Hatch House School

My daughter has attended the summer camp for several years now. The summer camp program is perfect for her, very engaging and offers a low key variety of activities that keep them engaged. It also allows for a balance of down time as well, the camp counselor reads to them from a book series that they absolutely love! When I bring her here, she feels like she is spending time with the family and that is very important for me when I drop her off. I would recommend this program to any family! :)

5 year old bullies!
What a disappoint this school turned out to be. We enrolled our daughter in the pre-​k class after moving to Cedar Park. She attended the school from August of 2015 to May, 2016. After a couple of weeks of crying at night, saying she was sick and couldn’t go to school, and acting «off» I finally got it out of her that she was being bullied. Another 5 year old girl in her class was saying nasty, mean things to her on a daily basis. She would whisper things like «No one likes you» or «You will never have any friends. I will never be your friend» so that the teacher could not hear her.
Now, this little bully has been a problem in this class since we started. I have witnessed her hitting and kicking her parents and the teachers, screaming at her parents and the teachers, throwing things at other kids, and just being unmanageable. I have also witnessed her mother laughing about the behavior, which goes to show just how much she was trying to correct it.
So I went directly to the new director. Who sat at her desk and told me that she understands, bullying is horrible, and that it should not be tolerated.
The director says she must speak with the owners. Who then decided to do nothing. Nothing. Not one single thing. This mean little child was allowed to stay at this school, but like any GOOD parent would do, I immediately withdrew my children. No one should be exposed to this kind of behavior and no child should be made to feel bad about themselves.
The owners of this company are shameful people who care only about the income coming into their wallets. I had heard some negative things from other parents this year, but to actually have my child bullied and nothing done about it is just disgusting.

We put our son in preschool at Hatch House a couple of years ago and decided to do the same for our daughter this past year. My son has excelled in Kindergarten and 1^st grade and is even reading on a 5^th grade level (he’s going into 2^nd grade in the Fall). I’m expecting that my daughter will do just as well.
I feel that Hatch House prepared both kids for «real» school. They’re well behaved and can focus/​pay attention to lessons. My daughter was taught quite a bit of sign language and my son was taught some Spanish at Hatch House.
The employees and teachers were always extremely friendly with me and very sweet with my kiddos. They really enjoyed their time at Hatch House.

K A.‘s Reviews
Hatch House School
Child Care & Day Care, Preschools
9÷5÷2015
I have not written a review before, but my experience with this daycare was so poor I felt inclined to do so. Hatch House is expensive and for all the money that we paid I did not feel that my children received very good care or learned very much.
One of the teachers in the preschool rooms should by no means be in charge of taking care of children. She does not seem to have any clue about normal child development. The administration made very many promises in the few months that we were there, and followed through on very few of them. When I asked in reference to what they said they would do, they always said they just got busy. My children spent way too much time watching movies and playing video games. They talked about a science lab. Only once did my older son get to go to make gummy worms with pudding. I would hardly refer to that as science.
The children were by and large encouraged to be quiet very frequently for long periods of time and frequently yelled at by many teachers when they talked. They were strongly encouraged to take overly long naps, I feel to make it easier for the adults. My son was ready to move to an older class and when asked repeatedly for him to be moved there were always excuses. Lots of children in my son’s class were old enough to move. I think they wanted to charge people more money. The way a few of the teachers talked to the kids was appalling. My son seemed to regress in his skills over the summer while at Hatch House.
This daycare was nothing but a headache and a stressor for my whole family. Both of my children would take turns crying in the parking lot as to who didn’t want to go in while my husband and I became more and more frustrated. As we drive by this daycare now, I think glad this is over. Save your money and find somewhere where your children will learn something. I am happy to say that we found a new daycare in Leander and could’t be happier. Now my children are blossoming. There are so many choices in Leander for childcare. I would skip this one and find somewhere great for your family. I wish I had read these reviews before we went. We would have skipped this place all together !!!

I had a really bad experience here involving aggressive teachers. I literally watched on camera a teacher being physically aggressive with my 1.5 year old after he was crying when I dropped him off. I was livid and went straight to the owner sitting her in office and told her to rewind the video! Even when I brought the issue up, the owner said «there are lots of other childcare options in the area» YES you are correct. Choose elsewhere! I found an amazing place just 1 mile down lakeline. Don’t put your child in danger.

