Bernice E. Lavin Ecec for Northwestern Memorial Hospital

My toddler has been at the Lavin Center for about a year now while I work at NMH, and the health standards are honestly higher than most places I’ve seen in Chicago. Since it's affiliated with the hospital, they don't mess around with the sick-child policy—if your kid has a fever, they are sent home immediately, which can be a pain for scheduling but keeps the 'daycare plague' to a minimum. The facility itself is always super clean and feels very clinical but in a good way. My only gripe is that communication about local outbreaks can be a bit slow via their portal, and the high demand for spots means the staff-to-child ratio feels exactly at the limit, so sometimes the teachers look a bit frazzled during flu season.

Honestly, being so close to the hospital, they do not mess around with germs here. They have a really strict sick policy—if your kid even looks like they have a runny nose, you’re probably getting a call to pick them up, which can be a pain for working parents but it keeps the classroom from becoming a total Petri dish. The facility always looks super clean and they are great about sending out email alerts if something like hand-foot-and-mouth is going around. My only gripe is that it feels a little clinical sometimes, but I'd rather have that than a dirty daycare!