oth our kids have attended Cascadia since PreK. We had heard about this wonderful institution from our colleagues and were very intentional in our choice. Mrs Keeton's leadership and high bar for the teachers and students is amazing. Cascadia provides our kids with a safe environment (home away from home) where there is focus on academic rigor but also on whole child development. Mrs Keeton and all the teachers/staff genuinely care for the children and set a high bar for them both academically and socially. It is also very well recognized amongst other middle/high schools of the region (Overlake, EPS, Lakeside, Eastside Catholic etc) and Cascadia alum have made great impressions at these schools. If you are looking for a nurturing yet academically rigorous school, this is your place! read more

My both kids attended Cascadia and we thoroughly enjoyed our journey through Cascadia. Cascadia not just provides strong academic environment, but also overall development of the child - development in terms of social, emotional, public speaking, creative writing, confidence building, respect for others. The director of the school knows each child personally and involves actively in the child's development. Cascadia is a small, closed, connected community which differentiates Cascadia from many other schools in the area. Some might consider the smaller school size and lack of at-school activities to be drawbacks, but that did not bother us as our kids always had time to pursue their interests outside school as well. Our kids are not at Cascadia anymore, but they look forward to meeting teachers and other kids at every opportunity possible. Even after our kids graduated from the school, parents still try to keep in touch and help each other. We are pretty fortunate that our kids attended Cascadia and thankful to teachers and Mrs. Franklin. read more

Cascadia Montessori School (Redmond) is an amazing school. My kids have loved their experience there. The student/teacher ratio is low, with top notch teachers plus low turnover. What distinguishes the school in my opinion is it's focus on developing the whole child - academically and socially. It's has the right amount of academic rigor (very reasonable daily homework plus school work) and personal attention to the kids' needs (socially, developmentally). As the kids progress to the higher grades, the teachers are excellent in instilling a greater sense of responsibility, independence, and critical thinking. You truly see the difference grade by grade. All the kids are really respectful, nice and driven. As parents, we've loved the community feel too among parents and kids. Mrs. Franklin cares a lot about the kids and you can see it in her daily interactions with them. They love and respect her. My daughter has since graduated and all her peers have gone on to be accepted at top schools - public and private. Cascadia has a strong reputation. It's a hidden gem that we found only through word-of-mouth. Highly recommend the school. read more

When we were looking at elementary schools, our goal was to find a community that would take a whole child approach to education -- nurturing their character and curiosity as well as their intellect. We're grateful to have found that at Cascadia Montessori School. As parents We all have similar dreams for our children.For them to grow to be creative, independent thinkers who regard learning not only as a core strength but as a life-long passion. For them to be continually inspired, and in turn, inspire those around them. And most importantly, for our children to be happy and resilient as they grow to pursue their own path. Every year, we watch our daughter realize a little more and more of those dreams with a sense of awe and profound gratitude at Cascadia. What makes Cascadia are its people. Cascadia's leadership is visionary, intent on building a long-lasting educational institution. Most of the teachers are extremely good, and many are exceptional. I can name countless outstanding, caring teachers who taught my daughter. Cascadia has a refined system and process for almost everything. Things run very smoothly. Class size is very small. Children look forward to going to school every day . Excellence is practiced from the highest- to lowest-level detail. Cascadia is an investment toward exceptional academic, and social excellence . With stellar year over year results , backed by a solid teaching staff and highly respected Head of school Cascadia is no doubt a fabulous School in the eastside. My daughter graduates 4th grade this year I can't wait for my son to join the Cascadia family when he turns 4. read more

I want to share my wonderful experience at Cascadia Montessori School over the last 5 years. In our interview, Mrs. Franklin said that compared to the rest of the kids heading to K, my daughter was behind academically because of her delay in speech. (My daughter, Emily did not say the words "Mommy and Daddy" until 3.5 years old. Emily would point instead of talking.) Mrs. Franklin indicated that to help my daughter accelerate, parent involvement in the school and homework are essential, and her strict vacation policy is not negotiable. Nevertheless, Mrs. Franklin accepted Emily to Cascadia for K. Mrs. Franklin takes the time to talk to each parent on the progress of their child. If your kid is doing well, she will tell you. If you kid is doing poorly, whether it is academically, an attitude adjustment or something not right, she will tell you. She spends time with every child, knows their behavior, strength and areas for improvement. The kids in Cascadia are loved, they treat their teachers and classmates with respect. The kids do not use foul language in school or at home. They are happy, idealistic, safe and can be kids at this age. At the same time, they are learning so much. Each summer starting from pre-K to 3th grade, the kids are given packets for the summer so that they will retain the work and not have to spend 2 months re-learning the work in the fall. The kids learn to type in 1st grade and proficient by 3rd grade. The kids start to write 3 to 5 to 10 page-type stories and essays by 3rd grade. By the 4th grade, the kids writing proficiency at the middle-school level. Fast forward to the present, Emily is in 4th grade. She is intelligent, witty, a vivacious reader and writer, and extremely talkative. My husband and I really appreciate the attention and love Cascadia Montessori has shown to our daughter. read more

