We started my son at Goddard in Redmond Ridge when he was around 8 months and we've had an…read moreabsolutely amazing experience. Just like most new moms, I was very nervous leaving my baby and going back to work but the Goddard staff made us so comfortable from the beginning by providing kind, supportive, educated communication. The owner, Shauna, and the entire administrative staff are fantastic. Very hands on and with great communication, always open to answering questions and providing updates. The teachers in the infant class are caring, loving and provide a safe environment for babies to grow and explore. My son moved from the infants to toddler room a few months ago and the teachers in toddler class (Squirrels) are just as amazing. They do such a great job of taking care of the kids, teaching them, making connection with them and making sure they have fun. We were amazed when my son started doing sign language to communicate and it seems like he is learning something new everyday. He loves going to school and he loves his teachers, and enjoys the wide range of activities specially music class and going out. It has been an incredible journey for us to see him grow and learn new things and we owe it to the fantastic team at Goddard. We highly recommend The Goddard at Redmond Ridge to anyone looking for a safe and caring daycare and school with high standards.

This place is absolutely amazing! We started going to Goddard at Redmond Ridge when my daughter was…read morearound 6 months old and she's now almost 2. Every teacher, every staff member is so kind, caring, friendly and understanding. We've really connected with everyone and my daughter has such an amazing bond with her teachers. This to me is priceless. Shout out to Miss Eilish, Joanne, Stephanie, and Mayra for their love and patience with our spunky little girl. On top of wonderful people, the curriculum and activities are so good for her! She learned sign language, foundational concepts like sharing, saying please and thank you, and fun things like painting and music! They've handled the Covid-19 crisis like pros and we feel very comfortable with the extra measures they take to make sure everyone stays healthy. You really can't find a better place than here.

We have loved our time at The Goddard School. Our daughter started in February, and she excelled…read moreduring her time there. She has loved being in Miss Chloe's class and is excited to go to school every single day. She is also learning so much. Ms. Carmen always has something nice to say as we come in which makes the day even better. In the beginning we were nervous about COVID and safety, but Kamal and Olivia were wonderful. The kids all wore masks, and had daily temperature checks. It has been a wonderful experience from start to finish. I cannot recommend this school highly enough.

Incredible curriculum (begins even in the infant room!), caring teachers and very secure building…read more Our son is really advanced for his age, much due to the environment of Goddard Bellevue. We have called this "school" vs. other places being a "day care" given the attention to detail of childhood development. The school directors, owners and staff are very approachable, warm and have a fantastic attention to detail. You really feel you are amongst family when you are attending this school! We particularly appreciate the beautiful art in each classroom that each student contributes to (and it is constantly changing with each season and highlights cultural celebrations from all over the world!), the Scholastic Book Fair, the Soccer Shots and Webby Gymnastics partnerships, and countless family events they plan! We have toured all the top schools in the area and continue to enroll at Goddard Bellevue for a reason!

This preschool is a fun and engaging place for children to grow and learn. This was the first…read morecommunity my family came to in the United States. Although my daughter could not speak English at all, she had a fun preschool experience with many friends and teachers. I really appreciated the support from the teachers.

An intimate environment where children can learn though a "play based" curriculum that introduces…read moreeducational concepts to children between the ages of 2 1/2 to pre-K. It builds a solid foundation for entering into formal, public or private, education system. The teachers are dedicated to providing the best early learning skills to each student. I love the changing environment and introduction of new concepts plus the spacious and fun outdoor area. This school has been in continuous operation for over 50 years in Kirkland. It is not daycare but a beautifully constructed learning environment that introduces your child to the excitement and adventure of learning.

Sammamish Children's School is our two-year old's home away from home. Every morning when he wakes…read moreup, he's excited to go 'play with friends' at 'new school'...he's been attending for two months, but this is his name for school. Our son is in the 'Dippers' class, and his teacher, Ms. Melissa and assistant teacher, Ms. Bella, are amazing. There are stations setup each morning with age appropriate and engaging activities (water play, sand play, Mr. Potato Head, etc.) which our son loves! There's music class every Monday and Thursday, an amazing outdoor play space on acreage, and nutritious, diverse meals served. Emotionally - Ms. Melissa and the staff helped reinforce preparing our son for the arrival of his baby brother by talking about being a 'big brother' and reinforcing our son's role in our family. It made the transition of bringing baby home more exciting than nerve racking. Above and beyond a typical school experience in my opinion. Operationally - SCS also has many less closure days than some of the schools my friends kiddos go to in the area, so much more predictable for work schedules. It did take us a little over 7-months to get off the wait list, but Ms. Kelly (assistant director) was awesome at helping us plan for a reasonable date to possibly join. I cannot say enough positive things about this school, the faculty, the activities, the food, and overall experience. Highly recommend to any families looking for a long-term 'home' for their kiddos.

