I attended Shining Mountain Waldorf School from K-9 and cherish the magical experiences. I fondly…read morerecall the excitement of seeing new chalkboard drawings and hearing captivating stories in the cozy classrooms. Now, my son attends Kindergarten there and formed an instant bond with his teacher (not something that came naturally for him in preschool). Mrs. Cherie exceeds expectations by attending to each child's unique needs. All teachers offer individual care through home visits, parent nights, and meetings. Beyond being a great school, the parent community is enriching, and we're forming lifelong friendships. Some worry Waldorf's academic approach might not prepare students well, but my brothers, also Waldorf graduates, are now a urologist and a researcher at the Max Planck Institute. I'm a life coach with my own business. Success stems from joy in learning, which Waldorf fosters. I urge you to schedule a tour or email me for more insights at wovenwords [at] gmail [dot] com.

Being a part of Shining Mountain Waldorf School's Early Childhood program has been an exceptional…read moreexperience for my daughter and our entire family. My daughter has blossomed into a confident, playful, curious, and adventurous 5-year-old in the loving care of her teachers. The beautiful campus, nestled in the foothills, offers ample opportunity for free play in nature and daily walks to visit the school chickens, gardens, and a nearby lake. Inside the classrooms, natural materials of wood and silk create a beautiful and comforting space to learn and play. Kindergarten classes provide nourishing, organic food to the children daily. Overall, the school has a rich tradition of meaningful festivals that build a thriving school community. We couldn't be happier at Shining Mountain and look forward to continuing through middle school and high school.

I can't say enough good things about BVWS! This school is such an amazing community. The teachers…read moreare so wonderful and dedicated to creating a space that meets the needs of all of the children in the classroom. The administrative staff is friendly, helpful, and down to earth. The parents all come together to help one another in so many ways. The curriculum emphasizes learning through stories, art, music, movement, outdoor time, and play. There is a wonderful fostering of creativity, kindness, curiosity, as well as a reverence for ourselves, our community, our humanity, and our earth. Everything is so taught in such a beautiful intentional way- this school and the education my child is receiving has absolutely exceeded my expectations. The campus is so welcoming; it feels like coming home when we arrive for school in the morning. There is so much magic and wonder in the learning here. My child looks forward to going to school each day, and comes home with joyful experiences and a full heart. I love the daily routines, heartfelt traditions, and the way my child is seen and heard as a person. I cannot recommend Boulder Valley Waldorf School enough.

Our older son (now 14) graduated from BVWS last year, having been here since his early years…read more Looking back, we're amazed at how the school shaped him -- not just academically, but as a whole person. He left with a strong foundation in math, science, and writing, but also with creativity, confidence, and a deep sense of compassion. The combination of academics, arts, music, and hands-on learning really gave him a well-rounded education that will serve him for life. Our younger son is now in middle school at BVWS, and he is thriving. Middle school can be a tough transition, but the small class sizes and dedicated teachers make such a difference. He feels seen, supported, and challenged in ways that bring out his best. The curriculum balances academic rigor with opportunities for growth through orchestra, theater, outdoor education, and practical projects -- things that keep him engaged and excited about learning. What stands out most is the sense of community. BVWS feels like an extended family where teachers, parents, and students truly know and support one another. It's a nurturing, values-based environment that helps children grow into capable, compassionate young people. We're grateful to have found a school that educates the head, heart, and hands -- and we would highly recommend BVWS to any family looking for something more meaningful than a traditional school experience.

Mountain Shadows International Montessori School is a phenomenal place for children to learn and…read moregrow. Head of School Lauren F, Assistant Head of School Jeff, and the entire teaching team are exceptional--caring, professional, and deeply committed to the Montessori philosophy. My son is in his fourth year at MSIMS and my daughter in her second, and both absolutely thrive here. It is also the only fully accredited AMI Montessori school in Colorado, offering a level of quality education you won't find anywhere else. I cannot recommend this school enough.

My daughter attended the school in 2020-2022 and our experience was far from positive. When we…read moretoured and applied in 2020, the school sounded fantastic. Unfortunately between the time we applied and the time we started, the seemingly wonderful head of school left and the board selected someone with no educational experience to replace them. A year later the other, fantastic, member of the original 2-person admin team left. My daughter started in YCC at 18mo. Several times my daughter came home with injuries (head injuries, bite marks) and no incident report or communication from the school. In 2022 we moved into one of the primary classrooms. My daughter initially had an ok experience in primary. But again we found out about several incidents from her that should have warranted an incident report, but never did. This culminated in her telling us that one child had hit and shoved her 3-4 times inn the course of a week. We of course brought this up and the teacher kept trying to tell us this was "normal behavior". We disagreed, and attempted to raise this with the head of school, who ignored us for weeks. In this time we had interactions with several other parents, where upon telling them of the issue we'd get responses like "oh, was it [kid]? My kiddo was getting hit by them too." One other parent told us their kid shook with anxiety about going to school and had to be kept home for a month as a result of bullying by this same kid. It became clear that the kid in question had bullied almost every other kid in the classroom, and the school had done nothing about it. Finally, we got a meeting with the head of school. He started by gaslighting us, telling us we were "complainers" and that he felt "nothing he could do would ever make us happy" - as if enforcing the school's own policies on bullying were too much to ask. We quickly ended the meeting after agreeing that the school would refund us the tuition we had paid for the two-month summer session we wouldn't be attending. The school refused to issue a refund until after the summer session, and then sent us ~$200. Half-day tuition at the school is ~$2,000/month. The refund is laughable and, in my opinion, an intentional fraud. In summary our experience was of an incompetent administration, classrooms that could not provide a safe learning environment for our child, a sudden termination of services and a wholly inadequate refund from a disingenuous head of school.

