Small World Schools-Noddin

It has been a very long time, but I used to attend Small World when I was very young. I absolutely loved it, and Miss Gloria was such a good role model/guide/mother-figure. I am lucky to have gone here and develop the skills I did and have as much fun as I had. I feel like if you have issues with how they handle the multitude of kids they do, then you should hire a private babysitter you can make the rules for.

I am compelled as well to write a review just because of the ONE negative review.
My daughter has been attending this place for 3 years now and this centre is awesome. As a working mom I am assured that my daughter is safe, finishing her school work and being nurtured socially and having fun as well.
All of the staff is so pleasant to talk to and also strict about the rules. This is what gives me the assurance that my kid is safe. I have talked to moms of kids in other districts and they cannot say anything like I do for this extended care centre. The structure and the rules make it a good learning environment.
I have a 5 year old as well and I do realise how difficult is to keep them occupied for long. They get distracted pretty easily and the activities (reading books) make them ready for the future classes.
I can vouch for this place anytime as an excellent extended care centre for the kids.

We have two daughters, one in third and one in first grade, both of them are attending Small World since kindergarten. We could not be more happy with this facility. The director is strict enough to keep the facility under control and this does not mean a restrictive, frightening and tyrannic atmosphere but on the contrary Miss Gloria and her staff enforce respect and discipline that are the only base for a productive, joyful and creative environment.
During quite time older kids (1^st to 5^th grade) are able to do their homework and they are followed by caring teachers, kindergarten ones read or somebody read to them and believe me they do not need to know the words to be able to spend half an hour in front of books. The rest of the time children are allow to play, create, listen to music, sometimes cook, do art and craft of every kind.
In four years we have never seen any teacher of Small World using their phone, chatting to each other or be disrespectful with any kid.
Our children love Small World, we love Small World. We are very glad that a fantastic school like Noddin can offer an after care program like this where our children can play, learn and grow safe and happy.

My child has been attending Small World School at Noddin full time (Mon-​Fri) continuously (during school year AND summers) since Kindergarten until now (4^th grade). I never heard a single complaint from him in all the days he’s attended with respect to Ms. Gloria or the teachers who work there. The only complaints related to SWS have to do with an occasional spat with some other kid on the playground for various reasons, but which kid hasn’t had a spat once in a while?! I would recommend SWS-​Noddin to any parent for child care during the school year or summer without hesitation.

I am also now compelled to write a review on Small World Schools as I would hate to see one bad review have a negative impact on such a wonderful after school program.
My daughter, who is now in 7^th grade, attended Small World Schools at Noddin from 2 weeks before kindergarten up until the 1^st day of 6^th grade. My son has also attended since kindergarten and happily has one more year of attending. Over the summer, my daughter would find all kinds of excuses to drop in and check in with Ms. Gloria and say hello. I have witnessed in my many years being a parent picking up my kids at Small World other kids in high school and even older coming in to say hello as well. It always adds to my level of gratefulness that my children are lucky enough to be part of an environment where there was such a positive impression that kids who have long since left are coming back to visit.
Both of my kids have always loved going to Small World. Yes, there is structure and there are rules, but that is complimented by a wealth of creativity, thinking, laughing and overall fun. If that wasn’t the case, I can’t imagine why my kids would both be so excited to get to Small World every day. I have dropped in at various times during the typical day — when the Legos are out everywhere, games are being played and art projects are being worked on… to just as awesome and important — the kids respectively putting the toys back in their place and helping Ms. Gloria keep the room tidy for the next day. It always amazes me how much pride my kids take in putting the books back in their place and have a huge smile on their face when Ms. Gloria tells them what a good job they did in doing so.
My kids have not always been perfect angels either. Through the years, they each have had their incidents that required a sit down discussion with Ms. Gloria. I respect the fact that she talks to both myself and my kids about the situation. She holds the kids accountable for their behavior and has them participate in the discussion on what they could have done differently… and you know what… my kids learn from that and still love Ms. Gloria… and again tomorrow morning I will be hearing my son telling me to hurry up and get ready so he can go to Small World before school starts.
As a full-​time working Mom, it is a huge comfort in knowing my kids are in a safe, fun and learning environment before and after school. I would stand behind Small World in a heartbeat to anyone who asked!

