r/nolaparents • • Jan 13 '26

Child care šŸ‘Øā€šŸ‘©ā€šŸ‘¦ā€šŸ‘¦ 2026 Daycare / Early Learning Good / Bad List

29 Upvotes

Similar to the GOOD / BAD Landlord list, here is our yearly list for ELC's / Daycares. Please follow the rules and guidelines below.

2024 list link

Only post a review if your child has gone there. Let's not get into the "heard it from a friend" type of stuff. We want ONLY first-hand reviews. Alos, if you're a former employee of a place and want to trash your former place of employment, please don't put that in here. Please stick to the format of the post and if you have issues with a place that goes beyond this format, make an entire new post about it.

Please give a reason for your review. A one sentence review just saying a place sucks won't cut it. We want our local parents to be well-informed and trying to make a decision for your kid based off of 5 words isn't cool.

You don't have to be super specific as you and your kids privacy is paramount. Try to give details without giving away too much personal info.

Please try to include what you are paying monthly, if the place accepts any kind of subsidy and if it includes other cost things like free lunch, parking etc.

Post the location and preferably a link to the place.

What are some good things about the place. What are some bad things? It's very rare that a place is 100% shit or 100% amazing.

Are they accepting new kids? Is there a waitlist? If so, how long did you wait?

Teacher to student ratio. Include amount of kids in a class if possible.

Religious or non-religious.


r/nolaparents • • Jan 13 '26

Child care šŸ‘Øā€šŸ‘©ā€šŸ‘¦ā€šŸ‘¦ 2026 Summer Camp - Good / Bad list

20 Upvotes

It's getting to that time of the year where we need to start looking for summer camps for our little tricycle motors. There are a bunch of lists out there, but they don't seem exhaustive enough. I wanted to create this thread to help give us a one-stop-shop of places to send our kids to summer camp.

In your comment, please post the:

  • Name

  • Location - Especially if a place has multiple locations like KidCam

  • Website

  • Cost

  • Hours

  • Your personal feedback

I'd like to get as many places listed as possible with as much solid information as possible. Please also check the comments already made in this thread to see if a place was listed or not. If it was listed, just reply to that comment with more information.


r/nolaparents • • 14h ago

Stuart Hall

2 Upvotes

It’s time to start thinking about schools for us. Anybody have experience applying to Stuart Hall? I hear it is tough to get your kid in. What about Christian Brothers and Holy Cross?


r/nolaparents • • 2d ago

Babysitting help

4 Upvotes

Hey y'all!

My wife will be going out of town on a much deserved girls trip in November. The job I'm on now will be switching to 7/12's a bit before her departure. Family that is in town will also be out of town on a separate trip. I was hoping to find some suggestions or recommendations for a sitter on a Saturday and Sunday to not habe to miss out on work.

Thanks for any info and your time!


r/nolaparents • • 3d ago

3 year old birthday party

2 Upvotes

pros and cons of these places: luv 2 play, kids castle, nola playground, surge entertainment


r/nolaparents • • 7d ago

Where do NOLA parents find dyslexia therapists?

5 Upvotes

Hi! I’m a Licensed Dyslexia Therapist and CALT (Certified Academic Language Therapist). I provide structured, explicit reading intervention for students with dyslexia and other reading difficulties, and I also work with students who have dysgraphia and need support with spelling and written expression.

I recently moved back to the New Orleans area after being away for quite a few years, and I’d like to pick up a few private clients. In the past, I’ve always gotten clients through word of mouth, and I definitely underestimated how challenging it would be to start over in an area where I no longer have an established network.

Does anyone know where parents typically look for dyslexia therapists here, or of any schools, parent groups, tutoring centers, or other places that may allow therapists to advertise or provide services?

I’m not looking to build a huge tutoring business, just hoping to connect with a few families who are looking for specialized dyslexia or dysgraphia support.

Thanks for any suggestions!


r/nolaparents • • 9d ago

Potential Nannying Job

9 Upvotes

Hi! I’m 25 years old and just moved to the area from Starkville, MS. I currently live in Uptown. I am looking for a consistent nannying job, or tips/tricks on where to find legitimate options. I have my bachelor’s in elementary education from MSU, but certified for grades k-12. I taught 3rd grade for 2 years and currently teach 1st grade. I also have experience babysitting (infants too!) and am CPR certified. I love working with children but I’m looking to transition out of the classroom! If anyone has any insight or advice, please feel free to share!! Thanks so much.


r/nolaparents • • 9d ago

Question about lottery application

5 Upvotes

I looked through the subreddit and didn’t see a related post but if there is one, please let me know and I’ll delete this one!

