Ivy League Early Learning Academy

We chose to reserve a space at Ivy league (flatiron location) for our son several months before he was born. At the time we were told to indicate our estimated start date (based on his due date) and that we would be able to modify to an earlier or later date as long as we provided 30 days notice. This sounded odd at the time, but I confirmed and was ASSURED this would not be a problem.
Fast forward a few months to when I called the daycare to change our start date from early Feb to late January (our son was a little early). I was told that there were no spots left, and it would be impossible to enroll any earlier than mid February (even though I had put a deposit for Feb 1). I reminded them of this and the response was something along the lines of «oh yea, Feb 1 is fine then».
My husband and I both called several times about the start date. I was scheduled to return to work in 6 weeks and was suddenly left without childcare for my would be 12 week old. The most disturbing part for me was that no one I spoke with at Ivy League cared at all. These were the people I would be leaving my child with and they didn’t care at all about his well being, even though it was their mistake that put me in that situation. One person asked if I needed a babysitter for that week and offered to recommend one, but then suddenly said, «oh wait, nevermind I don’t know anyone» and ended the conversation.
As everyone else has stated, the customer service and the management is horrific here. I ended each call in tears because 1. I had no childcare for my son and 2. the people I would be eventually leaving him with were completely incompetent and did not care at all for his well being.
Please keep this in mind if you are looking at this location.

I recommend Ivy League to every parent I run across in my daily activities who are looking for an excellent childcare provider! Prior to enrolling our children in Ivy League we experienced substandard childcare with private nannies who promised enriched learning opportunities for our children, however, it appeared to be a farce. I was home with my nannies and felt unsafe. However, from the first day we enrolled our children at Ivy League we felt very safe and comforted. The learning environment is enriched and learning habits are constantly modeled, as well as there are constant opportunities for the children to practice what they have learned. The staff is excellent! They keep us informed about any concerns with the children in regards to their health or any other matters they feel we need to be aware of. They even open doors to welcome our children to school on some days. They also support a diverse community and learning environment! Our children are enrolled in the Ivy League Early Learning Academy in Staten Island.

Bittersweet. I loved the teachers here, they are super caring and engaged with the children, for the most part, but the administration is terrible. Their staff is not trained on their policies so one staff member will tell you one thing, for it only to be contradicted by a senior member of administration. We were initially told that we would receive our full deposit once leaving, only to be told later we forfeited our deposit because we didn’t give a 2 week notice.
We were enrolled for over a year and were only informed of certain policies when they felt like enforcing them. We’ve had to leave the school on a few occasions to bring them a check because they actually stop parents and children at the door instead of at least giving them the benefit of the doubt and allowing you to bring payment later that day or the next morning. Definitely not a family business that cares about their customers. They are all about the bottom line, so expect to be nickeled and dimed for everything.

My daughter has been at Ivy League for almost 2 years and will graduate Pre-​K in June. I just enrolled my 3-​month-​old son a few weeks ago in the baby room.
I can not say enough good things about this school, the teachers, and the administrators. My daughter loves going to school each day — it’s a fight every night to get her to go home. Her teachers have kept me informed of anything I might need to know including things that she’s done really well and also days that weren’t so good for her. I always have the feeling that they truly care about her education, but also her as a person. I feel very comfortable leaving her every day.
Same experience so far with my son. He is all smiles when I drop him off in the morning and also when I pick him up. I feel very comfortable with the teachers in his room and the care he’s receiving.
I LOVE the tadpole reports that they send out each day — they give details of daily activities for each of my kids. I find with my daughter they help me talk about what she’s doing in school and keep communication between her and I about school going, which I feel is an important practice to set early in her education. They also let me know what they ate and how long they napped for. They even send me pictures of my kids on a regular basis.
Curbside drop off has been a blessing on days where I drive in and especially throughout my maternity leave. I just run my daughter up to the door and the administrators, secretaries, and even teachers take her up to her classroom and help her get ready for her day. On the way home, I give them a call 15 minutes before I’m due to arrive and they have her downstairs and ready for me when I arrive.
Great school! If I could give more than 5 stars, I would!

