Growing with Sandbox

I have always had a positive experience. Anytime I have a question for chat , response almost immediately.

Pros

This software is easily trainable to our new franchisees.

Cons

There are two many options. There should be only what we need for our centres. eg daily report. Parent portal should be more interactive. eg. childcare friendly not office friendly.

Sandbox Software Review

I was responsible for learning and implementing the software so I started from the beginning to learn all that Sandbox could do to improve our department. I was the point person so I needed to know it from A to Z. First, the customer service representatives at Sandbox are A+; always available to answer questions and help with the set up. The system basically gave us the ability to go paperless. The system gave parents/guardians a portal for all of their needs from electronic registration to monthly payments.

Pros

The system basically gave us the ability to go paperless. The system gave parents/guardians a portal for all of their needs from electronic registration to monthly payments. We received 100% positive feedback from our families with the implementation of Sandbox. We went from entering monthly payments by hand to 98% of families using the electronic payment system through the parent portal. This gave a real-time payment tracker that allowed us to respond immediately for any late payments. This also gave us the ability to send end of the year tax statements electronically; no more bulk mailings so it saved money. We installed electronic sign-in/out for a secure and accurate attendance system. The accurate attendance also allocated accurate records for subsidy tracking; again saving money. The family account section gave the freedom to upload documents, keep track of physicals and due dates, write notes, communicate with the family securely. Sandbox has many important features that will help any child care center through the registration process, bookkeeping, communication, documentation, reports. I use many of the Sandbox installed reports each month from payment summaries to attendance reports. There are many reports available. There is also a section that we use for staffing that helps keep track of profiles, documents, due dates, etc. This gives us one location and accurate records that we use for Keystone STARS. I would highly recommend Sandbox for all child care providers.

Cons

The only negative issue I have with Sandbox is that I need to have specific wording for payment receipts that parents need to submit to their employer for dependent care reimbursement. I need to insert the specific wording manually which is tedious and takes too much time to do each month.

Sandbox

I am the part time secretary for evenings, I use sandbox to enter schedules, change schedules, make payments and reports. I use it daily, and my only question is about double entries, (see above).

Pros

For the most, Sandbox is pretty organized for our needs here. I like that staff at Sandbox keep us informed and are there for questions and answer prompt! Overall, I would recommend it to others and I appreciate the software, makes part of my job easier.

Cons

I entered one child in duplicate, and was unable to delete. It had to be archived. There has to be a way to delete double entries?

Much less expensive than other similar software

Overall we are very happy with what Sandbox has offered our centre. Set up was fairly easy, but just like any new program, there's a learning curve. The customer service has been astounding from the beginning! I can message hem about any tiny issue or question and they have an answer within minutes.

Pros

The price is great! Beats any other similar software prices by a landslide. It does everything that a daycare centre needs, and they are constantly updating and upgrading. Consumer service is fantastic!

Cons

There have been a few glitches to work through, but those have been addressed. I would love to see a more detailed explanation of payments on invoices. For example, we can make a partial payment on an invoice using a credit on an account, but on the invoice it doesn't specify where that payment came from. It just says "Amount Paid", so it can be difficult to go back and figure out where that payment came from. The invoicing/billing section needs more clarification.

Sandbox is a breath of fresh air in childcare management software!

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Pros

This program has dramatically changed our billing procedure. It is so simple and easy to use while still having all of the features we need to successfully operate our large childcare program! We love that it can be accessed remotely, parents can access the app, teachers can sign students in and out from the ipad, and so much more! If we ever need help, the customer service team gets back to us very quickly! We also LOVED that the Sandbox team helped us add all students when we started with them so we did not have to manually move everything over!

Cons

This may be a problem unique to our program. However, when we have parents complete a new registration form (needed for our license) each year, it duplicates the parents in the child profile which can cause billing or parent portal issues. We have not found a simple way to correct this on our own. Other than that, everything has been smooth sailing.

Sandbox Software

Our team has had a positive experience with Sandbox from the start.

Pros

This program is user friendly and provides record keeping that is efficient and simple to use. The billing process runs smoothly. Parents have expressed ease of use. As a client of Sandbox, I am MOST grateful for their customer service. They listen, make changes to the program if appropriate and frequently problem solve with me. I can't speak highly enough of their team.

Cons

There is not much I don't like about this program. It would be great to have a program which integrates observations with Early Learning Standards. However, that is unlikely since standards vary from state to state and this integration would be cost prohibitive for any program.

ECEC LLC

Overall I have become more efficient and saved time. I can work from anywhere and see up to the minute changes in our center.

