Our kids have been to Birch Tree (BTA) over the past 4 years. We've had an amazing experience, and…read morerecently realized how exceptional it is compared to other daycares. We took for granted the high quality care and high standards set by the management and staff. We took a short break and moved our youngest to another daycare for a month just to be closer to our house (national chain daycare in Kenmore), and it was literally night and day. The other daycare was subpar in quality and extremely short staffed, even though the tuition was comparable. We decided to move them back to Birch Tree, and drive the extra miles. What we love about Birch Tree is the management, warm and caring teachers who give lots of hugs, home cooked food, facilities, quality education, classroom camera and Bright Wheel App. Despite the locations expansion, BTA still feels locally owned and the owner Natalie and head of schools Jessica are very much involved in all of their schools. You will still see them in-person floating around the different locations. They generally know all student's names, and the local staff are always friendly and greating parents. They hold their staff to high standards and also expect the same of parents. Kids are well behaved, they wear inside vs outside shoes. Food is better than my home cooked meals, classrooms are modern with high ceilings and large windows, and all teachers have open communication with parents via the instant messaging feature. The admin staff is also on top of communication, and they have an abundance of teachers and admin staff. They also offer weekly PE, music, and Spanish classes which are all included in the price. They also offer parents night-out occasionally, and host events and weekly summer field trips for pre-k. You can do 3, 4, or 5 days a week. Speaking with staff, they enjoy working there and say that there's opportunity for them to grow and take on different roles within the school or office. Other parents we've met have moved from other daycares to go to BTA and seem very happy with BTA. They have well prepared our oldest for kindergarten and we are so thankful. None of these things we observed with the national chain daycare.

Wonderful place for kids to learn and thrive! Truly appreciate the work they put in and my child is…read moregrowing and learning a great deal as he prepares for kindergarten and elementary school!

Formerly Lake Forest Park Cooperative Preschool, this school is a great co-op. We joined with my…read moreoldest daughter a year and a half ago after moving from out of state and it was the best decision we made. Not only did I find a great friendly, learning and play environment for my daughter, but I also found a great community of parents that have become great friends! I have enrolled my youngest for this coming school year and can't wait to see her in their new school in Bothell.

We have had our son here since parent baby and it is wonderful. Teacher Beth is amazing! I found…read morethis place on a Google search and now I have made friendships that have helped me get through this wild ride called parenthood.

We love Lake Washington Toddler Group! I attend with my 2 year old daughter and it is the best part…read moreof our week. My daughter thrives in the toddler friendly environment and especially enjoys the new art projects every week. At LWTG you get a little of everything (art, science, music, stories, parent education, parent connection, etc.) which makes this an amazing value. As a parent I really appreciate the strict sick policy as it ensures all families who attend remain healthy. We are thrilled that we get to attend this program for years to come.

We have loved being in Lake Washington Toddler Group. It's a wonderful program and I highly…read morerecommend it to anyone looking for a parent/child activity for their little one. The program also offers lots of parenting education opportunities and family outings and events which I really enjoyed in addition to getting to play with my toddler in the classroom. LWTG is a fantastic place!

My child has been at this school since preschool. I would say that Lower Elementary is definitely a…read morestrength, as some other reviews have mentioned. However, Upper Elementary was a different experience. In my opinion, it's not worth it. The academic pace feels slow and behind. You might get lucky and end up in a class where the teacher sets higher expectations(I heard from my child there is only one class), but otherwise, it's hard to justify staying that long just for academics. If academic progress isn't your main concern, it could still be fine. Overall, this school may is not the best fit for fast learners. Teachers focus on keeping the class balanced, which often means slowing down advanced students to match the majority's pace.

Due to moves, our daughter has been to two other schools, and WMS has been exceptionally better…read morethan the other. The environment is calm, positive, and incredibly welcoming. The student-to-teacher ratio is wonderful (23 students and three teachers). The school administration and teachers proactively communicate. The lead teacher in Dogwood is an absolute blessing. She has been very attentive to our daughter's anxiety, and our daughter has blossomed in this classroom. The school celebrates many cultural holidays, and our whole family has been enjoying the community events hosted by parent volunteers. The school sends visibly sick children home, as they should (not our experience with previous schools). We are thankful for fewer sick days because of this. Our only feedback would be to increase recess/outdoor time and to add additional greenery to the outdoor areas.

