Children's Nest Day School - Preschool in South Tampa (Hyde Park)

Absolutely! The best daycare ever! The caring staff creates a nurturing environment where my kids thrive. Engaging activities, a focus on learning, and a strong sense of safety make it the ideal place for little ones. I couldn't be happier with the excellent care they provide!

As a parent I would like to congratulate Mrs Patricia as the new director here, my child tells me of all the fun they have here. I would like to point out this school does not tolerate misbehavior and the environment is kept child appropriate. My child, a schooler, brought to my attention a boy would say inappropriate things and make rude comments to the teachers such as "what are you looking at" or " ha ha I'm eating a weiner, look" I brought it to the directors attention and asked how old this child was to be making inuendos, she assured me she was actively working on this issue. That child is no longer there now. I have seen a great change in this school from its previous director, my child is given respect & love with a splash of education. This is a day SCHOOL, for those that want ur school age child to just fade in the background and not be given individual attention and run around all day outside to get tired this is not the school for you. My child is happy here, don't believe the disgruntled reviews.

Update: since my last review, there have been many changes at the school including staff members and its director, Ms. Patricia.

I cannot say enough nice things about Ms. Patricia and how she has turned the school around for the better. Her leadership has improved the school tremendously and her approach is informative, caring, and very conscientious. She truly cares about of all of the children and parents that attend. She has been a wonderful addition that was much needed.

The entire staff has and continues to make my child feel loved and welcome every day, I want to thank everyone including Ms. Linda, Ms. Carmen (ones), Ms. Carmen (twos), Ms. Jordana, Ms. Wanda, and Ms. Snow for all that you do.apologies to anyone I may have missed. You are all so appreciated!

We have attended Children’s Nest going on 3 years and we love it! They have become like family to us and care for our daughter like their own. I can’t praise the staff enough for their dedication to the children! They create a welcoming and fun environment for learning. My daughter has grown and excelled during her time there. I couldn’t be happier knowing my child is in safe and nurturing hands each day.

I absolutely love Children's Nest of Hyde Park. I come from a family of educators. My mother has owned a daycare center for over 25 years and we also have a private school. After moving to Tampa, I was so hesitant to put my son in a VPK program as he had always been at our family's daycare center. His father and I even contemplated allowing him to stay in our hometown so that he could continue at my mother's daycare center but we didn't want to separate him from our older son. Luckily, we found Children's Nest. I love the staff there. I mostly interact with Ms. Patricia, Ms. Wanda, and my sons teacher, Ms. Linda. They're so warm and inviting. Most importantly, my child loves it there. I have read the other reviews and being in this field, opinions are overtly subjective. If you really want to know how something will fit into your life, try it for yourself.

VPK teacher Mrs. Linda is unfit to work with young kids, which is why we removed our daughter from that negative environment. Our daughter was scared of her. Our daughter who never has accidents was left twice in one week in wet pee clothing until pickup, Mrs. Linda had no legitimate explanation for what happened or why she was not changed into her extra clothes and left wet for up to 3 hours. Mrs. Linda didn't really care either. In one month we learned that this teacher lacks patience, compassion, and overall respect for children. From what she expressed herself in a discussion she sees younger children as less, old fashioned thinking of children being seen and not heard. She runs her classroom as if it were middle school aged, these kids are 4-5 years old some just turning 4 they need a caring person to encourage them in their learning journey! Children are spoken down to and there is zero encouragement or compassion for young kiddos. We witnessed ourselves her scolding/ belittling kids during pickup or drop off. Please if you have a gut feeling don't leave your children in her care. Also my daughter has not had an accident since, this was never an issue and honestly its neglect and abuse. Don’t ignore all the negative reviews with all the positive ones parents were asked to leave here. Most were not because they felt the need to share but rather asked to help raise their poor ratings.

I will start out by saying that I am a current employee of Children's Nest Hyde Park. As an employee, I hope to provide truthful and insightful feedback as to how this school and its programming function. I have worked as a teacher for the past eight years and believe that sharing my experiences may help a family provide their child with the most fitting education. In my opinion, Children’s Nest Hyde Park is a wonderful school. The students and teachers are so loving and it is a true family setting. The teachers have an awesome rapport and are constantly working together for the betterment of each child. Each room is a stepping stone to the next, all in preparation for a successful future. It is so imperative for growth and development to have such great cohesion. The goal is to nurture and educate each child to their full potential. The curriculum is engaging, fun, and thought provoking and each child is encouraged to learn at their own pace. There is a multitude of extracurriculars for the children to engage in, such as soccer, dance, tumbling and weekly activities/events. The director, Ms. Patricia, is an absolute wonder to work for and with. She cares deeply for the children and teachers alike. Her kind and professional demeanor makes for a great structure to the school. I would most definitely send my children here and truly enjoy working here!