Pros

The interface is very intuitive for me and my staff. The main reason I selected and continued the use is the customer support is beyond great. If I message I get a response in minutes and If I request a call, I am called the same day and most times with in minutes.

Cons

I wish that familie's balance would be included in the log in and log out steps.

The software with a brain

I love the software, I suggest it to other centers every time I have the chance.

Pros

The software is user friendly and fluid. It is logical to use and helps making my job simpler. The team is very responsive and takes care of us every time we have a question.

Cons

A few reports could be added but the team works with us and is willing to make changes when needed and possible.

Great Software

I love this company.

Pros

This company saved my business from going bankrupt. It is easy to use. Keeping track of schedules is simple.

Cons

I do not like the fact that you can not remove a child. you can just archive them.

Pleased overall

Help desk is AMAZING !!

Pros

Integration of accounting, parent communication and classroom management. Billing feature is easy to use.

Cons

No ability for parents to respond to posts made by teachers therefore very hard to receive feedback on our programs. App often glitches. Updates often don't work (released before bugs are worked out).

If you are wondering if you should purchase this software.....The answer is YES!

We have been extremely happy with our purchase and implantation of the Sandbox software. We have been able to drop the amount of past due tuition dramatically along with improving our system of keeping up with shot records and other requirements for the children and staff. My time spent calculating time cards has been dramatically reduced due to using the computerized time clock.

Pros

I love the ease of use of the system and that parents can view their info on the parent app. Since we have started using the software we have been able to drop the amount of past-due tuition from over 10K to under 2K weekly.

Cons

I do not like that when a couple is married that only one of them can see their account balance. I wish there was a joint option where they could both have a login that would allow them to see the balance. I have parents get confused when they login with their personal email when the account is setup under the other parent and see a zero balance. Maybe even something that showed when the parent listed as the non-payer logged in that showed this is a non-payer account. I would also like for parents to be able to pay in advance and it leave a credit on their account. Many of my parents want to pay monthly or bi-weekly and cannot pay over the amount due.

Great Program worth the price

When I first took over in the childcare office I was under the impression that Sandbox would not fulfill what we were looking for in a software program, but after doing more research on my own I discovered that Sandbox was able to do everything that other programs do. I've enjoyed working with the Sandbox program and their customer service.

Pros

This software has the same functions as many of the more expensive software. Without have any formal training on it I was able to figure it out pretty easily and being able to call, email or chat with customer support has been a huge help. Everything that we were looking for in a software program Sandbox has with being a fraction of the price of others. Sandbox is simple and clean looking and is working on updating to keep up to date resources available to parents and teachers.

Cons

Some of the features that it has such as with child daily logs is not as concise as I would prefer it to be as an administrator, but over all it is simple to use and easy for parents to navigate.

Sandbox is Top Notch!

Sandbox is super easy to use. It used to take me 3 days to do billing with the other product I used. Now it only takes me minutes! Parents love the ability of paying online and seeing real-time posts from teachers about their child. Sandbox Customer Service is Top Notch!

Pros

Sandbox Customer Service is always there, ready and willing to help in any way possible. They are fast, friendly and resourceful.

Cons

Problems linking the Sandbox app with the online software.

Amazing customer service team and amazing product

Besides the learning curve I overall enjoyed the use of the Sandbox platform and the amazing customer support team. Any time I got stuck or need to know how to do something, help was always a chat away.

Pros

I am relatively new to early childhood education getting accustomed to the many intricate facets of the role from billing, staffing requirements, immunizations, attendance, family communications, newsfeeds, etc has all been made much simpler and streamlined with the Sandbox platform. It is great to have so many features and functions all integrated within Sandbox and it has done away with the need to maintain entire filing cabinets worth of student and staff paperworks. We've had licensing come through and never glanced at our hard copies simply because all of our stuff are backed up to Sandbox.

Cons

The sheer number of features are a bit overwhelming at first and it takes a while to understand how to use the platform. I was fortunate to have a person on my team who went through the learning pains herself to help me figure out things like how to send invoices and mark kids as absent for vacations. I think an average person without such aid might struggle with a somewhat steep learning curve at first. Short tutorials (maybe in video format) that are easy to find and targeted to common, specific tasks such as how to add a child for enrollment, or how to add payment, etc would be very helpful.

I knew immediately that I liked Sandbox from the demo because it was so easy to use!

Overall, Sandbox has been very intuitive and easy to use. It's great to have the platform online and in an app so it's always accessible. I've been very happy with Sandbox so far!