I had heard that there was a negative review posted about Small World and I was curious to see what was said. I was so shocked by the review that I felt compelled to write an accurate review of my own.
I am in the slightly unusual position of having one child that is currently enrolled at Noddin as well as a high school senior that completed all of his elementary education with Ms. Gloria at Small World. My oldest likes to pick up his little sister so he can check in with Ms. Gloria. When he travels, he always hunts for rocks to bring to Ms. Gloria for her collection.
The Small World program allows for lots of play time, outdoor time, homework time and individual attention. There are even monthly and weekly themes — –space, animals, other cultures, etc. Along with learning life lessons, the children are exposed to art, music and creative play. We adore Ms. Gloria and consider her, and the rest of the staff to be our extended family. They know and understand each child in their care.
As a single, working mother, my children have long days away from home. Both have considered Small World a safe and loving second home. My selection of Noddin as the elementary school for my daughter, hinged on whether Ms. Gloria was still the director of Small World. From what I hear, word on the street is that you’d better enroll early if you expect to get a spot with Ms. G. at Small World.
I just asked my little one what she thought about Small World and she said «They take really good care of me and I love them very, very much!».I think that says it all.

My daughter is enrolled at this aftercare center and was also enrolled full time last year. My husband and I are very pleased with this facility and the director and staff. As working parents, we constantly monitor to ensure that our daughter is happy and learning and safe, and have never found Small World Schools to disappoint.
I disagree with the prior reviewer who said that the kids cannot play together and they never play freely. Almost every day when I arrive to pick up my daughter, she is playing inside with friends or out on the playground with others, and usually resists leaving because she is interested in what she is doing and wants to keep playing. The same is true when a story is being read by one of the teachers — my daughter asks me if I’ll sit with her until she hears the end of the story before we leave to go home.
In response to the comment that the director has «major control issues,» I agree that Miss Gloria, the center director, is firmly in control. Personally, I appreciate that greatly. I don’t know any parents who would want their child to be at a center with a director who isn’t in control and respected. Miss Gloria truly loves kids and understands them, and I have never met anyone who I think could do a much better job of keeping 50 kids of varying ages safe and interested and ‘under control’ every day of the year. I think my daughter and the other kids benefit from the structure. Yes, there is quiet time and homework/​reading time. As a parent, I appreciate that! Trust me, though — they still have plenty of opportunity to act like kids and play freely.
If you’re a frequent « Unilocaler» or use any review site such as Unilocal or TripAdvisor or even read the product review on Amazon or similar sites, you know that people can have very different opinions about the exact same thing, even to the point that sometimes you wonder if they were discussing the identical place/​thing/​situation. I will be enrolling my younger daughter next year, and my older daughter will continue to attend this center unless it changes from its current operation.

