YWCA Princeton 59 Paul Robeson Place, Princeton, NJ 08540

"My family has attended the YWCA for more than two years now. I continue to see how the curriculum includes age appropriate skill building in a nurturing and engaging way for all children. I now have two children attending the program. Each of them did not begin their attendance in their infancy but toddler ages. Although each of my children had differences in their development compared to their classmates, it was a short time before they caught up. A huge contribution to this is because of the skilled teachers recognizing where the children should be and helping them to get there. It's not a surprise when your child sings a song from music class or explains how to measure an ingradient or begins couting their fingers. The activities presented are always creaative and something that parents can easily repeat at home. E-mails home describe what the weekly topics are along with pictures so you can have a proud parent moment."

"This review is for the Young Wonders Pre School Program. We are soo happy to have our daughter at this day care. The Directors are soo wonderful and friendly. Every morning when I walk in they are sooo pleasant to us and so are the teachers. The teachers really love what they do and are soo caring to the children. They sing and interact with them all day. Our daughter has already learned soo much by going there. We have really noticed our daughter really excelling there and if we have another child, we would absolutely put them in YWCA Day Care. I highly recommend the YWCA Day Care."

"This is a review specifically for the Young Wonders Preschool program housed at the Princeton YWCA. I have been coming here for years, as both of my sons attended this program, both during the school year and in the summer. I love everything about this school. Both directors are friendly, knowledgeable, and interact with the children on a daily basis. They greet every family as they arrive in the morning, and they both spend time in the classrooms every day - something I really appreciated as a parent because I know they are aware of what goes on during the school day. The teachers I've interacted with have been lovely. My sons always received enthusiastic responses when I would drop them off in the morning, making them feel welcomed and reassured that they would have a good day. The teachers actually play with the children; they don't just supervise from a distance while they do other activities. I especially loved that the teachers would all work together and help each other out when needed. I am very picky about school programs as I am a teacher myself, and this was the program that I chose to send my children to, and I'm so happy I did."

"I have been extremely disappointed at the YWCA after care program at the Community Park Elementary school in Princeton NJ. The Director Tara O'shea has no control over staff. Barbara Petone, who runs the after care program is extremely disrespectful and discriminating to parents of certain races. She seems incompetent and continues to say "I can't do this" even though she has other staff members helping her at after care program. Barbara and her staff is not suitable and trained for Kindergarten kids and other young children."

"Staff was very rude, unhelpful and unwelcoming: I'm new to the area, I've been here for less than a year. My sister is visiting from France for the summer, so I suggested that she and the children go to the local YWCA to swim. I was considering joining so I figured this would be a good trail run in making that decision. She called before going and was never informed of the hours in which non-members are permitted to swim. Once she arrived she was told she had to wait an hour but could go to one of the parks onsite...at 7 months pregnant and with 3 small kids, she walked to the playground area. However, once she got there she was then told she had to leave. She kindly left and went back to the waiting area to wait for the pool to be open for non member use. Once inside they were able to swim for about 40 minutes and then the pool was evacuated for an emergency, understandably. A manager came over, who was very apologetic and told her she could be refunded if the pool doesn't open in 10 minutes. She waited half hour and when she ask the staff about refunding her money since she did not get the full 2 hours they told her that she needed to continue to wait. The staff went back and forth in front of her about what to do and then one young lady threw her money on the counter and said "here". Overall, the staff was not knowledgeable about the policies, they were not helpful in giving direction nor professional when it came time to resolve the issue. My sister came home practically in tears, the kids were disappointed and a day was basically wasted waiting around because the staff gave poor direction. This could have easily been avoided. Maybe they just didn't want them there? That's how it felt. I no longer have any interest in joining and I will be telling my clients, employees and counterparts not to join as well. Thanks but no thanks!"