Pros

Sandbox has been very easy to use, and luckily I have not had a lot of questions or issues. But, I would say what I like most about Sandbox so far is the Customer Service. The old software I was using would require several phone calls, lots of time on hold, and a lot of work-arounds to get things done. My experience with Sandbox has been the opposite! The representatives have been available and helpful! They call back whenever I call them- even if I haven't left a message. The online chat feature has also been helpful for quick questions!

Cons

So far, I would say I have liked the billing features the least in Sandbox. We are currently set up to bill families by day, and that has been the only task that has become more time consuming since switch to Sandbox. Getting all of the various schedules, snow day credits, and fees to be applied correctly has been pretty tedious and manual. We are considering switching to a flat-rate monthly fee which I do think would help alleviate some of these issues, as it seems that's what the system is designed to do.

Childcare Software

Overall, great experience!

Pros

Overall, the program is easy to use and has helped our billing process. We have been able to use the teacher app for check in and that has help tremendously through COVID. The customer service is over the top awesome. I am VERY thankful that we have someone to chat with and for the most part the same few people each time. To have them available when I need help for myself or a parent asks a questions and invaluable.

Cons

There are different aspects that do not work for our specific program when it comes to running different reports. But we like so many things about the program that we have worked around it or changed how we maneuver things to adapt to running a correct reporting. I do like however that if something does not work we can tell support and they will put in a ticket for us.

Best Option for Child Care Centres

We have used Sandbox since their early days. We've been happy from day one and it just continues to get better. We have been using HiMama as well for documentation, but Sandbox now offers these features as well. This is a complete management and documentation package perfect for centres no matter if its 15 spaces or 150.

Pros

Customer service and support, user interface, ability to keep it simple or utilize more advanced features, value for money, ability to export data.

Cons

Nothing - we have no issues with Sandbox after 4+ years of use.

Sandbox

Pros

I Love Sandbox! You can do so many things with this program. This was the best investment our center made!

Cons

Some things seemed a little difficult to learn, but your tech support is amazing!

Love this program. Very user friendly and great support.

Very happy with this program. It is so easy to use, allows you to not only track the attendance of the children but staff as well. The support is terrific, always someone available to provide guidance. We have tried several programs and this is by far our preferred!

Pros

The software is very user friendly and forgiving if you make accounting errors. The support is efficient and reliable. Love the Parent Portal feature and ease of registration. We love being able to communicate with parents and send pictures to them throughout the day.

Cons

Cannot customize your billing dates to use the auto billing feature if you are not in Ontario. There is no way to track children if they visit in multiple programs throughout the day. At times in child care you need to move children for ratio purposes and there is no way to track what room they are in if not their primary assigned room.

Child Care Software

Amazing.... best investment for our organization

Pros

So easy to use the software and keeps parents files and financial information easy to track and stay on top of during the pandemic and our closure it allowed me to run the daycare remotely. I can't imagine without the software how difficult it would have been to manage everything without the software. So many filters allow you to get the information you need

Cons

Some things are hard coded and can't be changed

Easy childcare management tool

Overall, this product is good for what we need. We don't need all the bells and whistles so it's at the price point we want.

Pros

It is easy to set up and use. The customer service team is responsive and quick to answer your questions and take your suggestions.

Cons

The integration to the teacher app could be better. Either features for admin need to be on the teacher app or another app for admin would be nice. Also, if there was a way to keep login for the app, it would be awesome!

Sandbox Preschool Software

The biggest pro to this software is the almost immediate support you can get from software professionals.

Pros

This software is easy to use for both teachers, administration and parents.

Cons

I would like to have the ability to create my own reports.

Great Company

I have been using this program for over 6 years now. When I moved to a new program, I brought sandbox with me!

Pros

This program is very user friendly and the costumer service is amazing. Anytime we have any issues one quick email and the problem is looked into and resolved as quickly as possible. Also if there is anything we need the program to do (with limits of course) they are happy to try and accommodate the need.

Cons

Because we have a very small center there are many of the features that don’t apply to our needs. And there are few things we would like, but the program doesn’t do because of our size. We have made what is available work though.

Great Product!

Love it! Easy to use. The Sandbox Team is always there to help.

Pros

Wonderful customer service. Has all the features we need to make the business run smoother.

Cons

Few glitches between products used (i.e. ios and android).

Amazing product that will save you time!

Everyone I've worked with has helped me through any challenges that have come up almost instantly. Amazing customer service.

Pros

The product is easy to use, and streamlines many of the processes we use in operating our child development center.

Cons

I really love everything. I would like to implement the credit/debit card payment feature, but unfortunately the transaction/interest fees are more than we are able to manage.