I cannot say enough positive things about Children’s Nest Hyde Park. The care and attention provided is exceptional, and it truly felt like a second home for my little one.

The staff is incredible! Ms. Patricia, Ms. Jordana, and the whole staff are so kind and nurturing. They made us feel like family and I was so comfortable leaving my daughter with such loving and caring people. I felt confident my daughter was safe and well taken care of.

My daughter has grown and learned so much during her time here. She loved going to daycare to see her friends and teachers. She was always so excited to tell me about her day and how much she loves Ms. Jordana!

Communication was fantastic. Ms. Patricia has changed this daycare for the better. I was kept informed about activities, milestones, and any concerns.

I can’t recommend this daycare enough!

My three girls have been attending this school since the start of the summer, and so far we've had a great experience with the school. Ms. Patricia (the director), Ms. Jordana, Ms. Wanda, Ms. Linda, Ms. Snow, and Ms. Monica are the teachers most responsible for watching my kids, and my girls love them. I also love how many field trips they take the kids on; it helps keep them engaged and makes sure they're enjoying their summer. A+ school!

When we moved here one year ago, we did not really know anyone in the area and had not yet decided where we were going to enroll him.   I had initially considered a different Children’s Nest location, but then switched to Hyde Park location. I was nervous and uncertain being new to Tampa. Children’s Nest ended up being a very unexpected blessing.

Watching our son grow and develop learning and social skills along the way has been a joy. He is always happy to go to school, which also makes me happy. He has loved his teachers—Mrs. Patricia, Mrs. Linda, and Mrs Wanda. Because of that positive, loving trusting bond that he developed with them learning has been fun and easy for him.   They helped to identify some of his weaknesses and suggested things to do at home to help him specifically in these areas. As a result, his VPK testing scores were great! He takes great pride in the work he brings home to share with us as well as the homework and learning tasks he needs to do. These ladies have certainly made learning fun, which has produced many positive results.

When Mrs, Patricia took over as director, she did a wonderful job communicating with parents, especially when it came to daily events, field trips, and upcoming events. I always felt prepared. I also think the teacher/student ratio of 1 to 10 has been beneficial to my son's learning, and level of confidence. He also enjoyed the weekly extracurriculars that were made available to us including soccer and tumble bugs.

As we prepare to leave the Tampa area, we will sincerely miss Children’s Nest, the wonderful teachers, and friends that we made. I would recommend this learning facility to anyone looking for a group of genuine caring and loving teachers, who will also challenge your child to learn and grow educationally and socially.

I had a really bad experience with this place, specially with the director. My daughter is under the school readiness program and I wanted her to start here, since may I talked to this lady and every time I was there she said that she had spot for my daughter even when I filled out the paperwork, finally when the school readiness approved the transfer, they were waiting for her approval and last minute she said that she didn’t have any space for my daughter. She wasted my time now is even harder to find a place that has space and accepts the school readiness program and I don’t know if I have to stop working because I can’t find a place that can help me to take care of my daughter. This place is very unprofessional and they only care about money

I have now sent two of my children here, and they have both had a loving and nurturing experience. Specifically with my younger one that is now in the 1’s class, we tried another local daycare that was newer and supposedly the “latest and greatest” and had a terrible experience. I called the Children’s Nest director at the time that had cared for my older one from the 1’s class all the way through VPK, Ms. Wallie, and told her the situation. Thankfully, they had an opening coming up in the 1’s group as someone was turning 2 and moving up. Within one week in this class my baby was doing light years better. He was nurtured and loved and stopped crying at drop off within a week (after 5 weeks at the other school he was still screaming every day at drop off). They do art, learning letters and numbers, and outdoor activities. I also love that the ones class has 5-6 kids to one teacher vs other schools that pack 12 toddlers in with 2 teachers. Even though the ratio is the same, the smaller class is so much better.

Mrs. Patricia is amazing along with the rest of the staff. My son did VPK here last year and attends their after school program this year for K. My son loves it here!

Not capable of handling a child with any emotional needs. My tiny 4 year old was kicked out after 2 weeks for having emotional regulation issues, later diagnosed with ADHD. No communication, just a phone call one day telling me to pick him up. Found another VPK a week later and he thrived. This place lacks compassion and common decency. My son came home saying “shut up” in Spanish and stated he was locked in the tiny front office room in time out. They claimed he was lying and they would never put a child in a time out… having a hard time believing that!