HCA teaches children with a Christ-first mentality. The staff believes in our children and treats…read morethem with the utmost respect, compassion and tenderness. My son has grown immensely in his three years and my daughter has come out of her shell in her first two. I cannot thank the staff enough for investing in my children; they have gone above and beyond any expectations and have treated my family like their own. We wanted our children to know and love Jesus while getting a first class education: HCA does exactly that.

Enrolled my preschool age daughters for 2024-2025 school year. Nightmare experience. Preschool…read moreDirector is lacking in both competence and integrity. The P5 teacher Jennifer is exactly the same but hides behind the director. Encouraged my family to seek an IEP solely as a means to kick my kindergarten age daughters out. Tried to circumvent the IEP process by trying to reach out to the care team to gain a recommendation that supported their goal of kicking my kid out. When that failed the principal lied about what the care team recommended. Bullied, harassed, and finally attempted to blackmail my family into voluntarily pulling my kid out in the last few months of the school year. This behavior started escalating the day of our IEP assessment and ended in a forced reduction of service before any accommodation request was made. This was after a glowing assessment of my daughter's growth. When I made a complaint about discrimination against the Preschool Director they declined to investigate without so much as a call to discuss my concerns.

Just absolutely superb!…read more My 16 mo old son just started attending UCiC and I just wanted to share about the exceptional experience I have had so far as a parent here. I toured about 8 daycares before choosing this place. This was actually the very first time that my son had been away from family. After months of prayer and research I felt like God led me to the right daycare and I'm so thankful He did. There were a few small bumps the first week of school and I feel the need to express what an amazing director Miss Abrams is. She really stepped into an issue and took ownership to reach out to me and cater to my son's needs. She did not wait even one day and right away took proactive measures to see how she could improve the situation. She made the issue her own and made me such a happy parent at the end of the day. I'm grateful for her acute leadership and her loving care. I could really sense her genuine love and heart for her students and I'm thankful that we have crossed paths. The outcome came out better than I could have expected. I manage a few businesses and I'm a fierce advocate for solid customer service. She is tremendous and if you are a parent like us, look no further.

Ucic has become like a second family to us in a city where we have no family in the area. Our three…read morekids are known by name and the staff are accessible, kind, and work hard to create a safe and welcoming environment for the kiddos. We love the ample enrichment opportunities throughout the school day and after school, and we know that the school aims to differentiate and personalize instruction for students, while maintaining high and rigorous standards for all. They truly believe that all students are capable of achieving and demonstrate this in their wide range of supports for students.

The preschool has been a wonderful experience for my family. My two boys love the teachers. The…read moreparent community is welcoming. I love that the preschool starts with a 1-2s class.

The teachers here are the best! They are knowledgeable, caring, and attentive to the kids. Both of…read moremy kids started in a 1-2 yrs old class and we are now on the 4th year here. The kids love going to school and learn a lot through their play-based environment. At first, I felt it was a lot of work to be in a co-op preschool. Now, I've felt I've made a right choice! I've got to involve in my kids learning process and can continue to teach them at home. I, myself, have learned a lot from the teachers and parent education they offer too. Love this school!

My baby started at 4 months old in the infant classroom and as a first time mother I was so nervous…read moreabout leaving my baby at daycare. But the teachers were so loving and took such great care of him. Now when I leave him at daycare, he's so happy with the teachers, he doesn't even notice when I leave sometimes. I love the daily reports and photos. He's moving up to the toddler classroom and the staff have been very good with letting us know about transitions. There's plenty of parking at the front, live camera feed so I don't miss him during work hours, very responsive to emails, and if there's any issue they call me straight away. Thank you teachers!