It makes organizing so much easier. Your staff has been very helpful

The staff at Sandbox has always been available to help me whenever I had questions. They are also very good at listening to suggestions from their users to help them improve the functionality of the software. They have made it very easy for us to manage all of our preschool information.

Pros

I like being able to generate reports; rosters, birthdays, and any information that I may need. I like how everyone has access to the same information.

Cons

Posting pictures and getting my teachers used to using it. Some teachers say it is too hard to post pictures through Sandbox and have continued texting parents. We would love to see Sandbox improve in this area and make posting pictures on Sandbox as easy as it is on Social Media.

Thank you for making my job easier!

Pros

From the very start when we were researching software for our afterschool program, Sandbox was a standout. The cost and customer support was terrific. They were always there to answer questions and concerns regarding the right fit for our needs. Once we made our decision to use their product, the level of customer support has never changed!

Cons

Can't think of a thing! This software delivers everything we have needed!

Sandbox is great!

Before we implemented sandbox, we were still using an outdated Windows feature to keep track of our childcare data. Sandbox made this job so much easier. I love it! The best thing is absolutely their customer service!

Pros

Having all the attendance and child information easily accessible at your fingertips is the best! Their customer service is absolutely fantastic. There is someone always available on live chat and it is person I've seen or probably emailed or talked to before!

Cons

I don't really have any cons about this software.

Love it! Simple to use and the app makes it easy to sign children in and out.

Support has been helpful with questions which make it extremely user friendly. Much appreciated!

Pros

Customization reports, leaving notes for families, printing enrollment, customizable

Cons

Sometimes we have blended families, and the contacts for one child are not the same as the other child, it would be nice to have a click box to add emergency contacts as they may not be same. Add description to profile, height/ weight/ eyes/ hair required for licensing. spot for staff PHN on their profile (emergency cards)

Helps Stay Organized

I am so glad we chose Sandbox!

Pros

- The main reasons we got Sandbox was to make the switch from (1) paper checks to electronic billing, and (2) from paper enrollment forms to electronic enrollment forms. These goals have been accomplished with Sandbox. Sandbox helps with staying organized and keeping accurate records as our organization grows. - Any number of users is allowed (there is no extra fee). Multiple team members can work inside sandbox at the same time. - Unlimited customer support! I'm not good at tech, so it was essential to choose a company that provided a high level of customer support. We mostly use the chat during business hours. The support team is very responsive.

Cons

- I would like to be able to create electronic forms for staff as well as for children (they're working on adding this feature) - I wish that less staff time were spent helping parents figure out microdeposits, auto-pay, and other questions (maybe there could be an illustrated instruction manual for parents)

Review after using software for almost 2 years

Overall, very pleased with the software...

Pros

the biggest time saver for us is in invoicing and billing...saves time, easy to use, quick to process. Record keeping for family profiles is also very good and easy to use.

Cons

For the staff time clock, the inability to add shifts for staff to compare to their actual time worked, then auto calculating their hours worked is something that could be added to save time...we still have to manually check their hours worked against their assigned shifts.

Very positive experience

Working with Sandbox software and their support team has been great. If you have questions, they are quick to respond and help. The software has a "very clean" and updated look, is very functional, and I don't believe there is any other software for the value they offer.

Pros

Very easy to use from the beginning. Has a lot of great features that make day to day operations a breeze. Is a super value. Their support team quickly responds to questions.

Cons

some of the reports... I like to be able to cross reference check numbers/invoice numbers especially on customer statements. The staff timesheets do not take overtime into consideration and show that time as separate from regular hours

Love this program! Great customer service!

I use this tool every single day! We have been gradually moving from paper system to this system. I'm sure there is more that I can do with it, but haven't taken the time.

Pros

Very intuitive and easy to use. User interface and design very appealing.

Cons

Accounting system overrides....which have been easily solved by the customer service team

Sandbox Software Review

The benefits are that everything is in one place and easily accessed.

Pros

Sandbox Software is easy to use and the customer service is outstanding. Records and data are compiled in an easy format to learn and use.

Cons

Integration and transitioning to using this software was somewhat time consuming, but well worth the time. Some of the billing options are not as convenient as they could be.

Sandbox is Awesome

I am so well pleased!

Pros

It is very easy to implement in the beginning-very user friendly-they are constantly improving the product and I couldn't say enough about the support staff!

Cons

There are just a few little tweaks here and there but we have been able to work around it!

I have tried several programs over the years and for our camp Sandbox is the BEST!