Cascadia Montessori is very unique in every ways. When we first arrived at CMS 6 years ago, we were taken by its quietness and its old world charm. We were very impressed by how well the school was maintained by Mrs. and Mr. Franklin. Our decision of enrolling our daughter at CMS in pre- k was the best thing we did for our little girl. Cascadia Montessori provided a wonderful learning environment for our daughter. The school emphasized experiential learning, with a comprehensive yet flexible curriculum that has helped hone her mathematical and music skills, while also strengthening her communication and social skills. Math camps and coding classes allow her to challenge her math and analytical abilities. Music, drama and hip-hop classes are part of the regular school day and enable the musical and creative aspects of her personality to flourish. Cascadia has also gave our daughter a nurturing platform to grow socially and emotionally. The teachers are supportive and they feel like a part of our family. The teachers even take time out to attend concert performances outside of CMS. The classroom environment is intimate, with children of different age groups in the same class, and this has helped our daughter tremendously with her social development and leadership skills. Our daughter excelled at all the subjects taught at school. The curriculum covered helped her get good scores in the gifted programs in our district public school and she scored well in SSATs, an exam for placement in private schools. We were thrilled to know we had options to choose from to begin our journey for the middle school. Our daughter still calls Cascadia Montessori "my other home". read more

We have been a Cascadia family for 6 years, with one more year to go. My daughter just graduated from 4th grade and will be joining Overlake next year. My son is going into 4th grade. We have had very positive experiences at the school. The school principal, Mrs. Franklin, and all the teachers, are truly vested in making the children successful. For this, they: 1. Make an effort to understand the child's strengths and weaknesses. 2. Teach the kids any subject in a holistic manner. 3. Ensure that the kids learn the foundations of any subject, instead of making it a rote learning process. 4. Imbibe good social skills in all the kids. 5. Prepare the kids so that they can work hard, with discipline, and get things done. 6. Expose the kids to the arts (music, drama and dancing) and sports (soccer). The playground behind the school is very nice and the kids love to spend time there after school. And the parent community is very close knit and vested in creating a positive school environment. Highly recommend this school to anyone looking for a great elementary school on the Eastside. read more

Both my children graduated from Cascadia and went to the Gifted program in LWSD and Lakeside Middle School in Seattle. They loved the school and built strong friendships. The school does a great job at balancing academic excellence with liberal arts. I highly recommend to everyone who value great education. read more

You must understand that this school may be wonderful, but it is not a Montessori school. A Montessori school would have multi-age classes--at least a three year age span together. It would have a lengthy work time during which children can choose work. The children would not be doing lots of worksheets. If you want true Montessori, go elsewhere. read more

We liked Cascadia primarily because of the close knit academic environment - it's a smaller school and the principal, knows every child and their parents intimately. The teachers are highly experienced and they have been with the school for a long time. As our daughter grew from a nervous pre-kindergartner to a confident 4th grader, her teachers ensured a smooth transition from one class to the next. Cascadia offers an accelerated academic program, often the children learn concepts at least 1 (if not 2) grade above their standard, yet the friendly and supportive environment ensures that they learn in a fun and challenging environment without adding undue pressure that would alienate them. At Cascadia children are introduced to technology at an early age. Each of the 3rd and 4th graders have their own laptops (thanks again to being a smaller school). 4th grade writing assignments need to be submitted online as word documents of PowerPoint presentations. One of their 4th grade group assignments was to operate a candy store - children were required to prepare a budget in Excel, create promotions in PowerPoint and to bake and sell goodies while adhering to a strict budget. 4th graders also write and maintain a school blog where they discuss topics and exchange e-mails with supervision from teachers and parents. Cascadia makes learning fun thru various school activities. Spring time school concert, Mother's day tea party, Father's day dessert, Halloween party and visit to local farms and arboretums to name a few of them. There are options to sign-up for after school activities such as Chess, Coding, Art and Bollywood dancing - we found these activities helpful, especially when we could not pick them up right after school. In addition, there is after school care which includes time for reading and homework. Cascadia also organizes summer camps and holiday camps for children,. As parents, you must be prepared to volunteer for school activities such as help with reading, science, chaperoning for school trips as well as volunteering for extra-curricular activities. Although it may seem as a chore- volunteering is a way for parents to be in sync with school and support children at home. Looking back at her 6 years at Cascadia, we could not have chosen a better school. Our only regret is that it only goes up to Grade 4. read more

Cascadia Montessori is surely one of the finest private schools in the eastside. My daughter attended that school from pre-kindergarten through 4th grade and I couldn't be happier for our decision to enroll her there and have her continue through the final grade in that school. Over the years in Cascadia Montessori School, my daughter has incrementally blossomed from being a very reserved and self-doubting kid to a confident and socially well-balanced girl, much to our delight and I would largely credit the school for her positive transformation. The school curriculum and the supportive environment offers an unique blend of academic, social and emotional development opportunities which nurtures well-roundedness in kids. The individual attention from the highly effective teachers in that school and their tailored approach based on the development needs of the kids have made the world of difference for my daughter as her progressive growth in self-confidence, creative writing skills, social and emotional intelligence has been so obvious to us as parents and her teachers alike.   Mrs. Franklin, who is the director of the school, has been instrumental in building a very close knit community with the kids, parents and teachers which fosters a very supportive environment and provides all the families with the much needed confidence that their kids are indeed in the best of hands. With Mrs. Franklin at the helm of affairs at Cascadia Montessori school, the school is poised to continue leading the charge in providing top notch holistic development opportunities for the kids in the eastside, in the months and years to come. read more