Early Learning Ctr

My son has been attending Irving Park Early Learning Center since April 2011. He entered the program when he was 11 weeks old and started in the infant room. A few months ago, he moved up to the toddler room. more

I would never recommend this daycare to parents. It's the worst experience we had. They never worked with our son to make him comfortable there but instead after one week main teacher started complaining that not sure why he is still crying. more

I have had two of my children attend IPELC and I couldn't have asked for a better place to leave my children while I go to work. The staff is friendly. They make children feel at home and most importantly they feel loved. The curriculum is great, my child who is now in the two year old room learned baby sign language, which in my opinion is great for infants communication. The infant room teachers are constantly doing activities that help promote their developmental milestones. There is a nurse who visits monthly checking diaper changing techniques, hygiene and medical files to see if the children are up to date with their physicals and immunizations as per guidelines. She does medication checks; There is always a letter going home if my child needs a new inhaler if the one in daycare is about to expire. The daycare is safe, they have an electric door that requires a code that only the parent has access to, electronic signing in of your child. It's also very clean. I see teachers constantly wiping tables, hand washing is great, the children even know to go straight to the washroom to wash hands upon entering daycare or as my sons call it school. I am very happy to have my children there. You know when your child is happy when they are eager to tell you the fun things they did and learned. more

Our child has been at Irving Park Early Learning Center for more than one year now, and we are very happy with it. We had our child in another school before, but because I switched job and I had to be in the city, we decided to move our child in another school. more

We have been sending our son in this school since he was a baby. He is in the pre-school program now. more

My child has been enrolled at IPELC for almost two years and she couldn't be happier. And that is what I find to be most important. Every morning we get up and the first thing she asks me, ""when are we going to school?"". This tells me that even though there may be little things that I'd do differently, she loves her teachers, her friends, and her school. more

My husband and I had our child, an infant, enrolled in the day care program here but really should have kept looking for other options. I can't speak for their toddler programs, so you're on your own there. We should have known something wasn't right with this school when our child's application and deposit payment for enrollment went missing. It should have tipped us off that they aren't very organized at this day care facility. At the time of our first tour of the facility, we were told by the director that she would like us to spend time with our child at the start of the day care program to get to know the teachers and help our child ease into the new surroundings. I made sure to clear my calendar for our first week of day care to spend time at the facility, but when I went in for our first day I ended up filling out a bunch of paperwork with my child in a tiny little office and being sent on our way. No orientation was given. No getting to know the teachers and the day to day operations of the infant classroom. Nothing. They failed to properly interpret our child's signs of being tired, hungry, bored, and/or wet/soiled. For example, we received bottles of untouched formula back when our child should have eaten everything we provided to them for the day. They didn't pay attention to when we told them our child needed feedings or naps upon being dropped off in the morning. Almost every day for five weeks we would receive an extremely soiled outfit upon picking our child up from the facility. We were told our child cried too often throughout the day, and once I was even scolded for my child's unhappiness by one of the teachers. We feel that our child's temperament at the facility was brought upon by their own inability to properly interpret the needs of a child. Our general feeling is that the teachers have good intentions, but are unable to care for an infant who requires more than a minimal amount of attention. It appeared to us that they tried to put all infants on the same schedule to make things run more smoothly in the classroom, when it actually created a more difficult situation for themselves and the children they cared for. We feel as though if they paid better attention to our child and our instructions, things would have been much more positive for all parties involved. The director needs to improve upon the frequency of communication with parents about concerns she has with children enrolled in her school. One phone call is not enough. After leaving this day care facility, we have placed our child in a new school where the quality of care goes above and beyond what we experienced at the Early Learning Center. Pros: Age range of students, hours of operations Cons: Lack of communication, patience, and understanding more

Full disclosure: this was our first childcare experience. Our child was cared for by stay-at-home mother for first 11 months of life. And we never discussed these issues with the director, so center never had chance to correct issues (but we didn't trust they would, which is why we stayed quiet). Pros: Reasonable price, nice facilities, morning staff was good. Cons: Afternoon toddler ignored our child, was not trustworthy. more

Just visited the school and the owner is impossible. She treats parents like children and only cares about money. She has no interest in the child or the child's interactions with the parent. STAY away, there are a couple good schools nearby that are much better. I think the one across the street that takes only infants and toddlers is a much better place for the area. Cons: Owner is horrible and uncaring more

Ok; so we enrolled our daughter there and being new to the whole daycare scene, we wanted to spend time at the center...not welcomed! We wanted to participate in parent meetings --input given, but not welcomed and definitely no follow up. Pros: Good location Cons: No support; watch out for administrators more

My husband and I are so impressed with this facility! Irving Park Early Learning Center (IPELC) is a perfect place for children. In response to the negative remark regarding the center, I find it hard to beleive. The administration seems to follow all of the rules which can be annoying for some but why would you want your child in a facility that isn't on top of everything? (i.e. security, paperwork, health records, ect). The staff feels like an extension of my family with thier warm hearts and enthusiast attitudes, I highy recommend it! Pros: everythhing Cons: nothing more

We brought our preschooler and toddler here for one week. The preschool teacher was a clam: not energetic, not happy, not outgoing - I couldn't believe she was a preschool teacher. I was hoping my first impression was incorrect. Pros: The 2-3 teacher seemed to be a great enegergetic person and the infant care-givers Cons: Preschool room and Toddler not recommended. more