Sandbox Saves more time than any of the childcare manager programs we have used over the past 12 years.

Pros

Children's scheduling and parent ability to schedule vacation days. This is life changing for us!

Cons

Would LOVE for parents to be able to add days to their child's schedule in the portal.

It has been great. Customer service is top notch!

Pros

Ease of use, value, continual addition of features. The customer service team goes above and beyond to help!

Cons

I would like to see some new options for student reports, or printable student profile pages for teachers to keep in child file.

We use the family, billing, staffing, dashboards and reports sections to the fullest!

Pros

Very user friendly, allowing you to easily navigate through the software . We also love the Admin and Attendance Reports.

Cons

1. Sandbox is not compatible with the regions waiting list. 2. Would like to be able to send group emails to families from Sandbox and not have to use and not be directed to outlook.

Very well lay out easy to use

My childcare runs smoothly and I have access to all files all the time! I would like to use it more but I have Hi Mama for programming for my educators. it would be good to have this as an access in sandbox. I really love the look of the program it's it so simple but has covered many administration issues for me.

Pros

Sandbox is a very good software company The customer service is great, the product is very user friendly I can access it from any computer and do my work anywhere

Cons

childcare curriculums should be a available for Input in children's daily reports and for documentation of play This should be the next stage for the software company

Easy to use

Pros

I love Sandbox as a tool to keep files and day to day business organized.

Cons

The online enrollment form needs a little tweaking- I find parents are having a difficult time. I also wish there was a few more options like a 'sticky note' where if the groups are dividing we could 'sticky' note which child is with which educator

Child Care Software

They have been easy to work with and fast to answer our questions.

Pros

We are able to customize the program to do what we need it to do. It offers our teachers daily logs that are all computerized and sent to parents automatically.

Cons

We cannot unschedule days for all children at once. When we have to shut down, we have to go into each child's schedule and unschedule them individually.

Over all very happy with Sandbox!

Pros

Online availability, parent interaction, attendance, and staff tracking. Its been great. Making it work with my billing process has been a challenge but Customer service is always ready and willing to help.

Cons

Staff cannot access time sheets for the week to see how many hours they have worked. More customization options of reports. Parents cant put money on their account without a invoice. Food service meal tracking!! No keyboard shortcuts. Wish there was an app for parents. I promise I love the product. These are just my wish list. :)

We have been using Sandbox for a few years now and all the new upgrading has helped us.

Pros

The data is easily obtained for reporting.

Cons

It would be nice if we could start documenting and placing pictures of the children in Sandbox for the parents to view.

Sandbox is very user friendly and your service has been very good.

Our overall experience with Sandbox Childcare Management has been excellent and we are very happy with the software and service.

Pros

The ability to add children and siblings easily and to look children up on any family name. (Children do not always have the same name as one of the parents)

Cons

You are unable to easily forecast the future rooms availability.

Great Product

Really a great product, we use it everyday. Our parents love it also.

Pros

The program is easy to use. Also it an easy set up for parents to create there accounts. The help desk is quick to answer and solve any issues. They are also open to any ideas that I may have to improve the program.

Cons

The billing sometimes can be confusing.

Great program

It's been great!

Pros

The invoices are easy to create and to change. Easy to track the things we need here.

Cons

That we can't connect it to Quick books.

My experience has been amazing since day one! Sandbox has amazing customer support. They are always

Overall Sandbox has become an invaluable tool for our childcare center! We are able to tackle billing like never before. I also use Sandbox to track important information for our staff aswell!

Pros

The thing I like most about Sandbox is their customer support. I love that I'm able to start a conversation via messaging and work out any issue or question I may have live. Messaging is a great tool because I don't have to tie up our phone line and I'm still able to multi task!

Cons

Billing and subsidy were a little difficult to learn and navigate. But their support team was wonderful and set up private training to be sure I got a handle on things.

Love Sandbox!

Pros

-Easy for parents to submit their child's information, look at their portal for how much they owe and communicate with the staff. -Love how easy billing is

Cons

-Financial records are confusing and I sometimes have a hard time getting the forms I want. -Wish the Teacher App had more on it

Great software for a ChildCare

Overall experience has been great and amazing customer service. What we cant figure out is only a quick online message away.

Pros

Being able to communicate and bill the parents through personal portals

Cons

Can't waitlist children in more then one class.

Organized and Easy to Use

They are so caring, quick to respond and helpful. Very easy to work with.

Pros

This software is well organized, easy to use and helps us manage our many students and their individual needs.

Cons

There are a few things that don't work as well on the app as it does on the desktop version.