I took classes with three different instructors. Sandra and Jaci were great! Do not take any…read moreclasses with Sherry Nelson. She is a horrible instructor that mocks students and gossips about the staff and owner.

No adult-only classes. Adults are thrown in with children, teens, families. Class isn't really a…read moreclass. There are people doing either watercolor or pencil or graphite or pastels or oils -- all in the same class. So each person picks out a subject to draw or paint, then the teacher walks around trying to help each student. It's too bad, because there are lots of older adults in the Salmon Creek area who are having to drive downtown to take art classes so they can be with other older adults and a teacher who teaches. Also agree with other review that it is very disorganized. Very hard to find out when and what their classes are, and the quality of the teachers, mostly very young 20s, varies widely. I had one teacher who would just sigh heavily and shake her head when she would look at my painting, but offer no help other than that I needed to buy some expensive oil paint when I was trying to learn in acrylic paints that I'd already spent money on. Plus there's no phone number listed for the Salmon Creek school, only the personal cell number of the business owner at the south location, who won't give out any information about classes until you give him all your personal information and then says he'll have someone from Salmon Creek call you back. Horrible way to do business. I think they're not interested in adults, only in getting more children in.

My kid and I had a great time at the Learning Garage. It's very open-ended creating and was great…read morefor my daughter to just be able to make whatever her heart desired! But also had a suggested craft laid out for those that don't have as much inspiration. There is also some fun kids stuff in the back for them to play with if they get bored or finish their craft before everyone else. Really glad a new kid friendly activity place has opened up near me.

My daughter did a Kpop Demon Hunter craft and karaoke pizza night here and had a great time. All…read morethe kids were super jazzed when I saw them at pick up time and didn't want to leave as they kept playing music and dancing. The owner is a delight and great with the kids.

Come to the Arts Desire for the best painting class in the Portland Orego/Vancouver,Washington…read morearea. Beverly is an excellent instructor and a wonderful Artist in her own right . she teaches Watercolor, Oil, and Acrylic painting. if you're missing any supplies she has a complete art store on the premises. Her instruction prices are unbelievably low . At the time of this writing, she charges $15 for a 3 hour class. It has to be the lowes cost for classes in the area. Dont let the price fool you, however, Bev is the best instructor I've been to or seen on the internet and I've seen A LOT. The other classes I've either taken or priced in the area are $20-$100 per hour or more. If you love to paint and would like to improve your craft you owe it to yourself to take classes. And from the best: Bev Birdwelll at Arts Desire. On St Johns in Vancouver near the old High School Pharmacy.

Looking to improve your painting skills in a relaxed environment? Bev offers classes from the…read moreinexpensive brush up or beginning classes to the well worth it more expensive classes from nationally known art instructors, some of which you may have seen on TV. If you are short on supplies, she also has those for sale. It's a fun way to learn or improve (I have taken classes with beginners and experts that are there to improve their skills, learn new techniques or just to paint with others.). I always enjoy the class. I'm not a professional but have been going to her classes or those near my former residence on the east coast with the same traveling art instructors for about 20 years. Go, you'll be glad you did.

My wife and I have been taking weekly pastel classes here on Wednesdays with Barb, we've learned a…read morelot and have been having an absolute blast. Everyone in the class is so incredibly kind and encouraging, so it's a really positive and uplifting environment to be part of. This class is a fantastic way to express yourself and relax, it really helps a lot with my anxiety, and helps me appreciate the beauty in imperfections. The store itself also has a large variety of art supplies so we always shop here when we need to restock colors and materials.

Saw this on the news, what a great concept. Horrid employees. Very unwelcoming for no reason…read more Rolled her eyes as we walked in. As a person of color, this did not feel right. Why hang art if you do not want people to come in and look at it? Especially in a mall.

