Our youngest son has been attending this school since he was 3.5 years-old and potty-trained. He…read morewas very ready to ditch his large daycare in downtown Issaquah Highlands. I found Aster when it was recommended by the director of Sno-Springs School, near our home. I was admittedly skeptical as I was not particularly impressed by other Montessori schools on the Plateau and in the Highlands. Ms Aparna and her assistant director worked with me and my wife to devise a plan to acclimate our son to their environment and routine. We started with part-time enrollment in their summer camp program. My son immediately loved their large grassy and wooded play area, which was 3x bigger than his old daycare's concrete one. We then continued with Aster into the school year. Although it was very difficult for him at first, Aster Montessori was very patient with our headstrong son's adjustment to Montessori. He quickly improved his social skills ("grace and courtesy") and made good friends at the school. He looked forward to going to preschool each day. As parents we are pleased that our son is achieving his language & math milestones with ease -- he is ahead of his older sibs when they were in preschool -- we are most excited that he's maturing as person. That is, he is starting to understand and regulate his rather challenging temperament. I just wish Aster had been around when our daughters were in preschool! Pros: Happy and eager classmates Low turnover among the teaching staff; they are experienced, too Great communication with parents at pickup, by e-mail and during conference. Clean and bright classrooms Big playground for a small preschool Nurturing environment Many attendance options available Amazing music teacher Cons: Montessori not a natural fit for every personality (like my son's?) Can be difficult to get to know other parents Once-a-month snack duty (ok, not really a problem) Only offers preschool-to-kindergarten (i.e., 3-year 3-to-6 y.o. cycle through Kindergarten)

My son has enjoyed Aster Montessori since the summer camp of July, 2021. He got a lot of love and…read morefriendship from his teachers and his classmates. We have a very happy experience here, and we can see great improvement in his social, emotional and academic development, especially after he started kindergarten. Aster Montessori provides a family-style environment which is very caring, safe and cozy. My son and I fell in love with it when we toured the school, and this turns out to be a really wise choice for us! All of his teachers are nice and helpful to all kids. They love and respect my son and they teach him a lot with great patience, especially his lead teacher, also director of Aster Montessori. My son learned a lot about plants, animals, continents, countries, food, weather, every aspect about nature and science. Besides, he learned how to write numbers, letters, words and sentences, and how to do addition, subtraction and even multiplication. Aster Montessori is an amazing school which really helps lay a solid foundation for kids. Also, the music program is superb, every school concert was very impressive! Highly recommend!

Pine Lake Co-Op Preschool has been amazing for my daughter. Play-based learning, exposure to…read moredifferent skills/activities and time spent outdoors playing makes my child beg to go to preschool! The teachers are wonderful and knowledgeable. Co-op model means great student-teacher/adult ratio and very affordable tuition. Getting to volunteer in the classroom has helped me learn more about child development and felt more confident as a parent. It is a great use of my time. There's a reason Pine Lake Co-Op Preschool has been a central part of the community for over 50 years! My daughter is a second generation PLCP student!

We moved to Sammamish in the middle of the pandemic, and I am so happy to have found Pine Lake…read moreCo-op Preschool (PLCP)! It is exactly what my son needed after being home for so long without regular interaction with other kids his age. At PLCP, we have found the perfect balance between flexible structure and the freedom to just play and be kids. Our family has had nothing but wonderful experiences the last two years with Teacher Kim! It's very evident that she is thoroughly experienced with these age groups and provides a variety of developmentally appropriate activities and lessons for the kids. There's no better feeling as a parent than seeing your child thrive in their first experience of school! I am grateful to have found a preschool where my son is safe, positively engaged with his peers and teacher, and excited to go to school each day. As a former K/1st teacher, I have no doubt that Pine Lake Co-op is a wonderful place for both you and your child to grow and learn together. The co-op model is unique and we have loved building connections with other families. Our younger one will be starting at PLCP in a few months, and we're so excited to see his education journey begin!!

We are so grateful to find Rising Mind for our 5 year daughter during covid. She was home and we…read morewere looking for something to keep her busy. We first started at Rising Mind with online classes and later we find the whole schedule and teaching classes really great for our daughter that we decided to put her in-person. School staff is so friendly and taking care of all covid measures so well. It is neat and clean and Mrs Radha make sure each parent and kid is healthy and doing good in their learning curve. My daughter loves the school and she never wants to miss a single day. Thanks to whole staff and curriculum prepared for kids growth. I would highly recommend this school for every kid who wants to learn and have fun at the same time

We are happy to send our toddler to the sprouts preschool at sammamish. Teachers are kind and…read morewelcoming and our kiddo loves to go to school. Ms. Preethi as well as other teachers are very affectionate with the children. They do crafts and sing songs and have a lot of playtime outdoors.

