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May 2023 by Nichole X.
We left Sonnets Academy about one month ago, but my hands were still trembling as I am typing this review because of our terrible experience when the director Brianne gaslighted our 2.5 year old child and our entire family. During our tour, we told Brianne our kid needs to self-regulate when he is really upset or throwing a tantrum; however, they won't listen. It took them more than a whole week to realize what we told them was the best approach.On day 2, Brianne told us we need to do an OT evaluation and diagnostic evaluation because our kid needs to see snacks before he understand it's time to eat and he grabs a friend's wrist to take a toy. That friend wasn't hurt and we didn't receive any incident report. We asked for a video footage, but received no response. The Monday after day light savings (about 2 weeks in this daycare), our kid had a big fuss being dropped off. We were told he cried for an hour, which never happened in his life before. We were told the teacher couldn't really leave him alone despite the fact that they knew that's the best way. Because of this episode, Brianne pushed again for diagnostic evaluation and said our kid should go to therapeutic daycare. As far as I know, she is not a licensed clinician and all the behaviors she mentioned weren't supported by video footage. My kid is a sweet child in teachers' bi-weekly update, but Brianne accused a 2.5 year old being a safety concern to teachers. Another unbelievable thing is that Sonnets made parents' communications with teachers extremely inconvenient. Parents can see the teacher for 2 seconds during the morning drop off, and only before 8:30 am. All pick-ups are done by the admins and kids meet parents in the lobby. Teachers can't respond to parents' messages directly via the app. The only way to talk to the teacher is through arranging a meeting. Sonnets is very inflexible - Brianne doesn't want to work with parents or therapists to meet the needs of kids, but wants the kids to meet their rigid rules. If your kid doesn't "fit in their box" or there's any sign that your kid needs "more work" from the teacher, which is probably what Brianne uses her claimed therapeutic background for, Sonnets will make you suffer. We relocated a few months ago and started Sonnets, a new daycare for our kid. All those transitions can be hard on a 2.5 year old. Instead of helping the child adjust to his new life, Sonnets is blaming everything on our family. It's hard to believe there is a daycare that doesn't care for the kids at all, or at the minimum, do their job. Side note: our kid is now in another traditional daycare and is doing very well. He is happy and is adjusting very quickly to the new routines. I'm very glad we left Sonnet and hope another child won't have to go through this.
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July 2022 by Schantia Howard
I was a substitute at this school an had a altercation with a teacher named jasmine. Jasmine told me to leave her classroom or she would remove me herself, I was afraid that she would hit me in front of the children because she was so angry. About 3 weeks later I saw jasmine on the bus stop along with her boyfriend she approached me and asked if I wanted to fight. 2 mins later jasmine attacked me. I contacted the school they did nothing. Please beware of this employee she is angry & should not be working with kids..
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September 2021 by David Falkof
Incredible daycare with wonderful, caring staff. Our daughter has been going here for the past year, and we all are so happy about the experience. The space is beautiful and clean, the teachers are amazing, they take the kids out for walks to the zoo, and they are great at communicating with parents. Very happy with the choice to send our daughter to Sonnets!
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March 2021 by Brooke Sterling
Sonnets Academy in Lincoln Park is a wonderful work environment for committed, creative and positive early childhood educators! I have been teaching here for a year and a half and enjoy the motivated staff members, supportive administration team and friendly families that make up the Sonnets Academy community.
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February 2021 by Amanda Velasquez
As an early educator it can be hard to find a place where they value and allow opportunities for growth. Sonnets has helped me become a stronger educator and helped inspire my growth and passion for the infant development. I also learned that communication at Sonnets was important in all aspects in and out of the classroom.Sonnets is a very hands on facility. The management care about your concerns and growth as a teacher and shows by the communication they give you by taking their time to pop in to say how everything is going, an email or biweekly meetings. Also by making you feel comfortable enough to communicate your concerns in the classroom and or staff. I’ve grown tremendously as an educator and having the opportunity to learn more about all the work it takes to direct and manage a school. With that being said I have a bigger appreciation of all that is being done behind the scenes to manage a great early education facility. Sonnets families are wonderful and support what you do with their children and also greatly appreciate all the hard work put into it as a team.