The absolute best! Both of our kids have gone from 1 year old day care all the way through…read morekindergarten at SCS and it's the best money we've ever spent. Great Teachers (even at the early age, 1-2-3, they have a curriculum) Well run operations (sign ups, billing, updates) Awesome chef (yes, they feed the kids healthy food, you don't need to pack fruit by the foot) Safe! (Before, during, and all the way through the pandemic) The kids love it and it's really set them up for success.

Both of my children have gone to camp here all summer, on and off. Danielle is an excellent…read moreteacher, and has a way with kids. She really connects with them. As a mother of three young children herself, she really gets it -the kids, being a mom, all of it. She's womderfully flexible and laid back. I love this place and highly recommend it to everyone I meet.

My daughter went to Bellevue Country Day School for two years of preschool. Teachers are great,…read morenice mix of structured and self directed activities. Positive experience, would highly recommend. Many great memories and friendships made here. Especially the mom's day tea! We have since moved away and am having difficulty finding another program that quite measures up.

I don't know why it's taken so long (about four years) for me to review this place, but it deserves…read moreabout five-star "as good  as it gets" review.  My boy was there from about 18 months until almost three years old, and really appreciated the place, particularly after mixed experiences with a subsequent Montessori school. It is open to children from 15 months to 6 years old.  The facility is the basement of a large residential home. The owner-headmaster of the school (and a much school in Issaquah) lives upstairs. The entrance is around the back, shielded by the house from the street noise of Bel-Red Road. Access from the parking lot is by a nicely landscaped boardwalk.  The schoolyard is securely fenced, with lots of forested natural scenery outside the fence. The highlight is a stream called Country Creek, through the corner of the school's property. (It starts near Cascade View Park and flows into the Sammamish River.) The city has it marked as salmon spawning habitat, but I haven't seen its salmon run. Indoors, there's a toddler school room, and preschool room, and some office and other private space. Both classrooms were brightly lit and cheerful even in the gloom of winter. They were spotlessly clean -- and our boy was there before pandemic. It was well equipped, with learning materials organized Montessori-style.  The teachers were dedicated and caring, and because of the small classes they always had abundant time for the children. And because the owner is a Montessori teacher who lives upstairs, a familiar substitute was always available when teachers needed days off.  Communications were excellent: a simple form with a few little status updates, written notes about anything unusual during the day and scheduled events ahead, plus availability to talk about any concerns at pick-up time. (They weren't champions with e-mail, but better at it than a subsequent school.)  A highlight event (scheduled well in advance so parents could see their kids' delight) while our boy was there was a visit from a mobile petting zoo. A truck (maybe more than one) arrived one day with rabbits, goats, sheep, assorted other animals -- and a pony. Their staff set up cages and hand-wash stations, and let the kids interact with the animals. In the parking lot, kids took turns riding the pony. Now I want to look at my photos and videos and share them with our boy.  The tuition was very affordable. In part, that's probably because it shares overhead with the owner's house. But it's also due to the place's one inconvenience, that parents had to send lunches when dropping off the children.  A note about Montessori schools in general: the learning style is exploratory and largely self-directed. Budget permitting, I think it's ideal for most toddlers and preschoolers, except for some with special needs. But it's not such a clear choice for elementary school and up; if a child absorbs a strong sense of self-motivation to work at school, it's superior. If not, a conventional classroom with stronger guidance may be a better fit. But Prime Time enrolls kids during the early years when Montessori is best for most children.  In retrospect I wish we had kept him there until he was too old, but we had previously wait-listed him at another Montessori school (which provided excellent lunches). Our reasoning had been to transfer him while he was little, to get the disruption of changing schools over with earlier. But as it turned out, the pandemic was a vastly greater disruption to children (and adults) of all ages.  After all that praise -- and the observation that the inconvenience of sending lunches was balanced by the very reasonable price -- I feel comfortable giving Prime Time a five-star "as good as it gets" without any concerns about grade inflation.

