Our two girls both started at OB from the time they were 8 months old. We've been so extremely fortunate to have found OB and love the teachers and staff. Claudia who teachers in the Evergreen is a highlight of our oldest's day, and we can tell so much thought and care is put into the lesson plans. Heysil and Dinah who look after our youngest are so amazing and kind. read more

Our Beginning was an amazing our experience for our family. We felt they loved our son as much as we did. We unfortunately had to move so we weren't able to complete the full experience, but I cried on our last day because it was such a hard place to leave. read more

As many parents and teachers have mentioned, this place is terrible because of the management team/owner. Teachers are treated like they don't matter. Lower pay than other schools, terrible PTO accrual, laughable "curriculum." Unfortunately this toxic work environment spills into how much teachers care about their jobs. Yes, turnover rate is high, call outs are high, no-shows are high because it is a stressful and unreliable work environment. They often hire people whose second language is English (or speak no English) and they cannot speak up for themselves. The owner cares more about quantity than quality and it shows. There's a reason why their review score is lower than every other childcare in the area. read more

I wanted to share a review as I remember reading these mixed yelp reviews before my son (almost 2) started 4 months ago and being concerned. Our family has had an extremely positive experience with Our Beginnings. They reacted well to COVID for families who still need and want care. They remained open and were very communicative with parents- asking for input on a variety of topics. My son is happy at drop off every day and learns so many new words and skills. The teachers are all wonderful people with so much energy and individuality and it brings all the little ones out of their shells. They do lots of music, art, reading and have 2 playgrounds so the kids get some outdoor time when it's not raining. The menu is vegan which I don't particularly care for but my son eats most things offered and has become a more adventurous eater through the culinary creations of the chef team. If you are a laid back parent who doesn't need to know every detail of their kids and teachers' each day and doesn't care to control how the school is run I'm fairly sure you will be happy with how they are doing at this daycare. read more

We have been at this daycare for about 6 years with 2 children. We are so grateful for them and truly feel the teachers helped our daughter be excited for learning. She learned how to play soccer there! She still meets up with the friends she made there. They helped us potty train her. My son is counting, recognizing letters, and likes going to school. They individualize the care for each child. We highly recommend it. They have stable management, caring teachers, and great programs. The owner has set up a wonderful center with activity-based learning, language classes, and art activities. Our daughter had the same two teachers for 2 years in a row! The daycare industry struggles with high turnover, so the reviews that single out this facility for staff turnover are not painting an accurate picture. The food program is amazing with an open kitchen that provides fresh fruit, whole foods, and fresh baked muffins, pancakes, and waffles prepared by a real chef. My kids eat better there than they do at home. The space is bright with windows in each classroom. The halls are wide. They are in an amazing neighborhood where they can take walks each day outside. They have weekly music classes, special movement activities, and an outdoor space. read more

Great school, we highly recommend it. Our child really thrived and grew at Our Beginning. Thank you to the wonderful teachers and staff! The first time I came across the school was on a local bus when a bunch of bubbly preschoolers and their teacher were going on a field trip. This left a good first impression. It's great to expand kids horizons and field trips are indeed well planned at OB. The application process was friendly and after a short wait we were offered a spot. The classrooms are big, bright and clean. It's a place I feel comfortable leaving my kid for the day. The kitchen is fantastic, although personally we think vegan should only be part of a balanced menu and advocate the school to resume serving diversity of foods. Best of all, our child developed from a shy toddler to a confident and energetic pre schooler, building friendships and acquiring valuable early life skills. Particularly conflict resolution is well taught and managed. So is sharing amongst friends. The teachers rotated frequently and it's not a secret the school has new staff joining frequently. On one hand, it's preferable to have longer term teacher engagements. On the other, well, this is what life is like in general. People change. It's okay. The school had a great environment where this was well managed, and overall we weren't concerned about teacher retention as much as we thought we would be. The Soltice parade was wonderful to participate in. In general our child loved the outdoor time and amazingly wanted eagerly to go to school every day - most mornings anyway. It's great to see enthusiasm for learning in our kid, and we are grateful to OB for all the great learning opportunities. We moved neighborhoods and changed schools, but would not hesitate to come back to OB if the opportunity arises. Thanks again OB! read more

Do yourself a favor and stay away. Unfortunately we have been at this school for 4 years with two kids. The only reason we stay is the lack of other options. They also have require us to put in a 90 day notice to leave. So even if a spot opens up at another school. We can't leave, or at least stop paying for 90 days. The teachers are great, it is the policies, inconsistencies, and the admin that are the issue. Please do not get stuck here like we have. Go somewhere else. read more

