The Gardner School of Chicago–Ravenswood, Chicago | Fees, Rankings, Address, Admission, Vacancies, Reviews & More

My son attended this school from September 2023-March 2024. He was in Exploration 2A with a wonderful teacher, Ms. Diane.

Throughout our 6mo at the Gardener School there had been 3 directors, and two of the teacher assistants in my son’s class left. One of who decided to touch/style my son’s 4C hair without our permission.

My experience as a parent could have been better. To have paid $415/wk part time in 2023, and $545/wk full time in 2024 (price increase) the events they host for parents can have a higher budget and more planning (Parents and Pies, Holiday Show, etc.). Also, to be paying for a service, the current Director Alma will sit at the front desk and speak to parents based on her discretion and not every single parent. To mention, I was surprised to see so many positive reviews: there was an incentive of a $150 gift card if parents left reviews. $150 gift card for one parent per school.

My son loved Ms. Diane, and we appreciated Ms. Sam who was his last teacher’s assistant. I hope that this company pays their teachers and teacher’s assistants more. They are caring for 15+ children (classes are also overfull as the ratio when applying was 12:2 and when we left it was 16:2, and this was not addressed with parents).

To be an educator is an important job! Especially to our children! I believe that staff satisfactory is important, and can improve TREMENDOUSLY!

I ranked this institution as 3 stars because:

1. They stick to their hours (though they will beg for you to keep your child home when the winter weather isn’t bad, coming from a Chicagoan)

2. My son’s experience. It was his first time in daycare, and he adjusted well. Ms. Diane and Ms. Sam always gave us feedback on how he can improve or if they had questions. He always asked to go to school.

3. They have stroller storage

4. Not worth the price

We moved our toddler here from another daycare and we couldn’t be happier! The communication between teachers-parents is very open, the teachers seem genuinely happy. My little guy marches right in and loves his teachers (he couldn’t care less that I drop him off and go). I appreciate them taking time during pick up to tell me how his day was, despite him keeping them on their toes quite a bit! His classmates also seem quite happy there and they’ve built a little community. Lots of enrichment opportunities too. I recognize the cost but, after our last experience, I truly believe in “you get what you pay for”.

My son has been enrolled at Gardner for 1.5 years and we absolutely love it! The teachers engage the children in fun and educational activities throughout the day. My son comes home with new skills/milestones every week and it’s great to know how interactive the classroom is. Everyone at Gardner is very communicative and we get updates/pictures throughout the day. The building is new, modern and clean with a playground attached to the side of the building which is a nice perk for getting the kids outside everyday