Great school with small classrooms! Loving teachers. They provide a very clean and nurturing…read morelearning environment and really love the kids! The playground area is very beautiful and offers lots of things for the kids to do.

We had a very disappointing experience at Living Montessori and would not recommend this school to…read moreparents in the area. The school enforces a very strict 9:00 a.m. arrival policy--if you are even one minute late, your child is not allowed to enter. This policy was never clearly communicated during the tour, so parents should read the contract very carefully. Even for doctor's appointments, they expect everything to be completed before 9:30 a.m. and require advance notice. For children under four, who frequently get sick, this lack of flexibility is unreasonable and unrealistic. The extracurricular programs were also a waste of time and money. My son was enrolled in soccer classes (ages 8-10), and we never received any weekly updates, photos, or videos. Despite repeatedly asking for feedback, we were never informed about how our son was doing in these classes. The administration was another major issue. Our interactions with Aliya were extremely frustrating. The school is holding $3,600 of our money and refusing to either refund it or apply it toward our son's tuition. We had to delay our younger son's start date for personal reasons, and Aliya confirmed via email that the $3,600 could be used whenever our son started. They have since changed their stance and are now refusing to honor that agreement. Please be very cautious before committing to this school, as they seem to find every possible opportunity to keep parents' money. We moved our elder child out within a few months, and he is doing significantly better at a different Montessori school.

Highly unprofessional and misleading conduct. My son was admitted to the center, and I paid a…read moredeposit of over USD 3600 to secure the spot. The original start date was set for the end of the year. When my plans changed, I contacted the center to request a revised start date. I was explicitly assured, both over email and verbally, that this would be accommodated and that the deposit would be carried over. The center has now reversed this position and is not honoring those commitments. They required us to repeat the tour, during which the staff member conducting it was dismissive and disrespectful. They are also requesting an additional assessment. When I asked whether the deposit would be refunded if the assessment was unsuccessful, they explicitly refused. Withholding such a significant amount of money under these circumstances is unacceptable and raises serious concerns about their business practices. This reflects poor ethics, lack of transparency, and unprofessional handling of families. Commitments made in writing and verbally were not upheld.

My 5 and 3 year old both go to KCS.  KCS is like a second home.  Everyone is so warm, welcoming,…read morecaring, and genuinely love kids.  Many of the faces I see there were there when my eldest first started 4 years ago.  If I start naming names, it would be a huge list because everyone I have encountered at KCS have been amazing.  When we walk in the hallway even teachers from other classes tend to know my kids names and give us a warm welcome as we pass by.  I am always in such awe of the curriculum, and way they are always changing the layouts in the classrooms with exciting ways to play and bring alive learning experiences.  Their in house kitchen makes such delicious homemade food for the kids that I wish I could eat there as well! They have such an impressive array of outdoor/playground areas for the kids to enjoy in rain or shine. I could not imagine a more well run daycare!  They really know what they are doing!!! They were great at keeping up with latest Covid recommendations from the state for daycares and communicating the updates to everyone as clearly as possible. My friends with kids elsewhere would ask me about KCS Covid guidelines, and were always so impressed with how well KCS managed the craziness of the past couple years. I am sad that my eldest will be leaving KCS, but happy my youngest has another couple years.  Today was the last day of the school year, and my kids' teachers gave such touching cards and gifts to my kids for them to remember the year.  Thank you to everyone at KCS!  One of the best choices I ever made was deciding to send my kids here!

Our oldest daughter is a proud graduate of Kirkland Children's School. Over the last four years, we…read morehave felt so grateful that our daughter was able to attend KCS. Each of her classes was a warm, nurturing environment that promoted learning and true connection between students and their teachers. The staff at KCS was also a pleasure to deal with throughout our time at the school. Finally, I have to commend KCS on their handling of the difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. KCS was very conscientious in the application of health and safety precautions throughout this period, and the staff was very flexible as health guidelines continually changed. Overall, I couldn't recommend KCS more, and we will miss everyone there as our daughter moves on to first grade!