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Next Best Thing to Mom

Status not listed
14Elevated Risk

What this score could check

Verified evidence places this provider between 14 and 61. The badge shows the floor: the score the public record can defend.

  • Parent reviews
  • Profile details
State inspection history: not checked
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Accreditation: not checked
No data source available.
Staff qualifications: not checked
Staff qualification data is not yet available for this provider.
Enforcement actions: not checked
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Licensing facts on this page were last checked against the state record on . We republish the public licensing record and label absent fields plainly rather than leaving them blank. Where our data comes from · Report an error

2.8(13)Yelp(0)
Child Care Center

On record in Minnesota.

Pin located from the licensed address with the US Census geocoder. Minnesota does not publish coordinates for this provider.

390 Opportunity Blvd N, Cambridge, MN 55008-5824

Hours
5:30 AM–6 PM

Amenities and accessibility

Accessibility

  • Wheelchair accessible entrance
  • Wheelchair accessible parking lot

Planning

  • Appointment required

Reported on the provider's Google business listing, not verified by the state.

The public record

License number
1000491
License status
Not listed
License type
Child Care Center
Licensed capacity
Not listed
Address
390 Opportunity Blvd N, Cambridge, MN 55008-5824
County
Not listed
Phone
Not listed
Website
Not listed

This page republishes the public license record maintained by the Department of Human Services, Licensing Division. Fields marked "Not listed" are absent from the state's published data, not hidden. Verify current license status with the agency before enrolling.

What the record says

Provider highlights

Drawn from licensing flags published by the Department of Human Services, Licensing Division. Parent-review summaries will appear here once enough reviews have been collected.

Signals of care

Strengths

Not enough signal recorded yet.

Points to verify

Consider before choosing

  • Licensing: License status: unknown

From Google

Recent parent reviews

The 6 most recent of 13 Google reviews. Scroll for the rest of them.

  • I thought I had washed my hands of this place, but I just received an email that the investigation into Next Best Things’ maltreatment of my son has concluded. Due to Next Best Things’ refusal to allow video review by me or the police officers that went to their center to see footage from the day my son came home with a fresh bruise (they claimed it was days old, but I have photos of a bruise-free arm in the days prior) consistent with being pushed into a table by a teacher as he described, and the owner conducting her own “internal investigation”, no maltreatment was found. I started there with such high hopes and excitement for my outgoing, loving kid to socialize. Red flag number one, and I KNOW we should have walked away at this point, but we didn’t: The front door is not locked or secured so that kids can’t run out to the parking lot and street. I asked about this on our first visit when I noticed it was unlocked, and they said “kids don’t have the leverage to push the door open”. I turned to my 4-year-old and told him to push the door open, and he did it quite easily. Joy laughed and said, “Well, we’ve never lost a kid before! Just one made it to the parking lot, but that’s as far as anyone’s gotten, and we caught him before he got to the road. That was his first and last day.” The second red flag was when we picked up our then 4-year-old from his first day at their center, and they told us he had an “incident” and was grabbing other kids by the neck and throwing them to the ground. My husband and I were shocked and in disbelief, but he IS a big boy, and he doesn’t know his own strength. We expressed our dismay and explained that he DOES love to give hugs and kisses to other kids, and that we were working on boundaries and asking for permission, but that there would be discipline at home for being rough and grabbing necks. However, the next day at pickup when I asked if the day had gone better to ensure there was no neck-grabbing, the exact same person, Joy, who informed us of the “incident”, said, “Ohh, well he never actually put hands on another kid, he just looked like he was going to grab them, so we stopped him before he could do that.” That’s extremely different from “grabbing kids by the neck and throwing them to the ground,” and could very well have been an attempt at a hug. Our son went from loving preschool in Mora to crying each morning saying he didn’t want to go to “school”. We received multiple incident reports about our son’s behavior, and that was accepted and addressed because we do not condone violence or rough physical interactions in any way, however, when our son came home with scratches and bruises we were never told where the came from by staff, but our son would tell us a friend hit him, or a friend scratched/bit him, and he eventually started naming students he didn’t want to see because they would always hurt him. I brought this to the attention of a teacher one day, and her immediate response was to tell me that the other child who was hitting and scratching is autistic. As in, “Oh, well he’s autistic.” I was taken aback because that did not seem like pertinent or legal information to share with me, and on top of that, she did not seem concerned about addressing the issue or protecting either child’s physical or emotional safety. My son is told to defend himself if telling someone to stop isn’t working and if an adult isn’t helping, which left him, a 4-year-old, with few options. Continued in comments.