I was employed at Our Beginning in 2015. I left after three months for multiple reasons, beginning with the poor treatment of employees by management. I was treated like the easily replacement low-level employee I was. I was also hired to be an office manager, but ended up forced into classrooms despite stating my discomfort and the managers knowing I did not have the legally required certifications to be in the classrooms alone with children. I was told that not doing this would put my job at risk. After two months of this, management told me that I would need to pay for these certifications since they were understaffed and needed me in classrooms or I could no longer work there. Myself and other employees were not permitted sick days. If someone called out sick out of desperation, management would soon call the person to the office to tell them that if it happened again they'd be gone. Employees actively brought sicknesses to the daycare that were then transferred to the children. The supplies at the daycare are all used items. They don't purchase new things for the children, but the cost of care is exponential. The employees make minimum wage so don't see anything from the high tuition either. Lastly and most importantly, one of the employees there once dropped a baby (while she was standing) who was 4-6 months of age. The parents were never told. If I could give zero or negative stars, I would. I do not recommend Our Beginning as a place of work and especially would never recommend this to a parent looking for childcare. This is not a daycare in which to place your child's life; it's a parent's nightmare. read more

There is no support for teachers. Reggio-Emilia inspired curriculum that they put on paper is a joke. It's for show and they briefly talk about it when you are hired, but once you are in the classroom, you are left to manage your classroom by yourself. There is no planning outside the classroom for the week, so if you want to actually have your children engaged, you have to plan activities outside of work and bring or make your own supplies so your kids are entertained and happy during the week. There is a high turn-over / call outs because employees are not paid enough nor are they supported in this facility. "Training" is providing you a packet of printed expectations and telling you to "read it when you have a chance". This place used to have "professional development" days as one's training days, but that's not sufficient when you are also sacrificing parents' needs. There is no support for teachers. Management just seems to constantly say they're working on it but nothing gets put into action. All talk, no action. There are multiple administrative assistants, which is a mess because you get a different answer to the same question! It's great that the school is very diverse, but the people hired barely speak any english or literally have no idea how to interact with children, so even if management hires more staffing "to support teachers", it actually doesn't change the issue (a teacher shouldn't have to feel they are monitoring a classroom of 13-14 kids plus having to tell a grown-adult how they can help manage kids by telling them to read a book, have an activity, play a song to keep children stimulated between activity transitions). The people they hire seem to not be interested or invested in a child's development or truly in this type of field for the children, and I don't know if management/owner is even considering how all of this is factoring into a child's development. If I was a parent, I would get out as soon as possible! I don't know how this place has been open for so long. read more

Charge insane amounts considering they have no guarantee of days open, close constantly (16 days off not including banks holidays) and large turnover of employees. Try anywhere else first, and only go here out of desperation for childcare as we did...but then be aware that they enforce a 90 cancellation policy. If you get in somewhere else cheaper or more reliable (usually you only have 30 days notice) you will have to pay this place and they enforce which will be nearly $8K. We chose to leave despite potential to pay the extra money because our daughter was often unhappy, and it was a burden to have the amount of closures. We are much happier at our new school (PRLC) and even though we may end up paying the extra it is worth to have a happy child and not deal with the headaches we had going to OB. read more

I want to preface this review with the fact that my experience was 7 months ago. That being said, I applied to work as a lead teacher at Our Beginning after reading stellar reviews from different news sources. After an incredibly unprofessional interview, I was given the opportunity to work with the kids in a young toddler room. Hoping my interviewers were just having an off day, I took this opportunity, and I am glad that I did so I can tell you what I saw. First, I was left unsupervised with young children. I have several years of experience of teaching, but they had not checked my references or even done a background check on me yet... They had no way to know I was not a danger to the children. These were one-year olds that had no way to communicate any danger to parents or trusted adults, but management decided it was a good decision to have a stranger supervise them. Secondly, I was there during snack time and when other teachers were around serving snacks they went DIRECTLY from changing diapers to serving snacks. No hand washing. No whining their hands. No disenfectant. NO GLOVES. This was absolutely disgusting and dangerous. There were so many other things that from a teachers viewpoint makes this organization unsafe and I urge all parents to drop in unannounced to make sure you know who is in your child's classroom and that the teachers are following the basic sanitary rules. This is not a unhappy "I-didn't-get-the-job" post =, by the way. I got the job and after turning down the job due to my complaints above. read more

I can't believe yelp decided to filter the other reviews which I frankly thought were very imformative. I highly suggest looking at the filtered reviews in the lower portion of this page because they echo basically what I have heard through my mommy online discussions. My complaint was in the director's lack of communication. I contacted them several times trying to get information regarding my child's enrollment and they could not give me a direct answer. I called frequently and was promised responses...nothing...As I asked around in my community since it is a fairly small community, my experience was echoed in several other mom's who experienced the same thing. Enrollment was promised, deposit collected and they didn't follow through. I will give them benefit of the doubt. They had just opened so perhaps by now they have figured out what they are doing but at the point of my interaction, their customer service was unacceptable. read more