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.

Miss Eva has created a warm, loving and nurturing environment for kids to socialize, play and "be…read morekids". The home like atmosphere helps kids feel at home/ease. Our son enjoys/loves the freedom to be self-directed. At the same time, Miss Eva/Kristine are very well organized and have a plethora of art/creative/learning activities planned every day. These activities have traditional learning (math, reading/writing) integrated in a subtle/natural way. Miss Eva is great about communicating daily updates via mobile apps. Our son is having a blast! We recommend arTree without any reservations!

Ms. Eva cares about the students on an individual level. She is the owner of the school and wants…read moreto do a very good job. We have been to places where a care giver may care more about some students for whatever reasons (i.e., being more talkative or having more parent involvement), but we felt that she cares about every child. What she does every week is also very interesting to the kids as they do lots of hands on activities. She also share photos of the children every week that are fun to watch.

My daughter attended the toddler program at Arbor, and unfortunately, our experience was not very…read morepositive. From the beginning, she was reluctant to go to school, though at her age (3 years old) she couldn't clearly express why. On the administrative side, I often found communication confusing and overly bureaucratic. The primary care director frequently stepped in when issues arose in the classroom, but her messages did not always align with the teachers', and she did not appear to have decision-making authority. When we finally decided to withdraw our daughter after several difficult months, the process was particularly challenging. We submitted our withdrawal notice one day later than the contract required (on a Sunday rather than Saturday). While I acknowledge that this was our oversight, the financial impact was in the thousands of dollars, and the school was unwilling to make any accommodation. Discussions with the primary director, assistant head, head of school, and eventually the owner all reinforced the sense that policies were rigid and prioritized the business side over the child's well-being or the family's situation. I later spoke with another parent who had a very similar experience regarding withdrawal fees, which made me realize this was not an isolated case. To be fair, there are dedicated teachers at Arbor, and I know some children do well there. However, if challenges arise, families should be prepared for limited flexibility and a process that may feel more focused on contractual obligations than collaborative problem-solving.

very unfriendly, not welcoming staff. Atmosphere/ environment is dingy not well lit, a bit…read moredepressing in-fact. not family oriented and to say it lightly biased.

Our 1 year old has attended Evergreen Academy Montessori Issaquah since he was 4 months old and we…read moreabsolutely adore all his teachers. In the infant room he would always be so excited to see his teachers every morning, practically launching himself out of my arms reaching for them. And after a short adjustment period he is now doing the same to all his teachers in the toddler room! We have been super happy to see how well the teachers here have supported his development, helping him with everything from the major motor milestones like sitting, crawling and cruising, to things like using a sippy cup or handling a spoon. They also regularly share pictures in Tadpoles so we can see him playing with his friends, and even in the infant room would send home fun holiday crafts they did together in class. I also really appreciate that we actually feel like everyone knows us here - Miss Forozan is really hands on as Director. She's also organized fun community events for everyone, and sends out regular weekly updates. The teachers and staff here are all absolutely wonderful, we could not have asked for a better group of folks to trust with loving and taking care of our baby!

We've had our 4 yr old daughter at Evergreen for the past year and it's been a wonderful experience…read moreoverall. Ms Gowri and Ms Lucky are the best and our daughter loves being in their class and has grown and matured quite a bit in the past year. They run a very polished, tight, safe/secure ship there and she's learned so much this past year. We're very greatful to Ms Gowri and Ms Lucky and also to the admin-staff and support-staff as well!

As a fellow early childhood educator who has run a childcare program before, when I was looking for…read morea preschool for my son, I knew I wanted a play-based program where my child would have plenty of opportunities to explore and simply have a great time. We came across The Farmhouse School, and I was so excited. The philosophy is exactly what I hoped to find- Play-based, a focus on social emotional wellbeing, open-ended exploration, and great family support. My son had only been with me for his first three years of life, and I wasn't sure how he would take to being away from me, but he's done amazingly well so far. He is excited to go, and even asks to go on the weekend. He always has a big smile on his face while we head to school, and he tells me about how he plays with his friends at pickup. The teachers are all lovely and warm, and are very compassionate. They understand how to work with children and families to ensure the transition from home to school goes well. I can't say enough about the school. It's great, and I wish there were more schools like this in the area so more children could experience what best practices are for this age group!

