I'm an adult rider and have been riding for over a year. I knew nothing about horses and always had…read morea desire to learn and ride. Deb (owner & trainer) at The Riding School is fantastic, you aren't just thrown on a horse to ride (I've heard other barns do this), but you're taught how to groom and care for a horse. I can't recommend this barn/school enough as Deb and her amazing team are experts and teach you everything. Not to mention the relationship you build with the horses, love The Riding School!

My daughter loves it. The arena is great for rainy days. There's an area outside for sunny days…read moretoo. Deb is great.

We have been coming here for lessons for about 4 months now. My daughter loves it…read more The horses are well taken care of, they are well trained and very gentle. The facility itself is clean, as clean can be anyways. There are about 15 or so stables for the horses. Plenty of area for them to hang out too. There is an indoor and outdoor arena. The indoor arena is a little small and perfect for beginners and cold rainy days. The outdoor arena is large with jumping bars. We have Tracy as our instructor and boy can she do her job well. She has lots of patience with my daughter but she also knows when to challenge her to help her become a better rider. I totally recommend her for lessons. Overall this place is great, check it out if you have a chance.

I have fond memories of my several years riding at SWF from the end of my junior years into the A/O…read morehunters. I boarded a horse here for several years, leasing him to another client in the barn when I left for college and ultimately selling him with Shannon's help. The level of care is excellent; I never worried about my horse when I was not around, knowing he was in good hands. Shannon (the owner/trainer) lives on the premises and keeps a close eye on things. The horses are happy, healthy, and get regular turnout. I didn't realize that these basic things were so hard to find until I moved away and started riding elsewhere. In some areas, good turnout is nearly impossible to find. SWF also offers a beautiful, large outdoor ring, a covered round pen, and a nice new heated tackroom. The indoor arena is on the small side, but it's quite functional and it definitely teaches you to look through your corners and set up for every fence! In summary, SWF provides excellent horse care and training for hunters and jumpers, with well-maintained facilities and knowledgeable, reliable barn management.

My girls have been attending classes here for 3 years. They have come home with THE most amazing…read moreartwork! Jenean has done an awesome job challenging them to grow as artists!! They absolutely love to go and are always talking about how much fun they have when they are there. My 6 year old got to go for the first time this summer and she was over the moon about it. I just love to see how proud they are of themselves and see their smiling faces as they rush to show me what they did that day. It really is one of the best things I have found in Olympia.

It was a great experience learning to ride a horse for the first time! The owner could be…read morefriendlier to the animals and the customers but people are entitled to their personalities and life choices I will not hold her to it. She was also in really dirty clothes even if it's a ranch I just thought that was interesting from the hospitality perspective of business.

Fantastic experience with the trail ride here with Susan, the owner and trail leader. Most…read moreimportant to note- Know what you're signing up for! Susan is a lovely older woman who keeps her 3+ horses on her own on her expanse of land with love and care. She is definitely a bit gruff (as another reviewer mentioned) around the edges. Talked to her on the phone before meeting in person, and she's sweet in her own way and is passionate about her job taking care of horses and making people happy with her rides. Call to make an appointment at least 24 hours in advance, no walk-in's. Two riders at a time. Trail rides happen twice a day (11am and 1pm), lasting about an hour each. Won't be cancelled except in cases of heavy rain/severe weather. $40 per person for the hour. Can park on her property. No bathrooms nearby. Starts from the property and goes through trodden paths through the forest-y areas nearby. Susan provides the basics for getting on/off the horses, going uphill/downhill, and keeping pace. No experience needed. Just respect the horses and follow directions. The trails aren't the most picturesque, more like a neighborhood forestland. We went through narrow dirt trails and crossed a few streets with cars along the way. Wish there were more available slots per day, but I'm glad the horses get their well earned rest and hay after their shifts. Would definitely love to come back! tl;dr call phone to book with Susan from her website, $40 cash per person (as of March 2022) per person for an hour trail ride, no experience needed, 2 riders max, no special clothing needed (maybe no open toe shoes), take a warm bath at home afterwards!

First, this is not so much a review of foundations, but rather with CADENCE…read more regarding Foundations, The teachers are wonderful, especially Ms Sarah and Ms Demi, who are fantastic. The facilities are great, and so is the quality of education they provide. As far as the school goes, I give it a 5 put of 5. That said, recently they have been acquired by a company called cadence. Since then your kid will get sent home for the slightest reason. If they have a fever then it's mandatory three days out instead of 24. For some things it's 5 days. Nor will they accept results of a negative Covid test. Cadence's ridiculous policies puts a tremendous amount of strain on working parents that unfortunately offsets many of the great aspects of the school. In Cadence's defense they will refund some of your tuition back if your child is out for a long time.

