Going to be moving right around yale & 23rd and need to find a daycare for our 18 month old... Wife works right off Allen pkwy & myself in the Westchase district.

Any recs? Also what are average prices around there for daycare?

The Kipling School
We have both of our kids there and love it. I would guess around $1300 for that age, and there is likely a wait list.

Thanks. I will call tomorrow. Preliminary move in date end of April/early May so have at least a little time.

Esperanza School is very popular in the Heights but pricey with a wait list. We tried to get our son in there but didn't sign up in time and ended up sending him to a daycare on Ella and 25th called Happy Times Academy for a lot less. Once we got the letter from Esperanza stating we could enroll our son we were happy enough with our daycare that we stayed. He was there until Preschool and our daughter is there now.

We're at Kipling too. The owner is a bit of a doozy, but she hires great teachers and there's little turnover. Our daughter has been there since she was 4 months old and we have been happy with it.
A heads up... The daycare closes for the full week for spring break and the last two weeks of the year for Christmas. Just something to think about when you are comparing cost to other daycares.
And last I heard, there's about a year wait for the infant class. It's crazy. We signed up before that location even opened (in June 2012) and our daughter got in April 2013.

don't have kids, but have a friend that signed up with kipling when they found out they were expecting (born thanksgiving 2013) and when i asked in july/august of 14 where they were on the list (b/c they were having #2 around 1/15) they were still number 70ish on the list

No kids but a new niece.

Just want to say good luck. They had to get on waiting lists once they found out they were pregnant.

Started at Esperanza then moved to the Gonzalez school once they were called off the waitlist.

We've used St Marks Methodist, it's been great.

Thanks everyone! I will start calling tomorrow to get an idea of wait times and to plan visits/tours. Hoping we can find something and not everything will have a 6+ month waiting list.

Trinity Lutheran at Washington and Houston has worked well for us.

I have a 5 month old in the infant class at kipling street academy in montrose.

wait list was about 10-11 months when we got on it. $1,350/mo.

there seems to be two tiers in upper middle class houston, about $800 and about $1,300.

Brother that's not upper middle. It's not ultra wealthy either but it's no where near middle anything.

i guess you are the authority on class semantics?

We are paying $1050 a month now in the burbs at a primrose. I wouldn't expect it to get any cheaper & was expecting the $1300-1500 range but dang $800 is a steal. Sounds like I'll be getting on multiple wait lists and taking first available, assuming we are comfortable sending our child there. Hoping to have a second so I guess I'll just go ahead and put our unborn, not yet conceived, child on the waiting lists as well.

no sheet??? we just bought a place on 23rd and bevis

we are looking into St. Rose of Lima Early Childhood Center


TUITION ANDFEES
Three & four years old
Mon. Fri. 9:00 3:00 $520/mo.
7:30 3:30 $690/mo.
7:00 6:00 $900/mo.
Mon.,Wed., Fri. 9:00 3:00 $335/mo.
7:30 3:30 $430/mo.
7:00 6:00 $590/mo.
Tues.,Thurs. 9:00 3:00 $240/mo.
7:30 3:30 $300/mo.
7:00 6:00 $400/mo.
Eighteen months old threeyears old
Mon. Fri., 9:00 3:00 $550/mo.
7:30 3:30 $730/mo.
7:00 6:00 $960/mo.
Mon.,Wed., Fri. 9:00 3:00 $350/mo.
7:30 3:30 $460/mo.
7:00 6:00 $650/mo.
Tues.,Thurs. 9:00 3:00 $250/mo.
7:30 3:30 $320/mo.
7:00 6:00 $450/mo.
Six weeks - eighteen monthsold
Mon. Fri., 9:00 3:00 $610/mo.
7:30 3:30 $820/mo.
7:00 6:00 $1,070/mo.
Mon.,Wed., Fri. 9:00 3:00 $380/mo.
7:30 3:30 $515/mo.
7:00 6:00 $700/mo.
Tues.,Thurs. 9:00 3:00 $270/mo.
7:30 3:30 $350/mo.
7:00 6:00 $480/mo.

I'd tell you where my wife and I plan to send ours but I don't want anyone else jumping on the waiting list. It is about ?1300-1400$ tho

Thanks everyone!

So far both Avalon & Kipling have 18 month waiting lists. Esperanza is going to submit my info to their admissions team and I should receive a call back within a day or so... I'm expecting 18+ month waiting list as well. Happy Times & Gonzalez didn't answer the phone so I will try again this afternoon. Three R's Montessori didn't answer either but I filled out a information request form on their website.