My daughter was in the infant room at the Chelsea location for less than 5 months. In that time, several teachers from her room quit or were fired and new teachers showed up to replace them. Not once were we told about any of these staffing changes. On multiple occasions, our daughter came home wearing some other child’s diaper. Several times, she came home with a full bottle despite her report saying she was fed all of her bottles, or all of her bottles were empty despite her report not logging them all. The straw that broke the camel’s back for us was finding out about a theft that occurred outside our daughters room from another parent, not from the school administration. When we voiced our concern about this to the owner, Gabe, we were told that they had absolutely no intention of changing their policy. We spoke to several other parents in the hope that they would reconsider this position if they knew that many parents cared. When Gabe discovered that we were talking to other parents, he called me at 4pm on a Wednesday and told me that our daughter was no longer welcome as of that day. This «school» is very clearly a business first and a nurturing environment for children second if at all. The only thing the ownership cares about is their bottom line. I would avoid this place like the plague. There are far better options out there. If it were possible to give negative stars, I would be doing so.

Like the other bad reviews here, I’m here to state that their ADMIN is the reason why I chose to leave the Bayside location. First reason being the health risk. My daughter was placed there in August and in two months got sick 4 times. There are 4 teachers with 20 kids per class by the time Sept came around. To me, that is too much exposure for toddlers who are more vulnerable and don’t know how to protect themselves yet. Second reason is their strict rules and policies. I prepaid in monthly installments. Towards the last 2 weeks of the month, my child became very sick and would be out for more than a week; after that, we had planned a 2 week trip out of the country. I notified the administration, and they kept referring me to someone higher up in admin, who happened to be Sharon. Not only was she dismissive and rude, she told me to be quiet, stop talking and accused me of badgering the other staff members for 30 mins, which was ridiculous since it was only a 2 min phone call, after which I was transferred to her. She told me that I couldn’t hold off my daughter’s classes, citing the fact that I signed and initialed their 10 page agreement, which I signed 3 months ago, and did not go over with a fine toothed comb, since it’s a 10 page agreement. I understand rules and regulations, blah blah, blah, but I didn’t know I was expected to know every single line in the document. Then, on top of wasting/​losing all those days because my daughter was sick, she told me I couldn’t get two weeks credit, so I elected to withdraw from the program for the time being. AND to add further insult to injury, she tells me I still owe 4 more days of payment because I notified them 10 days in advance instead of the 14 days. I thought a business is supposed to try to keep their customers, not repel them away?!

My son has been at this school since he was about 11 weeks old and has just turned 18 months. My wife is having a second baby that will also be attending the daycare. I’ve seen a lot of other day cares and they aren’t half as nice. The price is comparable to the other schools in the area if not somewhat more affordable. I will say that they offer a lot for the money. Everyone is pretty friendly always get greeted by the administration in the morning and afternoon. Teachers actually know about my sons day when I ask them. All in all a solid place.
This is specifically for the manhattan location as I am not that familiar with the others.

After returning from military training I wanted my 4 year old daughter to receive the best care and education. She was enrolled in a daycare in Florida while I was away, and I wanted her to continue her education as soon as she got back. I visited a couple of daycare’s with pre-​k programs before I visited Ivy League in the bronx. I was very pleased by the programs & settings Ivy League offered. Not only did Ivy League outshine the other daycares I visited, the staff were very welcoming & they really made my daughter & I feel at home. Today my daughter continues to excel in her learning, writing, verbal, reading, activities & socializing skills. Thanks to Ivy League using the Tadpole app I am able to view my daughters daily activities. I highly recommend Ivy League to every parent wanting their child to excel & be fully prepared for kindergarten & their future.

Bittersweet! I LOVE the teachers here which made it really hard to leave. They are Pleasant, caring and very nice for the most part but on the admin side, they are TERRIBLE!!! There are soo many other wonderful daycare centers & I would expect more from a school that charges a substantial amount of tuition.
My child was contagiously sick for a week (doctors note provided) and I was charged for the entire week my child was out & told that after 48 hours one is no longer contagious and could have returned to school. I not only was charged for the week of absence but also incurred a slew of late fees because I didn’t pay for the week of his return in advance. Should I have left my sick child home to run there and pay for it while my child isn’t even in attendance? I am appalled to know that a school cares this less about the children. Leaving your child to a stranger is already an overwhelming feeling. They claim to handle each person individually and being a family etc. That is one greedy & non understanding family!
If you don’t mind being nickel n dimed and told to send your child to school while ill, this is the place for you.
This review is in regards to their Bayside location.