Starsong has been a fantastic place for our son to learn, grow and blossom into a toddler. Ms…read more Julie brings a unique warmth and a deeply thoughtful and caring approach. Her home presents a wealth of wooden toys and the backyard offers your child the opportunity to learn about the outdoors. You feel like you are leaving your child with a close family member whenever you drop him or her off. The kiddos learn to play together, cook, compost, share, communicate and enjoy the outdoors. So many wonderful things to say about our experience with Starsong.

I had my two year old in StarSong and he was always very happy to go. We had a smooth settling in…read moreand it was so sad to leave. Julie is calm, motherly, warm with lots of smiles and songs. It feels like home. I will highly recommend StarSong as a beautiful beginning to being away from home to the little ones. The setting has beautiful wooden toys and playroom. Healthy tasty warm food for lunch and an amazing garden with everything a child will want to play with.

Pay attention to the number of complaints/founded reports of child abuse made on the Colorado…read moreShines website and the frequent inability to pass inspections here: https://www.coloradoshines.com/program_details?id=001o000000JBEGGAA5 And save yourself from being in a situation where you are the next one calling and making a report for something that has happened to your child. Don't be surprised if this review is met with a defensive, minimizing, or manipulative reply - my personal experience predicts this will be the case. I have seen the director Michael on Facebook telling parents not to pay attention to the Colorado Shines website to me that should be a Red Flag they not only have something to hide but are actively working to hide it. For a school that has been around since 1970 you would think they could pass an inspection by now without manipulation or paying someone - see photos.

The Little Red School House, as Children's House is so lovingly referred to in our family, has been…read morethe only preschool I've sent my children to (once they reached 2 1/2) upon arriving in Boulder, from an inner city environment 4 years ago. My oldest, who is now going into 1st grade, was in need of a lot of stimulation outside of the home when he was little. He was one of those very active, curious kids always seeking out new adventures and interests. The education staff took great care in feeding that curiosity from the first day. Their story book journey curriculum is a tested and proven method (see Ashley Merriman's and Po Bronson's, Nurture Shock) for early childhood education success across all areas of learning, whether it be speech, pre literacy, social awareness, personal development, gross/fine motor etc. My husband and I beamed when our 3 year old son came home with books on sharks for us to read to him from the school and started memorizing facts and reciting them to friends and relatives. It seemed he had met his match. As an elementary age kiddo he has flourished into a very kind, loving, enthusiastic and confident student. I give a lot of credit for that to Elaine, the director at Children's House. Our youngest son will be starting his final year at CHP in the fall. He has developed so much from their care by learning self confidence, self reliance and finding his own voice. He is now looking forward to being a leader for next years students and I know he will continue to thrive in this loving, nurturing environment. A point worth making is that it is a one room school house meaning the children are of mixed ages together throughout their day. I can only speak from my family's experience but it has been wonderful to watch our children flourish as they get older, growing first from silent observer, to active participant and lastly to confident leader. The one room serves as a wonderfully safe and creative environment to explore through play, art, music, and pre literacy story telling. While it is a very active and diverse classroom, each child really does find their own sense of peace and space to grow within it. Children's House Preschool has been a very, very positive experience for my family.

This is my son's first year at Mt. View Preschool and we absolutely love it!! The care the teachers…read moreshow the students is remarkable. We love how bright and colorful all the classrooms are. The playground is wonderful and a safe place for kids to play at. We love the low turnover rate among the staff and teachers (most have been at the school for 15+ years). I would highly recommend Mt. View to anyone looking for a warm, caring environment for their preschooler to learn and grow.

I love Mt. View preschool - and more importantly so do my kids! This is my daughter's second year…read more She loves all the teachers. She is treated very well and has fun. They have a great program for early childhood development. They even take time to have the teachers do a home visit so they can get to know each child a little better in their own environment. My son loves the Mommy & Me class where we get to spend time together playing, creating, and enjoying the music class within it. They both feel at home at Mt. View. My daughter has the same teacher that our neighbor's 24 year old son had - they have a phenomenal teacher retention rate! I recommend this school to everyone! And it's even very reasonably priced! The kids and other parents are great, too. I have nothing bad to say.