I was motivated to write this review after reviewing the previous scathing one star posting about Small World School (SWS). I am so sorry that the reviewer had a negative experience — but note that if the review was posted in September, and school began the last week of August, and the reviewer is referring to her experience with her kindergartener, she can’t have more than one month of involvement with the school. I find it shocking that she has such harsh and pointed comments given that limited experience — and while I would never presume to discount her impressions, I think it is very important that a different perspective is also shared.
I have two children at Noddin, and both have been at SWS during various times. My youngest has been there consistently, several days per week, for the past two years. I consider myself a very conscientious parent, and did a lot of diligence before signing up at SWS. Part of that diligence was observing the teacher interaction in the classroom, and with the children, and another part was an extensive interview with the Director, Ms. Gloria. During this process, I learned a lot about SWS, its philosophy, and the teachers. Two years later, I can honestly say that the school has lived up to every expectation I had for the quality of education, care of the teachers, and positive and supportive environment for my children.
More directly, I’d like to address the comments about Ms. Gloria. In my initial interview with her, I found her to be serious and structured — but I asked her, point blank, whether she liked her job or just did it as something to do. Her surprised response was to query why I would ask — and when I told her, she smiled and told me that absolutely loved her job. From her perspective, the children thrive in a structured environment and her interaction with the kids is to treat them as valued people — not infants to be cooed. I was initially suspicious — but honestly, to see her interact with the children and she how they respond to her — I have learned something new. She is beloved by the kids, as she is beloved by my children — I have seen students from years past come back to visit, the kids in the class love on her, snuggle her at story time and follow her directions to please her. When my daughter lost a tooth — one of her first comments was that she couldn’t wait to tell Ms. Gloria — and when she told her, she was rewarded with a huge «Wow» and a hug! Ms. Gloria is like the perfect high school volleyball coach — riding the line between having the kids respect her and love her with mastery.
I am a huge fan of Noddin — the principal is exceptional, the teachers are energetic and committed, and the community is strong. I feel that the inclusion of SWS on the Noddin campus is a rare and privileged benefit for our entire school. It is well more than a day care — it is a loving, thought-​filled educational environment that my children relish. While I respect that people can have different impressions of the same organization, I would highly encourage you to do your own diligence and decide for yourself about the quality of this school. Talk to the teachers, to Ms. Gloria, or to any of the dozens and dozens of parents, like me, that consider SWS a critical part of their children’s educational experience.

I’m shocked there is not any reviews on this horrific place. Perhaps it is because parents still have to send there children there. I believe this school needs to be removed from such a wonderful school and replaced with a better daycare system. I was completely disappointed with the activities given to the younger children. My major issues were as follows:
The children were not allowed to play together (at least not with free-​play activities), there is an abundance amount of quiet time, there is NO bathroom located in the room so if your child has to go in an instant he/​she must wait until the bathroom break or a teacher groups a bunch of kids together to take them and even that might receive a lecture, and the director has major control issues. I really tried to like this place but from the beginning something always bothered me. Call it mother’s intuition, but I just feel that something isn’t right with this place. The toys are always in there place, kids are never laughing or playing freely, and almost always kids are at a table away from one another or on the carpet listening to a boring long story (basically a story to keep them in one place and quiet). When they told me my child has learning problems and listening issues (IN FRONT OF HER) that sealed the deal for me. Have they ever heard of Social Learning Theory (i.e. a self-​fulfilling prophecy)? IF you tell a child they are awful why would they believe anything else? My daughter went from loving school at Bright Horizons and NEVER EVER having one issue with behavior, to having nightmares and begging me not to send her to that awful place. I do not believe children lie and no matter when I dropped in on this place the kids were sitting stoically at a table. They said they were required to have quiet time for the older children to do homework, but if that is the case they should split the kids in groups and ONLY do this so called quiet time for the older children. My five year old was almost always at a table with a book when I picked her up (HELLO… she’s 5… she CAN’T READ yet). OMG I just want to shake this place. The young girls working there are no better than the director… They ignore the children and are constantly texting on there phones, and when they are not doing that they are being cold and hurtful to the children with their insults and favoritism. Case in point… Teacher gives directions to children, asks if they all heard her, and they all submissively nod and say yes, she then calls a child out and asks him to repeat her word for word on her instruction. WTF… HELLO are they serious. This place is damaging children and is abusing them emotionally. They are breaking down their self-​confidence and self-​esteem. They are making them feel horrible about themselves and they NEED to be shut down. And word on the street is not many parents like this place anyway. Lesson Learned: always trust your first impression. There is NOT one review anywhere on this daycare and I find that even more puzzling. Stars Given NEGATIVE 10
DON’T send your child here if you do not have to. The home daycares in the are look great and there are several places that drive to and from including daycare centers like (
, Peppertree School, Holy Cross Lutheran Church, etc.) There are other options please for the sake of your child look into them. This is not a grudge I have against the school I am simply a mom with a kindergartner who was excited about her new school and daycare and was tremendously let down.