My 5 year old son is in Kindergarten (Kalama) at the Gardner School and absolutely loves it. He has…read moreattended Gardner since the 3 year old preschool, Tum Tum. A few brief facts about Gardner School: preschool through 8th grade, maximum student capacity of 120, 5 bucolic acres with view of Mt St Helens and a wetlands, integrated curriculum (more on this later), explicit inter-grade interactions. The philosophy of the school is that children have 8 distinct intelligences: Verbal/linguistic, math/logic, spatial, kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalist. Acknowledging that each child has each of these in varying degrees, they teach material through each of these lenses to ensure that each student has the opportunity to learn and excel in a manner best suited to them. Part of this involves teaching subjects that have virtually disappeared from public education: art, music, physical education. Reinforcing the idea that people are at different levels and learn in different ways and speeds are the mixed-age classrooms. The classrooms combine 1st grade with 2nd grade, 3rd with 4th, 5th with 6th, and 7th with 8th. An interesting side-effect of all this is that the students learn empathy. In addition to the integrated curriculum, the school has thematic studies that apply across the entire school, a great example is when the school was studying birds. The preschoolers each picked a kind of bird to be, crafted a costume, and talked about how their bird is adapted to the environment ( my son: "I'm a heron, and with my long beak I eat fish and frogs." ). This was immediately after performing The Hungry Caterpillar in Spanish. Another classroom painted watercolors of local birds that they had seen through their romps in the wetlands. My mother, who is a retired elementary art teacher, was blown away at the high level skill of all of the images, and then utterly floored when it was pointed out that they were done by 1st and 2nd graders. The 3rd and 4th graders wrote and performed a series of shadow puppet plays about how certain birds interacted with their various ecosystems. Another example of the integrated curriculum is the art projects of cell structures done by one of the classrooms--science isn't limited to just the science class and art isn't limited to just the art class. Our son has found the inter-class interactions to be very enriching. These interactions are both explicit and ad-hoc. The classes are assigned buddies in other classes. The Kindergarteners (Kalama) are paired with a 7th or 8th grader (Tahoma) and the 4 year old preschool children (Mazama) are paired with a 3rd or 4th graders (Wy'East). At various times throughout the term, they'll have special buddy activities. Additionally there's a fair amount of unstructured time for the students to interact together either in the form of Open Choice (where the students have options of what they'll do for the day and decide themselves which to do) and After Care. The end result is that 1) my son is obsessed with playing soccer (mostly with the older children insisting on being goalie and that the older kids "shoot on him"), 2) he learned to play chess, and 3) he's really into sea creatures like sharks, whales and squids. Another interesting side-effect is that it seems to much more rapidly increase the children's vocabulary (my 5 year old came home yesterday talking about "topographic maps") and comfort interacting with children younger and older and adults. Our son's class cohort is filled with great children and wonderful, genuine parents. We've become good friends with several, and our son during the first day of a long weekend trip said, "I miss J*** [another student] already." It isn't all rainbows and unicorns though. Like Portland in general, Gardner skews fairly white, but (anecdotally--I don't have any hard numbers) Gardner is seems a bit more diverse than the ambient population. Gardner can also be a significant time and financial commitment. While preschool tuition is extremely competitively with many other programs throughout the greater Portland metro, each family is expected to participate in the school and volunteer helping with events and around the school. From Kindergarten on, tuition is a bit higher, but still quite competitive with other area independent schools. Also, for us, driving from Camas to Salmon Creek everyday can be a bit of a grind, which is somewhat alleviated by carpooling and Waze. No place is perfect though, and, for us, Gardner School is the optimal fit for our needs and values.

Run as fast as you can from Gardner Arts and Science School. Your child deserves better…read more As a concerned parent, I need to warn families about Gardner Arts and Science School's serious problems, problems rooted in the current head of school's complete lack of leadership. She is indecisive, dismissive, and out of touch, leaving teachers to create their own curriculum without any real standards. Most students test below state levels, and many need tutors just to keep up. This is unacceptable for the most expensive private school in the area. Families are leaving in droves, even mid-year, because the instability and poor leadership put their children's education and emotional health at risk. This chaos echoes the split five years ago when half the board and many teachers left to start Lupine. The school board is ineffective, and parents have no real support. If you care about your child's future, don't send them here. The head of school's incompetence is driving this school into the ground.

We enjoy it and have loved this place for years. Wifi for parents. Kids love it. Snack Bar is…read morereasonable. Daughter did gymnastics here for several years and loved that experience. I wish the pool was more accessible, useable for free swims (likely keeps maintenance down and expensive draining session when an errant turd slips out?), but other than that the recent upgrades on the jungle/playground make it still a fun spot for my daughter. Also, I like the bathrooms - they seem safe, great design for people of all heights, UV drying blowers, and it feels safe... like no creepy creepers are slipping in there unnoticed. All in all - we prefer this to other locations in the region/area

So far this place is great!…read more Signed my 4 year old up for swimming classes. The pool is heated and the room is warm. My son loved it and enjoyed the class so much. After his class they gave him ribbons that said he was ready for the next class and one for completing his 1st swim class. He was so thrilled! They have so much to offer. Swimming, gymnastics is, preschool, huge indoor climbing gym for rainy days and holiday themed events. They have easy sign ups online as well. This place is AWESOME! I'm signing up my other 2 kids for swimming classes too. *** wish they would consider sibling discount, even 5%-10% would be nice Check them out!