The elementary program for this school is less than adequate. We are leaving foundations after my…read moreson's kindergarten year and are working diligently to get him to where we think he needs to be academically. I don't know if that is attributed to the program or the teacher; I know I am not the only parent coming out of this year that feels this way. They test the students on subjects they simply don't teach. And if they do - I hardly saw evidence. The communication with my son's teacher was lackluster at best. During a parent teacher conference, I asked a simple question about reading materials, and she completely shut down. She couldn't answer what the kids use to assist in reading, as I quickly discovered my son hadn't learned anything and needed to know how best to supplement at home. When I asked what materials they use, she stopped talking, put her hands in her lap, and looked down for a good minute. It was truly disturbing. it was as if someone unplugged her. My husband and I were very confused. Communication over day-to-day activities was also lackluster. One Friday, my son dropped his entire lunch (that we provided), and they did nothing to get him anything else to eat. Not even a cracker. Nor was it communicated to me that this had happened. I waited until Monday to ask if he had actually dropped his food, and his teacher did confirm it and told me she looked for some food for him, but 'nobody had any', which is odd considering the school has a chef. Another day I walked up to the playground to see my son eating leaves off the ground. A typical kid thing to do, but his teacher had no idea. Why? Well, I asked what she did when they were outside - in Discovery Park - a pretty heavily wooded area. My son told me she remained at the picnic table for most of their outside time. Then, after he ate a berry off the ground - I emailed again, looping in the program director. I was surprised that they had a berry-producing tree (that the students had full access to); I was told then that 'Obviously, a teacher cannot supervise each and everything all children do while in our care.' Considering there were 10 students, and usually an assistant on the playground with the teacher. I was shocked. One day I got to school early, poor timing on my part; not wanting to interrupt his playtime with friends, I waited in the parking lot where I saw that his teacher indeed sat at the picnic table. She didn't get up once in about a 40 minute period. She sat facing the parking lot, away from the wooded area. This also explained why my son came home with scratches all over his body, with no explanation. The school set some pretty impressive standards for covid, which, to be honest, is why we enrolled him. Those precautions went right out the window; I'd say a month or two into the program. As parents, we weren't informed of this. I know of one event that happened a WEEK into the program that was explicitly against their self-imposed covid protocols. Any time I tried to express my disappointment, or frustration I was met with justification. These are our experiences, and I can imagine that if I receive any response, it will invalidate the things we experienced and justify behaviors. To be honest, I was reluctant to even post this as a review as I feel like in my gut, somehow it could come back on my son. We paid good money for this program, and to come out of it having sent him to daycare his kindergarten year, I'm sure any parent can imagine both the disappointment and the resentment that we feel.

Our experience with Cadence Academy was extremely upsetting. The school claims to be NAEYC…read morecertified but doesn't reflect the values/standards that certification represents. My daughter is 3 and has ADHD and autism and they knew she had special needs and had behavioral challenges when we enrolled. Yet they would send her home after about an hour most days and would fully exclude her around two days a week, yet continued charging full tuition. This caused tremendous stress for our family -- emotionally, financially, and with our work schedules. The school felt extremely chaotic, with constant teacher turnover and little compassion or understanding for children with special needs. We never knew who her teacher would be or what room she'd be in- there was zero structure or educational enrichment. My 3-year-old daughter came home saying the teachers "didn't like her" and that she was "bad," which was devastating to hear. Since moving her to a preschool that truly values inclusion and care, she's thriving and happy again. I would never recommend this school to any family and will continue to share my experience with as many parent as will listen.

We have used Cadence academy for a little over 7 months and have been far from impressed. The…read morecurriculum for my 4 year old was almost non-existent. They have staffing issues which all centers are faced with currently but it made the center unreliable at times. They often had to shut down and ask parents to keep their kids home due to staffing (this happened on a monthly basis). They do not have cameras in the classrooms and with the constant turnover I am not sure that their staff is really properly trained to work with kids. Ultimately I believe daycare workers should be paid more to work with our children but that is another rant... My son hates to go to daycare and occasionally has referred to himself as a "bad boy" even though we have NEVER name called in our home. We had the last straw when we picked our son up from daycare and we walked in on a teacher restraining him. He was screaming and when we asked why he was being restrained it was because he was "running around and not listening". Further digging with our son we found out this isn't the first time they have held him down for basically no reason. There have been no incident reports given to us which is detailed in the parent handbook whenever a kid is restrained. I was so upset by this and worried for his welfare I called the director Shelby who didn't really have any solutions and promised to get back to me that afternoon. Instead of making this issue her top priority she, did NOT get back to me or look into it since it was a "busy day". I immediately yanked him from the daycare after that. (There have been other red flags but this was it for me).

DO NOT SEND YOUR CHILD HERE. All this place cares about is taking your money. Your child's safety?…read moreNOT GUARANTEED. That is exactly what they told me after my daughter was attacked by a new child at this daycare--twice. Initially, they told me it was just a "tiny scratch," but it was actually a deep laceration. It was so severe that we had to take her to the doctor, and it still hasn't fully healed. After the first incident, we were furious but hoped they would take measures to protect her. Instead, they allowed the same child to attack her again. When we asked what they would do to ensure this wouldn't happen a third time, they told us they "couldn't guarantee anything." Essentially, they admitted they cannot guarantee a child's safety. We had no choice but to pull her out immediately, even though we had pre-paid for the full month. Despite speaking with the owner, they have refused to refund the remainder of our tuition. It has been almost a year, and it still breaks my heart to see the scar on my daughter's face every day.

I've been sending my kids here for a few months and they've been thriving at the learning…read moreexperience. The teachers are amazing and my kids love them.

Amazing facilities and trainers! I sent my 10 year old daughter here for lessons and she loved it!…read moreTino is her favourite!