Going to try St. Marks (although I think they are only 4 days a week) & Trinity Lutheran this afternoon as well.

18 month waiting list is crazy!

Thanks. I will look into here as well. Tuition not bad either. We are going to be renting but have a pretty awesome spot lined up.. A family friend connection is giving us a pretty nice deal, so much that we are going to cancel our lease now (if we find a daycare) and live ITL style for a year or two before probably venturing back to the burbs when we decide to buy. With my wife just starting to work right off Allen pkwy this will be perfect.

We have 2 (1 infant, 1 toddler) at FBA and it's been great.

You might also check out Creme de la Creme downtown. I believe they were $1400/mo five years ago when we first looked and had no wait list (at the time).

Hopping on this board. Deciding between Kipling on Shepherd and Esperanza. Anyone speak to either based on experience? Both have a very different feel for infants.

Our almost 4 year old son has been in the St. Rose of Lima early childhood center for about 2.5 years, and will be staying there for pre-k in the fall. We had another baby a few weeks ago that will start ECC in the fall as well. It is by far the best combination of price and quality we found when looking around back then. We have been very happy with everything, and you can't beat the price.

We joined the church which shot us up the waiting list, but I think the list has gotten pretty crazy long lately like the other places mentioned. The ECC expanded pretty dramatically with new construction not long ago, but I don't think it is keeping up with the pace of new applicants. We are lucky again that new siblings of existing students get first dibs on spots.

I think one of the moms posted on facebook recently that virtually all the openings at ECC were being taken by sibling applicants recently.

Parish schools are always going to be cheaper than "for-profit" options.

Opening a daycare ITL seems like it would be a pretty solid business venture based on this thread.

18 MONTHS? So can one get on the waiting list at Kipling before baby even conceived?

Actually, yes. We had a friend who did that.

My niece and nephew were at Esperanza and are now at Kipling. Kipling is a bit better on the education side, if you can even call it that for toddlers.

It is really crazy but both schools follow the HISD school calendar. When HISD is out, both daycares are closed (except summer of course). It seems really stupid for them to be closed for spring break to me but what do I know.

yes, and ive told this to everyone who would listen.

Houston is very short on high end daycares. You would fill the enrollment before you even opened.

only problem is, you are then in the daycare business. no thanks. solution is then to sell- so then what do you do?

Not sure how they are for infants but we've had our 4 and 2 year old at Immanuel Luthern at 14th and Cortlandt for a while and are very pleased.

Ya we may end up enrolling her at Immanuel but we also are planning on getting pregnant as soon as possible so need to find a place that will accept infants but we have 12-15 months to worry about that. We really liked Immanuel and it is super close to where we will be living.

Update:

We found out about a week after we were set on moving into the Heights that my wife is preggers with #2 & ultimately have decided to stay put & look to buy this fall. We didn't want to worry about renting for another year or two, moving a couple times, figuring out daycares, & being further away from my in-laws & lots of other family friends who are great help when we need a last minute babysitter!

We were going to start our daughter in June at Immanuel Lutheran but will not be anymore. If anyone is looking, they may have an opening still (if not for June, for August possibly). The lady at the front who gave us our tour was very nice & the kids in the toddler room all looked like they were having a lot of fun & were happy. Price was $960/month if I recall correctly. All the parents we saw were young & had a way different vibe from our suburban Primrose (a good vibe) daycare. Overall we would have been very comfortable sending our daughter there.

Gonzalez school also thought they would have some openings for this January & they charged a flat fee of $925 for all ages (which included meals prepared on site). So for anyone else interested that would be a good one to tour & get on the list immediately. Immaunel did not provide meals, fwiw.

Thanks everyone for the help.

One clarification on ILS.... I think the 960 is for all five days. They have 2 and 3 packages as well (we do 3). Also, in the summer I think you can do per diem. All in all, we are very happy with them.

Anybody using a nanny that has room for another baby and wants to split the cost? We have an 11-week-old and the daycare scene is out of control. Every place we call has a wait list a mile long.

saw that Goddard School is under construction at 23rd & shepherd and slated to open up in the summer, we're going to visit the school this month.

i have seen that the goddard school has various locations throughout Houston & surrounding areas. while i understand that all of these are independently owned i still would like to see what your opinion based on experience is for pre K.

we'll do other research as well but doesnt hurt to have various sources of input.