Our family was with Kiddie Academy Bothell for years, and our daughter truly grew up there as part…read moreof the community. Unfortunately, over the past few months, we experienced several concerning issues that caused her distress and ultimately led us to make the very difficult decision to move her to a new school. We noticed a decline in care and communication beginning earlier this year around summertime. One of our daughter's teachers made comments such as "She doesn't like me," which felt inappropriate and insensitive given her age and emotional development. On multiple occasions, we witnessed emotional responses dismissed instead of acknowledged by teachers, for example, telling children not to cry or using a toy remote to "change" their mood instead of helping them process their feelings. There were also moments of unnecessarily harsh discipline. During one pickup, my daughter ran happily toward me and was immediately scolded by a teacher in front of the class. The tone felt punitive and unkind for a 3-year-old. We also had ongoing hygiene concerns. Our daughter frequently came home uncomfortable from sitting in soiled diapers, and even after being potty trained, she wasn't always properly cleaned. This led to severe irritation and discomfort, something that is avoidable in a childcare setting. When we brought these concerns to staff, the responses were heard, but later on the issues would arise again. We later learned that other families had also withdrawn for similar reasons, citing concerns about the disorganized environment, absence of structure, and insufficiently defined teaching curriculum, all of which created emotional stress and overwhelm for the students. To make matters worse, Kiddie Academy refused to refund our $1,000 deposit for the fall term, even though our daughter began the new school year and met their own enrollment criteria before we made the decision to withdraw her due to these ongoing issues. We've since moved our daughter to Birch Tree, and the difference has been night and day. The staff there are attentive, communicative, and genuinely caring. Questions and concerns are addressed immediately, and their follow-through is clear and consistent. They also provide a developmentally appropriate, well-structured curriculum with systems in place that foster a calm environment and significantly reduce the behavioral challenges many families had previously experienced at Kiddie Academy Bothell. For the first time in a long time our daughter is truly thriving. She is happy, supported, and excited to go to school every day. We're deeply disappointed by how things ended at Kiddie Academy Bothell. What was once a positive experience declined into something that felt indifferent and disorganized, and the lack of care ultimately cost them the trust of our family.

Five stars are insufficient to rate Jennifer and Diane and their wonderful school. My daugher…read moreadores them and cannot wait to go to school every day. Not only are they wonderfully sweet and patient with my daughter, but incredibly patient with me and my new-mom concerns and questions. Jennifer and Diane are among the most genuine and kind people I have ever met and I am so pleased that my daughter gets to spend her days with them for a third school year.

Locally owned, deeply caring, and genuinely magical -- Vaulting Frogs is a rare gem in early…read moreeducation. We moved our daughter to Vaulting Frogs after a difficult experience at a nationally-run preschool, and the difference has been night and day. At her previous school, we faced inflexible scheduling, rigid policies around naptime (with no accommodation for children who struggled to sleep), and staff who didn't seem to understand or honor our daughter's emotional needs. Sadly, each school day, without fail, had begun to start with tears and anxiety. At Vaulting Frogs, all of that changed. From the very first week, our child began to look forward to going to school -- and came home happy, inspired, and calm. The warmth and flexibility of the Vaulting Frogs team has made all the difference. They truly see each child as an individual. If your child needs a nap, they'll have one. If they don't, that's okay too. There's no pressure -- just thoughtful guidance and supportive structure. The curriculum is vibrant and imaginative, full of engaging hands-on projects that feel joyful rather than overly scripted. They have a wonderful gym for movement and gymnastics-style play, a charming fenced outdoor area with playhouses and seasonal splash zone fun during the summer, and a cozy classroom that feels more like a welcoming learning home than an institution. What really stands out most is the heart of the owners, Jennifer and Diane, and their teachers. The staff at Vaulting Frogs is present, communicative, warm, and truly invested in each family's and child's experience. You can feel that this is a locally owned preschool with a heart and soul, not a franchise focused on policy and profits. Vaulting Frogs created a space where our child felt safe, confident, and genuinely excited to learn each day. Their thoughtful approach -- including financial and scheduling flexibility -- supported our family in balancing the demands of work and life outside of school, and we are so, so grateful. Highly, highly recommended.

I only went in for a tour but what I saw was pretty good!! I wish we would've had space for my…read moredaughter but I would recommend for other families!

We are so grateful to have found this daycare for our child. It's an older facility but they keep…read moreit clean. The director is always very responsive and patiently answers all the questions any first time parent may have. The teachers care for the children genuinely and prepare engaging and age appropriate activities. Staff turnover rate is low. We feel safe and worry free leaving our child here.