We love Snow Lion very much! Our kids have been there for a year and we could not be happier. They…read moreare thriving there and are each able to delve into what interests them most. The teachers all love and value each individual child. Their handling of conflicts is excellent and they are building lifelong interpersonal skills in our kids. The students are encouraged to check in with themselves and others in a way that teaches both compassion and self-care. Our kids have very different personalities and they are both getting just what they need at Snow Lion, whether it is creative art projects or active outdoor play. Their relationships with the other kids and with their teachers are very positive and caring. The community of parents is close knit and I have made several great friendships as well as having a fun group for playdates. While being a play-based school, there is simultaneously a lot of intention behind the activities, run by deeply experienced and wise teachers. Parent nights offer incredible food for thought as we all travel together along this amazing journey of raising happy, empowered and compassionate children.

From the owner: At Snow Lion Preschool we nurture the process of self-discovery and loving kindness towards oneself…read moreand others. Just like the children and families in our community, our school overflows with joy, compassion, generosity, and self-reflection.

This is one of the most welcoming, warm, safe and engaging places I've ever found! We discovered…read more Dream Makers when our summer nanny had to take a last min trip back East. My daughter was 4 years old and had never ever been to daycare. Needless to say I was nervous and scrambling. We reached out to a number of places that were great but had a policy about booking two days prior, or really scary spots that took same day care (picture strip mall). To our luck Deb from Dream Makers reached back to me. I filled her in over email and she sent back the following: "If her shots are up to date, and you have the paperwork we would be happy to have her." I looked at their website (which does not do it justice) reread the email and confirmed. I should also pause here to note part of the reason I did not put my daughter into daycare was that I worked at Wellesley College in the Center for Research on Women - on a longitudinal study of daycares in MA. So not only am I a bit of an expert in what quality center care is BUT I've seen enough to be very weary. We arrived on our first morning (signed up for a week) and I was BLOWN away by the warm welcoming environment it is a multi room space filled with toys, science, nature, dress up books and love. It's an open air space where the children can play inside or outside fluently. This is RARE! It had a backyard overlooking the Boulder River with a rocktship, magical climbing rocks (have to see for yourself) and art eagles set up facing the river!! The staff was engaging, my daughter had the BEST time. They had super healthy snacks, the center is clean and safe. My daughter loves this "camp" so much that we could not imagine a summer without them!

I am a doctor and the child health consultant for this school, and I highly recommend it to my…read morepatients (over other preschools) for 3 main reasons: 1. This is the only preschool I know of in town that takes a Love and Logic approach to teaching the children. Love and Logic is a parenting method that empowers children to make choices and decreases tantrums and power struggles, and I recommend it to all of my families with difficult children. It's very important to practice Love and Logic consistently in ALL of the child's environments, i.e. at home AND at school. 2. They have a small class size and low ratio of instructors to students (1:5) which is also the best I've found in town, and that allows them to really focus on each child, and allow each child to develop to their full potential at their own pace. 3. They haven't had an outbreak of ANY infectious disease (not even strep, flu, or hand-foot-mouth) in the 15 years that they've been open. I see outbreaks run through most preschools, but never this one! The school is always very clean, and the children learn about hand washing and preventing the spread of germs. Now I'm a new mom, and I plan on sending my little girl to this school when she turns 2!

The Greater Boulder Youth Orchestras provide a variety of opportunities for young musicians to…read moredeepen their musical skills and passion and to engage the community through performances of the highest possible artistic level. Like most youth orchestras, this is a non-profit organization set up to further supplement the band or orchestra experience in public or private schools. Kids who participate in this really enjoy music and appreciate the fact that their peers practice and want to play and explore challenging and beautiful pieces together. Here's what I love about this group - Unlike some club sports (soccer, etc), this group encourages and even requires kids to remain involved with their school musical organization (thus they don't strip players from the schools). - The instructors/conductors are OUTSTANDING, they are funny, patient, really insightful and creative. They play a fair share of world premieres, pieces composed by local composers or kids, great classics, etc. I don't know how they did it but GBYO has a terrific staff starting from their manager Brian Jack, a super friendly, funny and thoughtful world class bassoonist. - The rehearsals are on Monday night and are fun, but efficient. This organization recognizes that students are busy and have a lot to do and really honors their time. They have a growing mentor program so not only do the kids play in a full ensemble, sectionals (for example wind and brass break off to play their own pieces), but they even break down to small groups led by U of Colorado mentors (often graduate students). There are also chamber opportunities, etc. - Performances are usually in the Macky. This is kind of a cool, exciting venue for the kids to play in. - They key players into all kinds of playing and listening opportunities around Colorado. Anyway, we're super psyched that we found this organization. GBYO rehearsals are easily my child's favorite part of the week.

From the owner: The Greater Boulder Youth Orchestras provide a variety of opportunities for young musicians to…read moredeepen their musical skills and passion and to engage the community through performances of the highest possible artistic level.