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August 2020 by Marissa B.
Stop looking for a new daycare/preschool and call Sonnets Academy in Lincoln Park immediately. I said this before the global pandemic and I say it even more now after seeing how the school has adapted, evolved and taken every precaution to ensure the safety of the students, staff and parents. My now 3-year-old has been enrolled at Sonnets since he was 5 months old. We have never had an issue with the teachers, administrators, curriculum, menu, other kids/parents, etc. We were exceptionally happy with SALP and then Covid-19 came about. Administrators and staff adapted quickly to get Zoom calls up and running. Not one... but multiple a day if parents wanted. They coordinated virtual yoga and Spanish lessons and so much more. I should mention that this was all going on while the director Brianne was 8 months pregnant with her first baby and eventually on her maternity leave. She was always present and communicative with parents and always let us know that our children were front and center - despite being pregnant with her first! After 13 weeks at home, we decided to send our son back to SALP. I was nervous going to drop him off - even knowing all the protocols and guidelines that were in place for life during Covid-19 at daycare. Upon arrival to the school that day and to this very day, we must wait in line outside the school to be escorted in by an administrator in a full plastic gown, face mask and gloves. She then takes my temperature and my son's. Parents sign kids in with a clean pen... then discard it into a "dirty" pen bucket for sanitizing. There is plenty of hand sanitizer available and I've never once felt uncomfortable leaving my son at SALP in the day and age of Covid. Sonnets Academy Lincoln Park is a family. Brianne has gone to the utmost effort to make it that way and it shows in the staff and how happy the parents are. If you are reading this, I am sure that you are nervous to look for a new daycare in the midst of Covid. Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any other questions or concerns as a parent who knows exactly how you're feeling. We don't know where we'd be today with SALP! Contact:
[email protected]
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July 2020 by Natalie Wentworth
My children have attended Sonnets River North for the past 4 years (since they were infants) and we could not be happier with our experience. The LOVE the teachers have for our children has been a blessing. As a working parent, your children spend a lot of time at daycare, and it is so important for your children to have a balanced day and enjoy their time at school, both with activities and teachers. The teachers are professional yet friendly (and SO fun!), and thoughtfully taught our children to reach key developmental milestones, while having lots of fun with activities along the way. Other elements of Sonnets that we have loved include: classroom holiday parties with parents invited, Brightwheel app (like Facebook for daycare), convenient open hours, regular outdoor activities (walk, park), siblings in different classrooms can visit / spend time with each other, prompt replies from the staff questions, school-provided meals and snacks, field trips (older children), and endless adorable art projects to cover your fridge! Although not the cheapest childcare provider in the area, you get what you pay for, and that's a wonderful thing! We are so happy we found Sonnets years ago and are thankful that their community - teachers, staff, students, parents - has become part of our family!
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June 2020 by Christine Corso
Within a year and two months of working here, I saw 27 people quit. I eventually did the same after not being able to watch the way children were disciplined by teachers (toddlers have a difficult time staying seated, this doesn’t require grabbing them and forcefully placing them back into their chair) and because of the way I was treated by management. There are other centers in this city that will truly care for your children and where the staff are not being abused and gaslit on a daily basis by management.
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April 2019 by Stephanie B.
We started our daughter at 4 months at Sonnets in LP in the infant room and she is now 13 months old in the older infant room. Sonnets has been such an amazing place for our family. It is such a relief as a working mom to drop our daughter off at a place I know is taking fabulous care of her and pick her up happy, healthy, and full of excitement. The teachers are great, super loving and caring. They plan great activities and help the children learn, grow and develop. All the parents are very friendly, and while I am not actually friends with any (yet), it is great to have quick conversations with them in passing. The whole place truly has a great sense of community. The Director, Brianne, runs a tight ship which I really appreciate! The updates on Brightwheel are amazing and truly make my day at work. I would highly recommend this daycare and happy to reply to messages if anyone has any questions.
