It breaks my heart to write this review, but with the difficulty families experience locating and retaining quality daycare services, it's necessary to warn prospective customers regarding the management/owner of the school.

First, the good:

There are good teachers and smaller classroom sizes (10-12 kids in classes for 3-5 year olds).

Lunch is prepared on-site, although for children with special dietary needs, expect to need to pack your own (gluten-free, which is a very common need, basically meant packing a full lunch 4 days out of the week).

The curriculum is fine. Our precocious kids did fine here, although I would argue they were not as challenged as they ought to have been.

Adherence to and application of COVID-19 regulations was excellent, and the daycare never had any major issues/outbreaks.

However, I must warn away parents due to the following issues:

The biggest one: children with any sort of special needs, such as auditory processing or mild behavioral issues, arrive with a target on their back. If your kid climbs things, or has tantrums where they might run out of a room or take a half-hearted swipe at somebody, prepare for Ballancrest to terminate the arrangement. Interventions, including counseling with licensed professionals, will not trump the judgment of the owner/manager. Lest you believe this is a "well, your kid obviously can't behave" scenario, my child that was ejected in this way has positively *thrived* with no reports or "incident reports" at their new facility. It's difficult to trace the causes precisely of what is different at one location versus the other. But what is clear is that Ballancrest, after 9 collective years of providing care to two kids, was neither patient enough nor professional enough to work through any rough patches.

The manager/owner is involved in multi-level marketing (MLM) and has brought that part of herself to the daycare. It's softly delivered, but constant and pernicious. This side of our interactions with her was less-than-pleasant, and on a couple of occasions, was outright insulting due to the nature of the MLM products being sold. I leave it to you as to whether you want to be pitched on weight-loss MLM crap as you drop off your kids.

We had no comparisons to make beforehand, but having enrolled our remaining child in another local pre-K, it became apparent that the academic focus at the new facility was better than that at Ballancrest. Course content was more challenging and our child has been a lot more engaged, particularly with reading.

This is a fantastic school. My son started at 11 weeks old and went full time for 5 years. My daughter started at 10 weeks old and is currently in her third full-time year. It is amazing to see how much the kids learn and grow during their time at Ballancrest. The teachers are amazing and absolutely love all the kids. The schools has so much to offer with its great curriculum, weekly Spanish lessons, the "Music Man", summer water days, etc. We have had a great experience.

I cannot say enough great things about this school. It is much more of a family than a preschool or daycare. My daughter spent 5 full years here and my son has been here for 2 years. They have both learned so much and made amazing connections with the fantastic teachers. Best decision yet to send my kids here daily.

Excellent care, curriculum, and communication between staff and parents. I started my oldest at 9month and currently have 2 children at Ballencrest. I cannot say enough good things about the staff and overall experience. My daughter loves Spanish and the music man.