We’ve had our kids in Hatch House for about a year. Between the two of them they went through the infant, later infant, toddlers and twos classes. I have nothing but good things to say about this place and I can compare to another two schools that my kids attended (one before Hatch House and one after). The place is meticulously clean, the teachers are engaged and very attentive and our kids always seemed happily busy. We were very happy with the place and miss it very much now that we have moved to a different area of town. Apart fro the teacher, the new admin team is exceptional and was a pleasure to deal with.
Wish we could go back… Unfortunately it would be a crazy commute. Now if they were to open a branch in northwest Austin …

My son is 2.5 years old, and he has been at Hatch House School since the later infant class, 13 mths. My husband and I work full-​time and had tried 2 schools before then. The 1^st school was a large chain called Stepping Stone, and after less then a week of care we pulled him out as we felt at 3 mths he was not getting the attention need to say the least. We then had him stay home with a nanny until he was 8 mths. At 8 mth we put him in a Montessori called Austin Children’s Academy. After 5 mths we came to realize that the teachers were overwhelmed and he persisted to get extremely bad diaper rashes with no resolve by the Director. The stress on the teachers resulted in bad care and sad and sick children in my experience. We knew what we wanted next for our child, a clean, loving place were teachers are happy and enjoy their classes.
From the first moment we walked into Hatch House, I knew it was different. The first thing I notice was just how clean it was, with high ceilings and happy children. My son started in the later infant class about 1.5 yrs ago. I loved that the infants were split into 2 rooms so that the older ones could learn & explore at their own pace. He has been in 3 classes and he hasnever not been glowing when we pick him up. The teachers are wonderful, they are creative with the class lessons and have the kids make the cutest gifts for their parents. The school is very organized, sending monthly newsletters and schedules as well as daily reports via email w/​pictures! I recommend Hatch House to anyone looking for something more then average, its been a wonderful experience!

The reviews on here are not very recent so I feel compelled to write one at this time. I’m not sure what happened in the past but currently I have a daughter in the infant class and I am so pleased. The school is clean, the teachers are nice, the director is involved and knowledgable. The meals they serve to the kids look very well balanced and the kids in every single classroom are content and happy whenever I am there checking in or out. The teachers do a lot with the kids, even in the infant room they sing to them and read and have lots of sensory stuff for them to do. One of my requests was that they try to get my daughter on a regular nap/​feeding schedule, which she was having a tough time with… Within 3 weeks, she was regularly napping, and she was sleeping better at home because she stays active during the day! My two older daughters were fortunate to have gone to wonderful preschools as well, so I’m just pleased that my youngest is also having the same experience!

Our experience with Hatch House was mediocre at best. The receptionist ended up being in charge of way too many decisions and communications that should have been handled by the school administrator who if present, sat in her office with the door closed. We were repeatedly promised answers to significant questions, different teachers, better communications, etc. and it never happened.
One of our children was more than ready developmentally to move to the next class according to the teacher, but administration wouldn’t allow her to move because they would get less money from us. Our other child’s teacher was not someone who should have been in charge of children. She didn’t seem to be happy to be there, and definitely couldn’t handle high energy preschoolers.
Kids were kept in the classroom too long, not given enough exercise, forced to nap for prolonged periods, put in front of video games, shown movies regularly, and not encouraged to be active. It seemed the teachers just wanted the kids to sit and be quiet rather than getting exercise and facilitating any real activities. Yes, the teachers seemed lazy as did the administrator. Our kids left there each day restless and bored.
They seemed to have no clue about proper nutrition, giving kids both cupcakes and popsicles in the same day. If you are okay with processed food, lots of goldfish crackers, and plenty of sugar in your kid’s diet, you will be happy with Hatch House.
The idea that this school has any Reggio Amilia inspired learning is a joke. Having previous Reggio school experience, this school has NO clue what that means and only uses that in their marketing language. The school’s kitchen lab was also sold to us as an awesome learning experience, but ended up just being the receptionist dying some water in front of the kids when a teacher needed a break. That’s not science, folks.
To say the least, they did not have their act together. If you are looking for daycare for long hours, you may like this place. However, if you are looking for engaged teachers, nutritious food, a real curriculum, and activities such as exercise for your child, skip Hatch House. We moved on after just a couple of months and are now very happy with our new school.

