People's Institute

"Both of my children have attended People's Institute. The teacher's are dedicated, and kind, and the new director has tightened up any of the things that I might have worried about in the past; there is a new security lock and camera on the front door, a new automated check in app which our teacher daily uploads photos to, we can pay online, and it is now a very organized and tightly run ship. I love that everyone in the building knows my children's names. Overall, I think this is the best value for exceptional childcare in the area. I have read the other reviews... I think that the summer program should be judged differently from their yearly program (summer is definitely more of a camp-like atmosphere), as should each different teacher and classroom. While I can't speak to how students from diverse cultural backgrounds are treated, I love that my students are in school with children from diverse backgrounds (which is not true for most school's in Northampton), and two of my son's three teachers are from different cultures--and they go on pretend trips around the world!"

"Be mindful about this day care, the director is very corrupt. If she feels that your child isn't behaving the same way as other children, and you have a child who is adventurous and sensitive (crying or tantrums), she would try to shove an IEP form for you to sign and continue to persist in screening your child for behaviors issues. If you are nor from Northampton, and you have a different culture perspective about how children should be able to feel comfortable with themselves is not the daycare for your baby. They want to do as little work and get paid more for nothing. They complain that they have little to no staff but have the funding to hire more members. Furthermore, they also have no skill sets in taking care of children of different cultural and lack education, and history of children of color. They will write up a slip to keep track of incidents but pretend to be kind and play the victim. They attempted to push out a child to their parent because the child wasn't listening to the daycare provide, little did they know the child explained to the mom that they were talking to the child in a passive-aggressive manner. Likewise, there have been other incident where teachers bullied the child by telling them they didn't like them or physically harming them in a way that they covered up. The program, of course, will tag team to stay otherwise but be mindful that this is not the daycare many Northamponers say it claims to be. For those who don't know when a child is registered under EIP, Daycare such as this one benefit from it because in Massachusetts , the state provided districts with $23,332 for each assumed, in-district, special-needs student and $26,461 for each assumed, out-of-district, special-needs student, calculated at the full-time equivalent, rather than the individual, student level. The state also provides a high-cost reimbursement. For each student, the state's share equals 75% of the prior year's approved instructional costs in excess of 4 times the full amount of the prior year's state average per pupil foundation budget. For students who do not live with a parent or guardian, the state reimburses 100%. Reimbursements are subject to appropriation. SO they are milking your child for money, your child will probably be misdiagnosed for something they never had and will is permanently placed into your child's educational record. Please be careful of your choices."

"The staff here are really very nice, and the kids have a great time. They aren't as focused on academics as other preschools, which is a bit disappointing, but at this age, letting kids socialize and have fun isn't the worst thing in the world. I can't say enough good things about the teachers here. They're all extremely patient and kind and very engaged. Your child will get a lot of love and kindness here. I'm a little worried about the building itself. It's really old, and in need of a lot of overdue maintenance work, and frankly, a comprehensive renovation."