, kind, and loving. With weekly outings to the library, in-house yoga, dance, and art classes, and a bilingual staff and teaching approach, we were impressed with the offerings. Additionally, it was located directly across from Dolphin Park, where the kids would get out and play in the spring and summer. And though the location moved this winter, it is only one avenue away and I expect the outings to continue.

I will admit freely, after being the sole caregivers for our daughter for a year, we were very hesitant to let anyone else take over, but within the first couple of days she had fully adjusted to the new environment, new people, and new activities. When we first started out they sent us pictures every day, and now we get them a few times a week, which is wonderful and always makes us smile. To this day (almost a year later) our biggest metric for sticking with Garden's Day Care is that our daughter is happy when we drop her off in the morning, and she's happy when we pick her up in...

I would first like to say that I have been an educator in special education for nearly a decade. Secondly, I absolutely love this school. Yes, the title says daycare but this is in every sense a school. If you need confirmation of that statement, simply talk with Lissette (the director and one of the amazing teachers) for a minute and it will be obvious that she has the perfect temperament and pedagogical expertise to create and maintain an enriching environment. When I pick my son up, he is happy to tell me about his day, and I'm very happy with his growth during his time at Gardens. The other teachers, shout out to Ms. Stephanie, are also extremely sweet and its obvious during pick up and drop off's that my son enjoys a lovely relationship with every staff member. The photos they send throughout the day document adorable and creative activities that cover arts, science, reading, various cultures, and community. When my son was eligible for NYC's 3k, we passed on several offers to keep him here. Again as a fellow educator, I have confidence that Gardens and its staff have the best interest of their students in mind in regards to academic and social emotional education and I have no reservations whatsoever recommending it to my...