Blocks 24 Hr Childcare Center

While the teachers at the Chicago (657 S. Wells) location are fantastic, this company as a whole is shady and uses illegal business practices known as bait and switch. They offer one price, then charge significantly higher. The response when you bring this to their attention? Pay it, or you no longer have childcare for your kid. Good luck finding another place quickly.
So– my advice? Find another place from the start and avoid this terrible management!

I do not have a child attending Blocks Childcare but I’m writing a review since I found online information about various day care facilities to be lacking and I had learned a bit about them. Their Oak Park location is known as «Blocks 24-​Hour» because they planned to be open 24 hours a day when they first opened but overnight enrollment was insufficient to offer that service; they’re currently open only 7am to 6pm and cannot provide overnight day care (although they get requests occasionally).
Aside from the 24-​hour sign on the front of their building, there are also signs boasting music and German. At present, they no longer teach German but do have a Spanish speaker once per week. I’m not sure what their music program consists of but it does not apply to infants.
Blocks has a long waiting list for new enrollees and does not allow tours until you are at the top of the list. Tours are scheduled after hours when no children are present. If you are ready to sign up, they will schedule a special visit when children and teachers are present. Other than that, they do not allow any visitors or guests or tours during operating hours, nor do they allow unscheduled drop-​ins or parent/​relative visitation during daycare hours. There are no windows into the facility except the lobby which is separated from the child care area, and cameras are strongly discouraged. In short, they protect the privacy of children there closely, but at the same time, they offer little or no transparency into the care they provide.
Beyond that, the facility is clean, spacious and well-​lit. The staff are friendly (at least the ones I encountered — not many). Parents whom I observed while waiting were also friendly and positive about the place but there was no opportunity to talk to them much about their experience. All things considered, I chose not to send my child there due to the complete lack of openness. They may well run a great operation, but I wasn’t comfortable with the set-​up, and it would have proven difficult for my relatives who like to know that they can visit or see my child.