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September 2024 by Consuelo Varela
I came to FELCDC because of the reviews, and they’re not lying!! This place is AMAZING is my first experience in a daycare as a mom and I couldn’t be happier.
FELCDC has been such an amazing place for my daughter!!! This is such a friendly place.
Teachers and staff are great and my daughter goes everyday so happy to class. She’s been learning a lot.
She identifies with their teachers, she loves them, and this is something that as a mom it really brought me peace cause I know she’s in good hands.
There’s a lot of communication throughout the day, they make sure you know what are the activities your child is involved. I love this place, the building is well maintained and has everything adapted for kiddos. You can see that is completely safe; my daughter has never came back home with a scratch or something, staff is really caring with the kids, the director DR. Paulette she’s an amazing professional and is incredibly involved with the children.
I wouldn’t change my mind about FELCDC this is the best day care in Austin for sure !
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June 2024 by sig rydquist
Great daycare in Central Austin. Wonderful, caring staff put together a fun, enriching curriculum for the kids. The classrooms were recently renovated and my son raves about the lunches and snacks that are prepared in-house. He's learning so much from his teachers!
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January 2024 by Paulette Clemons
First English Lutheran CDC is a warm safe environment, top ratings, low ratio, caring, and inviting. We serve the whole families with children ages1y-4; where early learning, care, and nutrition take place. 2024 enrollment is ongoing, tell a friend and bring a friend.
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April 2023 by Caroline Fickett Newell
This school is such a gem! Amazing staff, low turn over with employees and low student-teacher ratios. We love that snacks and lunch are provided. The classroom environment is geared toward Montessori style teaching and focuses on social-emotional learning. Communication with parents has been fantastic! We’re so glad to be a part of this community!
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April 2023 by Maria McNicol
Best experience we’ve ever had with any childcare. Small classes, amazing teacher and staff. Their tuition includes a morning snack, lunch, and an afternoon snack. Its truly an amazing loving community and both our kids and us have gotten friends for life. Can’t recommend them enough, a true gem.
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April 2023 by Alicia Nieves
My husband and I feel fortunate to have found First English for our toddler. During our tours of local daycares, we were afraid we would have to choose between the cold, unhappy corporate daycare or join a long waitlist on a fancy Montessori style school. Instead, we discovered the warm and relaxed environment of First English. It's truly a hidden gem in Central Austin, with a staff that is deeply connected and attentive to their students.
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April 2023 by Caitlin Mangels
Both our children have attended First English since they were 18 months old (they're now 3.5y and 5y) and we couldn't be happier. The staff provides a caring, safe, supportive and educational environment for the children, with a bonus of prioritizing social-emotional learning and Montessori-esque methods. Our kids have been excited to go to school every day (huge win) and I'm so grateful not to have to pack a breakfast, lunch or snack because it's all offered by the school (and included in the tuition!). Highly recommend.
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April 2023 by Cecelia Cox
The school community at FLCDC is absolutely amazing. We moved to Austin a year ago and this school has helped our kiddos (and us!) feel more connected in the city. The teachers and director are thoughtful and incredibly focused on social-emotional learning. The snacks and meals are healthy and our kiddos love them. I feel super lucky we found this place. Highly, highly recommend.
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April 2023 by Steve Cox
Amazing teachers and staff; both my kids currently go here and love it; highly recommend
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April 2023 by Erin C.
There is no place like First English Lutheran Child Development Center. Our oldest son attended from 18 months until he started kindergarten. Seven years later when we were pregnant with his brother -- we reached out to secure his spot. The experience has been just as magical the second time around. LaQuetha is an incredible director, and many staff members and teachers have been there since our oldest attended. The communication, pictures and daily updates for parents through the daycare app keep us informed, and I wish I was lucky enough to eat the daily meals and snacks prepared by Chef Jennifer. Our son's social, emotional and academic development blows our minds, and when we arrive in the afternoons to pick him up he doesn't want to leave. The school puts on special events for parents on campus during holidays, and really goes above and beyond to help the families connect. I hope all parents find a place as special as First English.
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April 2023 by Caitlin M.
Both our children have attended First English since they were 18 months old (they're now 3.5y and 5y) and we couldn't be happier. The staff provides a caring, safe, supportive and educational environment for the children, with a bonus of prioritizing social-emotional learning and Montessori-esque methods. Our kids have been excited to go to school every day (huge win) and I'm so grateful not to have to pack a breakfast, lunch or snack because it's all offered by the school (and included in the tuition!). Highly recommend.