Is there any advantage to applying to the NCAP Main Round as soon as it opens November 2? My child will be going to kindergarten next year and we have a two schools in particular in mind, but one of them doesn’t even offer any tours until after the app is open. Doing more research tonight and I’m seeing quite a few schools don’t have tours until after November 2, so I feel like then it doesn’t affect your placement, but then I didn’t know if maybe you could modify your application to change your ranking before it closes in January.

Anyway, experienced parents / public school educators on this subreddit, does applying earlier in the process increase/affect your chances of getting a school, or do you just need to apply by January 22?


r/nolaparents • • 10d ago

Newman/ St. George’s

6 Upvotes

Hi! Has anyone had kids at both Newman and St. George’s? I’d love to hear comparisons, based on your experiences. I’m interested in how students treat each other, whether families are inclusive, academics, and whatever else you think is relevant (that you wouldn’t hear on a tour or see on a website). Right now, I know more about St. George’s (and it’s all very positive!) Thank you!


r/nolaparents • • 10d ago

ISO activities for young kids in Uptown and recommendations for meeting other SAHMs

3 Upvotes

Hi there! My husband and I moved to Uptown at the end of August. We have two daughters (our oldest is 2.5 and youngest is about to be 1)!

We love New Orleans so far and especially Uptown, but I have had trouble finding activities for both my kids. I take them to the zoo very often as we have a membership and it’s easy to walk with them, but am in search of other activities.

I would also welcome any advice on how to meet other moms in the area with young kids! Since we have two and their naps don’t align, I am at home a lot until the afternoon so we haven’t been able to do the mom walks or morning events.

Any advice or guidance would be greatly appreciated!


r/nolaparents • • 11d ago

Parental information šŸ‘©šŸ‘ØšŸƒā€ā™‚ļøšŸƒā€ā™€ļø Action Needed RE: EARLYSTEPS

Thumbnail
2 Upvotes

r/nolaparents • • 12d ago

McGehee Question

9 Upvotes

I had a wonderful experience attending an all-girls school in another state, and I’m interested in McGehee for my daughter. (She is in kindergarten.)
It seems like the class sizes are much bigger in lower grades than they are once girls get to high school. I’d love to hear any context about this. It seems like a good number of girls leave. Any input on why, where they go, etc? (Or, if I’m wrong about this, I’m ready to learn.) Thank you!


r/nolaparents • • 12d ago

Audobon Zoo Birthday party??

5 Upvotes

Has anyone had a birthday party for their toddler at the Audubon Zoo recently? Apart from the cake room, what all happens during the 2 hours? How did it go? Just looking for some more info!


r/nolaparents • • 13d ago

Education 🧮 Children's Resource Center reopens as early literacy hub after year-long renovation

Thumbnail
veritenews.org
22 Upvotes

The new Children’s Resource Center is meant to offer a more hands-on experience, said Morgan Hanrahan, the center’s manager and the head of early literacy at the New Orleans Public Library.

Before the renovation, the center looked like a regular library branch that featured books geared toward children, Hanrahan said. Now, there are fewer stacks and more play areas. That’s to curate it to the needs of children aged five and under, and to reinforce the five facets of early literacy: reading, playing, talking, singing and writing, Hanrahan said.Ā She hopes the building will be ā€œvery loud,ā€ unlike a traditional library.Ā 

Last year, the 118-year-old building on Napoleon and Magazine closed for renovations, which cost a little more than $700,000, giving the library time to transform the space. It reopened on Tuesday, and a formal ribbon-cutting and opening ceremony is scheduled for Saturday morning.


r/nolaparents • • 16d ago

Education 🧮 New community arts center to open in New Orleans’ 7th Ward

Thumbnail
veritenews.org
20 Upvotes

The Black Schoolhouse, located at 1660 N. Roman St., is soon to be the home of The Black School, a nonprofit organization that provides arts education for teens and young adults and is geared toward community organizing.

Founded by Joseph Cuillier and Shani Peters Cuillier, the 10-year-old organization was launched in New York City and for the past five years operated out of Xavier University. With the new community arts center, the founders plan to expand its youth arts programming and join in on the artist-led activism they see in New Orleans.

ā€œIt makes perfect sense to house a new model of a Black art school in this city, in this culture amongst all of this tradition,ā€ Peters Cuillier said.

The Black School will celebrate the arts center’s opening on Oct. 10.


r/nolaparents • • 17d ago

ISO Nanny Share (Uptown) Starting April 2027 (any interest/ideas/advice welcome)

5 Upvotes

Looking for a nanny share, either existing group or to start one, in the uptown area starting in April 2027 (can start then or join an existing share at that time). My baby will be 5 mos in April 2027, but any ages +/- will work. Curious if anyone has had a positive nanny share experience and how you went about finding both nanny & family to share.