    Teresa BassMar 4, 2026
  • My daughter has been attending Next Best Thing to Mom since 2020 and I feel compelled to share our experience because it has been nothing but positive. Over the years, staff has always been caring, attentive and invested in my child’s wellbeing and development. I have never once had an issue or concern that’s wasn’t handled professionally and respectfully. No place is perfect, but NBTTM has shown up for my child and our family. Knowing my daughter is safe, cared for and happy means everything and that peace of mind is priceless. I’m grateful for the years of care they’ve provided and are continuing to provide for our family. I wanted to share a positive voice for families who may be considering NBTTM!

    Kallie PackerJan 23, 2026
  • There was no communication about not being able to tour the daycare. I set up the appointment the week prior. A lady came out after a few minutes of us waiting, said it would be a few minutes still because they had to figure something out with the rooms. We waited 40 minutes. No one ever called me earlier in the day to let me know, and they have yet to call and apologize or reschedule. This was for a school age spot. I took it as a sign that this place is not meant for my son and there’s a reason the universe didn’t let it happen. Please read reviews on this and care .com and take your kids elsewhere. Also when looking into daycares, please see if there is violations on mn dhs website. They have many. Reply to the comment made: that was my fiancé and we were not arguing. We were waiting, we met there after work so we could both see the place, we were all in high hopes. I was told someone would get us when you were ready for us by a worker that was leaving the building, so we stayed outside and waited and waited and waited. We came to the door to begin with and that’s how the worker informed us of an issue and to wait a few minutes for someone to get us. Again why let people sit outside in the parking lot for over 40 minutes. We weren’t just hanging out. They knew it was a tour, as the lady walking out acknowledged that.

    Lasaysha MartinsonSep 10, 2025
  • I went here for a while and I gotta say if you don't want your kids to learn how to summon demons and have them yelled at then dragged across the floor getting rug burns all across your stomach cause your sick and needed help I wouldn't go here

    Ezra AdamsMar 19, 2025
  • When my kids first started here I thought it was a great daycare. A little time passed before I found out the Manager Joy was yelling at kids for absolutely no reason, resulting in my kids not wanting to go to daycare. Toddler room had bitting incidents almost daily. The rules at this daycare regarding breakfast is uncalled for as the Manager joy told me they have to eat before 750am (not after due to it being unfair that the kids that just ate see a child that hasn't ate breakfast yet)or the kids wont be able to eat till lunch at 12pm as theres no snack between the times. The daycare uses an app that tracks everything like feedings and diaper changes, which I used daily to check in. I began to notice that my 3 month old would go hours without being fed, I'm talking about 5 hours between feeding which was not normal for her because she would want to eat 5oz-6oz every 2 hours at home. When she did get fed at the daycare it was 1oz or 3oz being tracked because the daycare staff didn't give her the time to eat. I finally had enough with this daycare and found a new daycare that is absolutely wonderful with my kids and since being at the new daycare my kids behavior has improved tremendously. What gets me is on the very last day of being at this daycare my kids went at a little before 750am I told them in the truck to eat there breakfast when we get inside or go play with there class and explained to them that when they get in the building and if the chose not to eat they won't be able to eat till 12pm. The 2 older kids didn't want to want to eat so they went outside to play with friends. A short time after I was putting there stuff in there cubbies and the manger Joy runs pass me to go into the back where the older kids are playing and the door slams. I then hear Joy yelling so I go outside to say bye to my kids and see what she's yelling about. Not to my surprise she's yelling at my kids about eating breakfast and I interupt her yelling and say to her "I've already explained to them what was expected, your yelling is not necessary" then said bye to my kids and left. I feel so bad for the kids that continue to go here as cambridge don't have many daycares so it's kinda there last resort. I would recommend staying away from this daycare as it's also related to the daycare in North branch next best thing to grandma.

    NonameNov 24, 2024
  • The staff here have been so supportive to my toddler. The director is personable and great at communicating. I love the user friendly app provided to check in on what your child has eaten, diaper changes, nap, etc. I am very pleased with all of the craft projects brought home.

    Brea LuttermanApr 23, 2024

Reviews shown verbatim as published on Google Maps.

How the reviews split

The 2.8 average comes from 13 Google reviews. An average hides whether opinion is consistent or divided, so the spread is shown too.

  • 5 star5
  • 4 star1
  • 3 star0
  • 2 star0
  • 1 star7