The Farmhouse School is a charming and wonderful school. The teachers are very patient, kind, and…read morecontinuously ask the students great questions. Some favorite components of the school for my daughter was the rotation of exploratory areas and touch areas. For example, some weeks they have a big bin of leaves and other weeks they have interesting beads, or water play. Some weeks there are tables with writing with interesting things or ways to write your name or guess the smell in the cup. There is even a quaint writing center and student mailboxes for sharing letters. An important component is outside play everday no matter the weather. They have a wonderful outdoor play space complete with garden and live chickens. One of the most important aspects of the school is the teacher interation with the students. For ex: When students are telling a story, the teacher is writing down what they are saying or writes down titles or explanations of the artwork created by the students. The preschoolers feel respected and love that their ideas are seen as important. Last year the students were interested in collectively creating a bug hotel, they worked on this project all year. The teachers helped the students generate lists of what the hotel needed and they were continually creating collaboratively. For a few weeks the students were interested in doing a play so the teachers started writing down their script ideas and in a few days at pick up all the parents got to watch a very charming preschool production on the back porch. When you are thinking about a place to start your child's education, Farm house is a wonderful, creative, and kind place to start.

This is an amazing place for kids! My daughter went here last year when she was just 1 and now is…read more3 and is loving it. They are very caring and understanding and teach a lot of lessons. The school is always clean and there is a lot of communication with us.

From the owner: Kinder Cabin is a Spanish/English two-way preschool located in the Sammamish neighborhood of…read moreBeaver Lake. For the last eight years, we have welcomed children to a multicultural experience filled with joy, love, and learning. We believe that the learning environment to which children are exposed in their early years is critical to their complete and healthy cognitive, emotional, and physical growth. Our mission is to provide a loving, fun, and safe environment to ensure our kids develop to their full potential.

Had a wonderful experience with my older child, who was in Pre-K and Older Pre-K. He really…read moreflourished there. Now that he is in kindergarten, I can see how well he was prepared. Now my youngest is in Pre-K and signed up for Older Pre-K. Covid has made his experiences very different than my oldest's, but this has still been such a loving, engaged school and Miss Shana has done so much to help him learn and grow.

I am sure you don't want the full (long) version, but I will try to give you the summary…read more Our son and daughter were there. My son, 5 and my daughter, 3. To be fair, my daughter's teacher was fabulous, so there may be hope should you decide to place your children here. My son's teacher was (IMO) horrid! To start with, she is a mother who has a nanny take care of her children so she can work at the school. I find that incredibly odd. I cannot see how a preschool teachers salary can be valuable enough to offset the cost of a full-time nanny. At any rate - our son was overheard using a "potty word" and the school let us know. We disciplined him, told him it was inappropriate, etc. Well, a few weeks later, the school called my wife and I in to have a meeting. They stated in the meeting that another 5 year old heard our sone say the "F" word. The teacher questioned my son, and cohersed him into admitting he did say a bad word. ((side note - during the entire meeting, the teacher did not speak, make eye contact, or engage in the meeting. We were speaking to the director and the associate pastor of the church.)) The staff went on to explain that bad words were not acceptable, and if he were to get a "third strike", the school would expell him. When I asked if the school saw fit to work with a child, and be accepting and forgiving, they said "no" and that bad words were NEVER tolerated and they felt strong in their desire to expell children who use these words. WOW! A christian school that isn't able to forgive, teach and nurture... odd... Furthermore, they stated that our son was in need of a special observation to see "what his issues were". The state would pay for the observation. We declined. We then moved back to Noah's Ark, and immediately saw our son flourish! He loved school, loved the teachers and the teachers loved him. When we asked (many times) if he was "challenging" or "naughty" - the answer was no. Look, I don't want to seem like our kid is bad and we are naive. We have shared this story (in greater detail) with many families and they are all appauled at the schools position. In fact, many of the families are members of this church and were begging us to let them speak to the churches board of directors. Our son never physically threatened another child, never hit, never endangered anyone. He used bad language, twice, and the school felt this was something they could not handle. I find this very odd, as we are PAYING them to teach our kids right from wrong.