My daughter has been very happy here. This preschool emphasizes structured learning, as well as play, arts, languages and physical activity. They regularly go to the park in nice weather and there is a large indoor playground the kids get to play in twice a day. The nutrition is sound and the kids are even excited to eat their vegetables. They also have a great security system, which gives me peace of mind daily.
There has been some turnover among the teachers and administrative staff, but overall that hasn’t impacted the quality of the preschool or my daughter’s happiness there. We are planning to enroll our younger child as well.

My child has been there for a few years and the place has slowly gone — and is now rapidly going — downhill. In fact, just since the place changed their name from Tutor Time (Sept 2012) SIX months ago, SEVENTEEN TEACHERS have QUIT — including several who’ve been there for years. (And there are not that many teachers to begin with!) So that should tell you pretty much all you need to know. In other words, AVOID AVOID AVOID. Even when it was TutorTime, the teachers were treated badly and poorly paid (despite the very high cost of the daycare). Now teachers are paid next to nothing and literally treated like they are in prison. Despite this, the teachers have traditionally been really nice, warm, well-​educated (and clearly long-​suffering) people — who don’t deserve this kind of treatment in the least. I have even heard that this «school» has cut back on the amount of food the children are supposed to be provided per meal (per state guidelines) and that a snack has been cut. I have NO idea where the hundreds of dollars per week that I pay go to except to line the pockets of the greedy and extremely stingy administration. I can no longer keep my child there. I would be AMAZED if this place even continued to be open for much longer. Which is sad because years ago, I thought it was pretty good.

My daughter was enrolled at Ivy League from four months — twenty months, and I am also (along with the other reviewer) a huge fan of this daycare.
Here are a few of the things I like about the place:
— There’s a positive energy about the school. Most people, teachers, kids, administrators, and parents, seem to be in a good mood most of the time.
— Super administration. Ivy League’s administrators hire great teachers and then help them succeed. They know all the kids. When there’s a problem, they solve it. The owner is there every week.
— The physical space is well maintained and spacious, with natural light and three separate play areas — one for toddlers, one for preschoolers, and a pretend-​play «Village».
— Parents are encouraged to drop in to see their kids (one mom nursed her baby at lunch every day), and I always feel welcome to stay and play awhile in the mornings. Also, there’s a TV in the main office where parents can hang out and observe goings-​on in their child’s classroom at any time, without the teachers being aware. Also our first tour of the place was on a drop-​in basis, which gave me confidence that what I was seeing was what actually occurred on an everyday basis.
— Classrooms and classroom procedures encourage development. When my daughter was a baby, this basically meant that she spent a lot of time on the floor where she was free to move around. When she was older, it meant lots of time singing songs, running around in the gym, and sharing with friends. They taught her the alphabet song, Twinkle Twinkle and a few other songs when she was 19 months old!
— Babygrams every day tell me about my little one’s naps, feedings and diapers, and often include a note about the day’s activities.
— Full time year-​round childcare for ages 6 weeks to Pre-​K, open until 6:30pm
I’ve been generally very happy with the teachers in the classrooms that she’s been in. Many teachers are affectionate, playful, and have the energy to be in a classroom with little ones all day. That said, there was a dud or two. Also, the school could have somewhat higher standards in the nutritious food department — please serve fresh fruit instead of canned, pretty please!
The center switched from being a Tutor Time franchise to the separate «Ivy League» name a few months ago. I believe this is because the owner felt that he wasn’t getting his money’s worth from the franchise payment. The change was accomplished seamlessly, administration and teachers remained the same, and the curriculum seems to be humming along just fine.
Wish I were still in the neighborhood! We miss you Ivy League!

I’m a huge fan of this preschool (formerly tutor time) and my son has been going here for over two years. he is progressing really well and has nothing but loving, calm and well trained caregivers. the space was built with kids in mind and you can tell — lots of natural light, space to run around and a very well thought out layout and plan for the kids to interact and continue progressing towards Kindergarten. they previously had a music teacher (who I loved) and now have weekly gym, art, spanish and mandarin classes. Also, they have a long day for parents who need the coverage (6:30 — 6:30) and a minimal amount of time off (no two and three week recesses like some other schools). why not a 5 rating? I just don’t have anything to compare it to — i’ve been so happy I never placed him anywhere else.