My kids have been going to this school since August. I have one in the infant class and one in preschool. My preschooler has been to another school in the area so I do have a place to compare. Kids will copy what they see, it’s a fact. She went from talking to her dolls in a way that made us question what was going on at her previous school, to talking to them in a positive manner. Once she started Hatch House, she pretends to be a teacher to her stuffed animals, rewards them with stickers and teaches them Spanish, numbers, and letters. To me. this is huge. I couldn’t be happier with everything she is learning. The school is clean and the kids are well taken care of, the staff always greets us when we come through the door. I’m actually surprised we made it through flu season without anything more serious than runny noses. Kids will catch stuff from other kids, even if they had come down with an illness, I wouldn’t blame the school.

Teachers change every few months. Food provided is mediorcre and protein is only given twice a week. How is that a balanced diet? My kids have had food poisoning on few occasions. The classrooms are not clean and heard of numerous cases of RSVs.
School curriculum is average at best. I pulled my daughter and son out of there due to the all the above mentioned reasons.
In a year, I can see my kids have learned a lot more and is on par with the other kids and ready for school. Do yourself a favor avoid this place. There are a lot of credited schools with much better curriculum and teachers that stay longer with the school.

My son has been going to school at Hatch House for 2 years now. He is going off to Kindergarten this Fall, and he is incredibly prepared! I love that they give him homework, so he is prepared for that when he starts school. All the staff are very kind, and it is obvious that they are a team.
My oldest son attends the after school program, and we love that program. The teacher is awesome, and can constantly be found running around with the class during the playground time! He’s looking forward to Hatch House summer camp this summer!
I kept my daughter in an in home daycare till she was 2. I started her at Hatch House in the 2 yr old class in February. It is amazing how much she has learned in the past few months! We just had our parent teacher conference, and she is doing so well. She counts to 20 in English, and can count to 5 in Spanish. When she started, the teacher asked me if she was color blind, and now she knows all of her colors… all within a few months!
I have loved all the teachers that my children have had at Hatch House. The front office staff are also so amazing! I have actually had very few issues with my kids getting sick at school. Germs get passed so easily with little kids, and very rarely do my kids end up sick!
The school is well organized, clean, and a great place for my kids to learn! We love Hatch House, and would recommend this facility to all friends and family!

My youngest son has been attending Hatch House since he was 2. He is almost 3 now and I’m amazed at how much he’s learned: singing the alphabet song, counting to 20 (english and spanish), recognizing many letters and numbers, and can and spell his first name! He loves to show me his daily art projects.
His teachers are full of enthusiasm. All of the staff have shown infinite patience.
The staff have demonstrated continual concern for the health of their children. I was always informed of any concerning communicable sickness in the classroom. My son has a high pain tolerance, making it hard to tell when he is sick from his behavior alone. His teachers would recognize when he was coming down with something before he did!
My son always has a smile when I pick him up.

My son went to another day care when he was just 7 weeks old and when they closed he went to Hatch House. I was VERY impressed by how clean and neat Hatch House kept the infant rooms (previous day care the providers wore their shoes around and the baby’s who were learning to roll over had their faces deep in the carpet with dirt and stains… etc. Their fridge was disgusting and covered with spills and mold).
The providers here truly care about the children and when I see my son smile every day at his favorite day care women, or even run to them with morning hugs — it makes it so much easier to leave him there and know he was being well cared for and loves it. Every day when he gets to day care he has a big smile on his face and is excited to go. To me, that says everything. They also are teaching him GREAT stuff. Like how to eat at a table (he’s still in a high chair at our house) and things like that. Things that you sometimes just don’t think of as a parent.
As for the 1 star review on here — yes, my kid is sick all the time. But I worked in a day care in California and babysat a LOT of kids. If they are in day care, they ARE sick all the time. There’s no getting around it. My friends in Florida and New Jersey and all over — same thing. Day Care = more germs spread. What can you do? I know that he’ll have a strong & healthy immune system as he gets older.

My daughter has been at Hatch House for a year and a half. I read the other parents previous post and the fact she only stayed 4 days says a lot. The owner of Hatch House is deeply involved in the care of the children. As a public school nurse th eowner was also correct in stating that RSV is not a «reportable» illness. Meaning that the nature of this illness does not fall under the Texas Dept of Health Guidelines for communicable diseases. It is also VERY common, especially in the early infant classroom to get many different «illnesses» when the child is in a day care setting for the first time. It is actually a nice little immune system booster. My daughter loves it here, I love it and I adore the staff.