Creme De La Creme

My two children have been at crème since 3 months old. The preschool program here is excellent. Worth every penny. I did not know just how outstanding it was until I sent my oldest to a different school for kindergarten, and I saw how far ahead both of my kids are, academically and socially. The teachers they’ve recently hired in Gard 3 (Ms. Lynn and Ms. Trinida) are amazing. Not only did they potty train my son and teach him all the letters and to write his name, but they also care very much, for him and for all the other kids. Ms Jen in Transitional Kindergarten taught my daughter how to read and write. She also runs an amazing summer camp, with field trips all over the city. Mr Aaron the music teacher and Ms Elizabeth the Spanish teacher organized a sensational musical preschool graduation performance, in English and Spanish. Ms. Nicole is responsible for hiring and programming, and she has added some great new teachers and new things, including a cooking class. Ms Marybeth is a relatively new director at this location but things have gotten even better under her leadership.

I could not have more great things to say about Crème! We took our son there when he was 6 months old and I could not have felt more comfortable leaving him in their care. They use an app which shows you in real-​time the last time your child ate, slept and was changed. It was a nice way for me to know how he was doing. They also sent pictures. The facilities are beautiful, they have a stand-​alone park and 24 hr security. Every employee is pleasant and welcoming every day. All of our teachers were absolutely wonderful. They were so caring and loving towards our son. The only reason we left was because we found another daycare within walking distance of our home. I was very upset when we had to leave. Their policies, cleanliness, everything, is state of the art. Highly recommend.

Look no further, this place is amazing. The staff, technology and other resources have exceeded my expectations.

I have two children who have both been at Crème de la Crème in Lincoln Park for the full time program since they were each three months old. We have gone through the infant and toddler program twice, and the Preschool program once with our oldest. We chose daycare over nanny because of the stimulation and social interaction that our children would get, and Crème has delivered on their promises. Crème provides a curriculum based daycare that combines learning with play in a fun, nurturing environment. When you first walk into Crème you will notice the bright colors and welcoming environment. As early as infants the children begin art and are exposed to music and literacy. Toddlers sit through a literacy class each morning where they learn basics such as the alphabet, counting, shapes, colors, and animals. Beginning at two the children receive different classes each day including Spanish, Math/​Science, Literacy, Music, Art, and Gym/​Dance. While my children have not participated in any ancillary activities, Crème offers Mandarin and Karate, among others. All in all I feel very happy with Crème and believe that my children have benefited from the fun yet rigorous curriculum offered each day. I would encourage any family interested in daycare to look at Crème de la Crème for their child.

Like any parents faced with finding care for their children in order to return to work, we agonized over all of the options for childcare. Would our baby receive enough individual attention at a daycare facility? Would she lack social exposure to other children if we chose a nanny? We aren’t fortunate enough to have family nearby as a care option, so we knew that whoever we chose for childcare would become a part of our family.
We could not have found a home better than Crème had we designed it ourselves. The teachers and administrative faculty there indeed have become family to both our children and to us. While you can reference Crème’s credentials and curriculum on its website (all of which is world class), what you should know is how our two-​year-​old daughter runs bright-​eyed and laughing into her classroom in the morning and wants to stay for every last minute of the day playing with her teachers and friends every evening. You should know that for the first week after I dropped off that same little girl as an 8-​week-​old, not one teacher or administrator ever showed even an ounce of impatience when I called every 20 minutes just to ‘check in’. You should understand that even on round two, with my son, if I just miss him in the middle of the day, the center’s Director will take time personally to email photos of his baby smiles to me; that my daughter knows everyone there by name and that everyone know us just as familiarly!
I never wonder what our kids do all day because each moment of their schedule is chronicled for us daily, from what they ate, to their dispositions and right down to every song that we’ll be hearing from pick-​up to bedtime! My daughter has social independence and uses manners. She likes peas. She holds a pencil correctly. My son sleeps on a schedule. He doesn’t melt down when someone other than one of us tries to hold him.
I tell the Director on a regular basis that I wish our kids could go to school here until they have to leave for college; and that is really what most appropriately defines Crème — it is a school, not a babysitter. It teaches and engages and inspires our children. But it is also a home — somewhere they are comfortable and loved and respected. It is always evident when you encounter someone who has answered his or her true calling, and this is the case with all of the teachers and faculty members at Crème. Their dedication to caring for children and helping them grow shows each and every day.
You will not find a better place to care for your children.

We started our daughter at Crème when she was about 5 months old and had previously enrolled our daughter in an in-​home daycare. The in-​home daycare was not working out and after several discussions with the administration, teachers and other parents, switched our daughter to Crème. She’s now almost 11 months old and loves the daycare. Everyone on staff is wonderful to work with and very caring and nurturing. My daughter has big smiles for everyone. The daily sheet is very detailed and lets us know what she did that day and how she was feeling. The teachers build a great rapport with the parents and I feel extremely comfortable leaving her with them for up to 10 hours a day. We have really loved our experience so far and looking forward to staying a while.

We’ve had our son at Crème in Lincoln Park since he was a baby (he’s now 3 ½) and have been so impressed by it. His teachers have been so wonderfully caring and nurturing. And, the entire staff — from administration to security to ancillary program teachers — is wonderful. They all have early childhood education degrees, and many of the teachers are working on their Masters degrees. And, we’ve met a wonderful community of families at Crème. It’s not easy balancing work and parenthood, but knowing that the superstars at Crème are caring for our boy has been crucial along the way. Hooray for Crème!

excellent. my son has really excelled since starting at crème. everyone is great, considerate and caring. most of all a superior curriculum for kids — age appropriate and fun for them.

Exemplary day care services and convenient Lincoln Park location. Very pleased with the service and congeniality of the staff in their relations with us and in the education and care for our child. Everybody working there knows our names on sight. Even the doormen are incredibly friendly and helpful. Facilities include an indoor play area for inclement weather and various station rooms for arts, music, etc.

I have 3 children, a 3 year old and 1 ½ yr old twins. At 2 ½ yrs, my daughter was not progressing as quickly as some other kids her age and I decided it would be best to put her in preschool for 3 half days per week so that she could be around other children her age as opposed to being home all day with the nanny and babies. I looked into a few different schools based on recommendations from friends, but I had read about Crème de la Crème in Craines and decided to take a tour. The school hadn’t yet opened but they were taking applications. After I toured the school and met with the director, there was no doubt in my mind that this would be the perfect place for Charlotte. I signed her up that day and she started 2 weeks after that. Initially, there were only 4 kids in her class and there were 3 teachers because the school was brand new and not everyone had enrolled yet so she had one on one attention for the first few weeks which really helped transition her to her new environment. The school is very beautiful– it feels and looks like a very high end disney world equipped with the latest in technology, toys and educational materials. Charlotte’s teachers are Miss Julie and Miss Laura and we absolutely love and adore them– they are both very affectionate and caring towards all of the kids. There is a fish pond that Charlotte loves to look at each morning. The exciting thing was after only 2 months, she went from speaking 10 words to speaking full sentences well enough for others to understand what she was saying. After 3 months she can say the entire alphabet and count to 10 as well as sing songs. When we would go to pick her up at noon, she would run away from us because she wanted to stay with the other kids who were there full day so we decided to let her. The best thing is that she now actually takes a nap for 1 ½ hrs after lunch where she wouldn’t do that at home! It’s not an inexpensive school but it’s also a day care so you can drop your kids off really early and pick them up at 5:30pm so it’s great for working parents. We feel it’s worth every penny.