Gateway Academy Child Development Centers

this is no longer a Gateway. the Gateway was shut down and it has since been bought by a private owner and has been remodeled, restaffed and is now known as Early Education Expeditions. Please disregard reviews for the Gateway that used to be at this same address as they are no longer valid. more

My daughter is now 2 1/2 years old and has been at Gateway for a couple of months. She has grown so much it is incredible. She loves her teachers, her vocabulary has doubled, she can count to 11 in English and Spanish, was potty trained in 2 weeks, and her very first week she wanted to know why she could not go to school on Saturday. She has blossomed so much and it is truly because of the fabulous staff, the amount of activities she does in a day, and a new sense of pride in all she does. She will sit and read through books on her own now, sings all the time, and cannot wait to show me her daily sheet so I can see how her day was and what she did, besides how excited she is to show me all of her projects.\r \r This was the best change we have ever made and my daughter is absolutely thriving!\r Pros: Happy, Energetic, Growing Child more

We enrolled our then 20 month old at Gateway in December of 2008 and have loved it from the first day. Every single staff member knows our son's name and always seems genuinely happy to see him or say hello/goodbye. The new directors are always available to visit with in person or on the phone, they communicate all center activities and notices in a timely manner and have always been very receptive to any question or idea we've had. We really like the monthly newsleter that goes out with the themes, activities and menus for the month. There is always something going on outside of regular classroom activities, such as visitors bringing in animals or reptiles for the kids to see, a magic man, hula dancers, even a guitar player! We really like how much our little guy has learned - both verbal skills and sign language and manners. He's not even 2 1/2 and has learned to count to 10, recognize shapes, colors and animals and play very well with others. All of this I think really speaks to how well he is cared for during the day. We've never felt anything but comfortable with him at Gateway and find that for the excellent care and education he receives there it is a great value. Pros: Great staff, great curriculum, awesome environment more

My child attended Gateway as an infant. We were drawn to Gateway by the claims of good educational development. After we enrolled, we were discouraged with the high staff turnover and the number of ""strangers"" (staff substitutes) who interacted with our child. The corporate website boasts intensive staff training, but I was unimpressed with staff knowledge of infant development or nutrition. The corporate website also boasts a detailed educational curriculum -- even for infants and toddlers -- but I never saw anything more than unstructured play. I visited the classroom at all hours of the day, so it was not just an issue of time of day. I was also upset by the limited food choices available for infants & toddlers. According the center Director, the corporate policy is that every child in the center receives the same cafeteria food. So even when my child was 9-months-old, they fed her lasagne, chili, casseroles, beans & wienies, and other foods that I would never feed an infant. (My child had a lot of digestive problems with this food.) Not even when I brought infant food for my child did the staff consistently respect my food preferences. Last, the play areas seemed dingy and crowded. Overall, I was displeased with our family's experiences. Cons: high staff turnover more