Other: I'm WFH but happy to have the nanny share in my home or part time switching off. We live in Uptown/East Riverside area.


r/nolaparents • • 21d ago

willow middle school advice

0 Upvotes

I hope this is the right place for this. I have two kiddos in willow elementary (nola) and we are for the most part very satisfied. My oldest is going to middle school next year and we have heard "uneven" things about the teachers there. Apparently there are a handful of really great teachers there and a handful that are not great. can anyone confirm or deny this? who are some of the teachers i should be trying to build a relationship with already? I've only really had a problem with one teacher in the past and it was quickly resolved with a heart-to-heart meeting...


r/nolaparents • • 22d ago

Bringing older kiddos to the new children’s resource library

11 Upvotes

This makes me sad to even be worried about it but I’m interested in other parents opinions! Would it be frowned upon now to bring elementary aged kids along with their younger siblings?

The children’s resource center was our closest neighborhood library. My kids are 3 and 6 and there was always enough activities and a great range of books for both ages pre-closure. Now everything I see about it says ā€œspecifically designed for toddlers and preKā€.

Both kids keep asking when we can go back to the library. I know my prek kid is going to freakin love the new set up … but my 6yo also loves to play with that kind of stuff too. It seems like they have a very small selection of books for older children?

Maybe I’m completely overthinking this. I’m just sad to lose our walkable libraryšŸ’”


r/nolaparents • • 22d ago

Education 🧮 Pre-K 4 into Kindergarten

8 Upvotes

Good morning! As my child gets closer to 4, I’m starting to think about Pre-K 4 options. I’m still pretty unfamiliar with the One App process, so I’m wondering if anyone has experience with getting their child into a Pre-K 4 program at one school and then transferring to a different school for kindergarten.

Ideally, we’d like to get her into a Pre-K program (and stop paying $$$ for day-care), and then apply for kindergarten at the school that’s closer to our home and more aligned with the educational style we’re looking for.

My concern is that once she’s enrolled somewhere for Pre-K 4, the system/school might make it difficult to move her elsewhere for kindergarten—or that we’d somehow be given less priority to move to a more "competitive" school. If that’s the case, we’d probably just keep her in her current daycare and wait until she’s 5 to make the switch.

Has anyone navigated this before? I’d appreciate any insight!


r/nolaparents • • 24d ago

Uber Teen in New Orleans

Thumbnail
2 Upvotes

r/nolaparents • • 26d ago

Questionā“ ā€œKids Sat Freeā€

6 Upvotes

I know when I was growing up there were a handful of places that had something like ā€œkids eat free tuesdaysā€ or similar. Does that sort of thing exist? Anyone know a spot in town?


r/nolaparents • • 27d ago

Day Program for Neurodivergent Children

Thumbnail
gallery
10 Upvotes

Howdy, I am a behavior tech for a small local ABA company that often works in schools. A lot of our staff is also neurodivergent and we have found that schools can often struggle to meet the needs of our clients, for a number of reasons. So we wanted to start a program that better met the needs of autistic students, with evidence-based strategies and an emphasis on lifeskills programming. I'm not sure if this is exactly the right thread to share this in but I know there's a lot of questions about schools here so I figured it might be a helpful resource for anyone trying to find a program that is the right fit for their child! There are a few upcoming virtual info sessions for anyone interested in learning more, you can reach out via email to my company director, Rebekah@crescentbloomconsulting.com.

We also have a free, virtual parent support group for parents and caregivers of neurodivergent children to meet and discuss relevant topics. Our next meeting for this group is September 28th at 5pm on zoom, and the group will be discussing Caregiver Burnout with a BCBA.


r/nolaparents • • 28d ago

Education choices

2 Upvotes

Hello everyone,

Quick background my family needs to move into a larger home and we have toddlers not yet in school.

We are torn between moving to the northshore into Mandeville High district, West Bank Belle Chasse High district, or Orleans for The Willow.

It feels like a very difficult choice. My question is seeing as all three of these schools are highly regarded in public school academics is there truly a wrong choice? Each area has pros and cons based on what we are looking for and want.

Any insight or opinions would be appreciated.


r/nolaparents • • 28d ago

Animal neglect and abuse at Kinder Haus Montessori in Mandeville (TW: animal neglect and abuse)

Thumbnail gallery
1 Upvotes

r/nolaparents • • 29d ago

Park Birthday for 4 year-old

5 Upvotes

Thinking about having a birthday party for my 4 year old at Danneel Park or a small park/playground in our neighborhood. Is there some sort of permit or department to contact to have a set up at Danneel? Other playgrounds? Any other info on park birthday parties/best way to plan one would be helpful!