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July 2017 by Christa Coulston
A quality school, the kind where you can make it through the day without worrying about your little one(s), is not as easy find. And if you manage to find one, it seems impossible to get in. After two seriously disappointing attempts, in which my small child was injured both times (including coming home with over a hundred fire ant bites, with absolutely no word from anyone at the school), I found this place. A non-profit, with a goal not to make money off people, but to enrich and nourish children. I wish I would have found FELCDC sooner, for soo many reasons. Everything the previous schools were lacking, this place has covered. I know accidents and injuries happen. And I know if they happen at First English, it will be appropriately handled, and then promptly communicated. The communication at this school is phenomenal. They release a weekly school lesson, so you know what your child is working on. This is in addition to a daily bulletin informing parents what the class did each day, and which child napped. If you have a younger child, they also keep track of what your kids eat, soiled diapers ect...
They have extra-curricular programs (my daughter loved the tumbling and gymnastics classes!), are flexible with payment (can split into two payments), a huge shaded playground with so many different things to stimulate their minds and wear their little bodies out, a low student to teacher ratio with at least two teachers per class, a play-based curriculum that allows children to develop holistically through hands-on exploration and creativity, down to earth wonderful people (I made it a regular occurrence to go into the cafeteria and say good morning to their charismatic chef, Jennifer!)
They have low turnover for the industry (I haven't met a person yet I didn't think was qualified, or didn't have a shining personality), they allow your child to come in prior to their official start date to get used to the place, and they serve healthy scratch-made food made by a professional chef-every day!! My daughter thrived here. She loved the staff, her classmates, and just being there. At the previous schools, my daughter cried every morning during drop off. Here: she cried for me for 2 days during drop-off. And I love how the staff handled it. They comforted her, and soothed her, which was certainly not what occurred at the previous places (she was literally taken forcefully out of my arms at the first school she attended). She genuinely loves this place as much as I do. In fact, we still stop in just to say hello to everyone. They have classes for kids from 18 months to 5 years old. I wouldn't consider putting my child in pre-k elsewhere. By the time you pay for the tuition (unless your income qualifies you for free tuition), all the meals (that come included at FELCDC), childcare on the days the AISD is closed (think the entire Thanksgiving week!), and any after-school care you have to obtain (if you need childcare after 3:00), public pre-k isn't even a cost effective choice. Not to mention all the other things your child won't be getting (the more individualized attention, less restrictive environment, delicious healthy food, familiar faces, and endless opportunities for self-expression and creativity). I really am a huge fan of this place. It's made what it is by the beautiful hearts running the place.
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July 2016 by Tanya Sabharwal
My daughter has been going to FEL-CDC for about 1.5 years now and we absolutely love the place and our experience has been awesome. The director of the school Shannon Ball is a very friendly and welcoming lady & does a great job in hiring best teachers for the school. Both lead teachers and assistants teachers are very caring,loving and make kids feel almost at home and like a family.
My daughter has learnt a lot and acquired lot of skills since she started FEL be it art & crafts, language, literacy, math, social and communication. They also provide breakfast, lunch and snack and their on-site cook Jennifer really does a great job in preparing these meals.
School also offers good extracurricular activities such as music, tumbling, chapel and soccer.
Communication between teachers and parents is really good be it getting the update of your child's day from afternoon assistant when you pick up or regular email updates from lead teachers. Lead teachers set up good lesson plan for each week and sent to parents ahead. There are parent-teacher conferences every semester where in you get to know your child's overall development and goals ahead.
There is so much of a family environment where kids know most of other kids parents and vice versa and also there are family gatherings where parents get a chance to meet, talk and know each other.
FEL feels like an extended family! I am so glad I found FEL for my daughter and recommend it to anyone looking for a nice, friendly, stress-free learning place/preschool for their kid in downtown/UT area.
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July 2015 by Elizabeth Bangs
We have two children at FEL and we could not be happier. The director, Shannon, does a wonderful job of finding fantastic teachers, both the lead teachers and the afternoon assistants (who are often UT students). My kids both love going to school each day and adore the adults who care for them. They are also learning a ton -- language and literacy, math, social skills. They are going to be well equipped for elementary school. But the kids don't realize how much they're learning -- they think they're just having fun.
Communication is excellent. We get regular email updates from the lead teachers. Conferences are held regularly. The afternoon assistants are terrific about providing a full report at the end of the day.
The best aspect may be the family atmosphere. All the children know their classmates' parents. There are regular class gatherings where all the families get together outside school. The parents are friends as much as the children are! Because all the children eat breakfast and lunch together and play outside in two groups, they know virtually all of the other children.
FEL offers a number of extracurriculars -- music, soccer, tumbling, and chapel. All of those teachers are as incredible as the full time staff. Many students participate, but the teachers are great about making sure the kids who do not go to those classes don't feel left out.
FEL feels like an extension of our home and our family.
