Y Academy Stoneham

"Both of my children attended the Y from infant through preK. The team there has been a part of our extended family for over 6 years. My kids are 3 years apart and have had many of the same teachers - our experience has been tenured staff although they may swap room assignments based on scheduling needs. Both of my children have flourished in social skills and academic skills, my daughter was perfectly age-appropriate ready for K. The new space is gorgeous and well thought out. At times I do wish for a bit more communication from classroom teachers, many use the app for pictures but not as much individual feedback. However, they've always been open to those conversations when I approached. I also think this is part of what keeps the Y affordable - appropriate student/teacher ratios but lean...this means the teachers don't have during the day admin time and if that means they are paying attention to my kid vs. putting notes in the iPad app I'll take it!"

"We were so happy to have found the Y for our children. Bringing our first born was very difficult but in no time we felt at ease and very lucky to have him going there. He progressed up through the classrooms till beginning preschool, and each room was fantastic. We learned so much from the teachers and staff, and we were always greeted with a warm hello. It was much easier bringing my daughter because we knew she was in good hands and knew how much she was going to thrive being there. My son has ASD and we have many challenges with this diagnosis, but the teachers, especially his final room (toddlers) were amazing with him. He has developed more than we could have hoped for because of the warm guidance from his teachers. We were incredibly sad to have left (due to me leaving my job) and we miss everyone there so much!"

"I cannot say enough about the YMCA! My daughter started at 12 months and has grown leaps and bounds thanks to the wonderful staff. A lot of teachers have been at the Y for quite some time and their experience shines through. The level of care and attention my daughter has received has by far exceeded my expectations. They have worked with her through milestones like switching over to milk, whole foods, walking, to now potty training and teeth brushing. Music, lots of creative art projects and painting, and sensory activities are part of her every day, not to mention outside play in nice weather. She has made great friends and I really enjoy seeing them bond through the pictures they load to the app every day. I really cannot say enough about the teachers and directors. I know my daughter is in good hands every day and it’s exciting to see her grow and excel in such a caring environment. Highly recommend!"

"We went there for distance convenience and supposedly low staff turnover. Within 1 month of our child being there the tour person and both teachers left. Took over 2 months to replace. They told us about this app that sends daily pictures and updates - we occasionally got something for first 2 months and then nothing. Lesson/ activity plans would post by room occasionally and not change for weeks - EVEN after asking about them. They rarely did any crafts or came home with anything creative like our previous experience. They had 6 fifthly rubber mats that were of concern when we toured but they were by the sink so I figured the kids would not congregate much there. To my disgust they eventually made it over to the play area. Left gross there for months for kids to crawl on. I finally brought it up and they supposedly washed them - looked like just flipped over. The individual teachers were overall attentive and caring but basically felt more like glorified baby sitting. The major problem is the director - been there 20 yrs +. Not responsive at all - no direction to staff - no guidelines followed. Repeatedly brought up problems with phones ( can never get through), lesson plans, update app. -- nothing done about it. If you just want basic baby sitting the teachers were nice. If you expect your child to flourish and learn look else where"