Our two-year-old son has been at Our Beginning for over a year now. The pros: - He is very happy. He is quick to join his friends at drop off, he has always had the opportunity to cuddle with a teacher, read a book in solitude or join a friend for a game. He's given the space to dictate his own learning, and this has been the case since he started there at age one - There is a huge emphasis on music and art, with a musician coming in every week to sing with the kids, songs playing a part in learning and entertainment, and art projects happening all the time - The food is good and healthy, and has helped expand my sons palate - Learning is driven by the children's interest - They believe children, even babies and toddlers, are capable. My son clears his plate, cleans up his toys, cares for his friends and family and takes care of his own personal hygiene at school, and at home. And while I would love to take the credit, it never occurred to me he might be able to do some of these things -The teachers are loving and they know the kids in every class, not just their own. The cons: - Communication. Sometimes you get a newsletter, sometimes you don't. Sometimes you hear how your kid is doing and what their class did that day, sometimes you just know how many diapers and minutes of sleep. - Turn over. They do have a lot of changes to staffing. My son had 5 different teachers in his room in his first year. The place is loud and chaotic in all the best ways. Despite some annoyances, there is no where I could see my son being happier or growing more than he does at Our Beginning, and I trust them and the Reggio system. read more

We are very happy with Our Beginning. Taking our 5-month old to a non-profit (preferably unionized) childcare facility was our first choice, but OB came in a close third after the two non-profits. I'm glad we got a spot here and we eventually turned down one of the nonprofits who had a spot for us when he was about 10 months because we like OB so much. The two lead infant teachers, Rebecca and Dina, are spectacular. The support staff is also generally great, and I really like the diversity of the teachers as well (men, women, people of color, etc.) As for the days they're closed: Yes, they have a lot of professional development days. But I, for one, am happy about that. Any additional training they can provide just translates to better care for my child. Having said that, I'm lucky to have a flexible job with lots of vacation, so this isn't really an issue for us, but I can see how it would be for others. Regarding the turnover: This is a very poorly-paying industry (which is a tragedy in itself, but that's a different topic), so turnover is not shocking. They DO NOT have any higher turnover than other daycares, and it's frankly frustrating that that's such a big complaint here; these are generally minimum-wage paying jobs, so turnover is a given. With how hard these folks work, it says a lot that - while there's turnover - there is a core group of teachers that have been there for years. I also thought the communication and organization was decent for such a chaotic atmosphere, and it was much better than the place he was in before he got into OB. Swatika, the admissions coordinator who has been there almost since it opened, has always been wonderful and communicative. They also have lots of parent meetings and opportunities for parents to get involved, although it's not a requirement. The food is fantastic and relatively adventurous -- I routinely tell my now-2-year-old that he eats better than most grown ups. And the art, dance, and music programs are awesome. It's expensive, but totally worth it in my opinion. Please take the bad reviews with a grain of salt. There's at least one bad story for every daycare. My kid has come home with multiple bruises -- because he's a toddler! Getting upset because of a bump or bruise is unreasonable given the context. read more

First, please read the filtered reviews (if this review isn't filtered...). This center definitely has a higher rating than listed here. Our 2.5 y.o. son has attended Our Beginning for close to a year now. We were very pleased to not only find Our Beginning, but to get in without a waitlist. I have not had a child in one of the infant rooms, but have never personally witnessed any of the issues below- the teacher/child ratios have always been at or under state requirements. Turnover is typical of a daycare center. It offers many of the aspects we loved about our old center: homecooked, organic food (the menu is fantastic, and encourages the kids to be adventurous eaters), a focus on exploration and learning, wonderful teacher/parent communication, and a homey atmosphere. All of the teachers we have worked with have been great- they plan activities and outings along with the kids to keep them engaged in their explorations. Most days our son does not want to go home, and he often talks about his teachers on weekends. I'm not sure how closely they actually follow the RE philosophy, but frankly, I don't care. I have been very impressed with the level care at Our Beginning, and plan to keep our child at this center through preschool. The only complaint I have is that the center closes at least one day per month, and thus all of my vacation days have been spent this year without having taken a vacation. read more

After three years at this school, I'm deeply saddened by our choice to depart Our Beginnings. Let me preface this two star review by saying that we've never had a bad teacher or a poor experience in the classroom. Our son made many connections here both with the students and the staff, and was happy for the most part which is why we chose to stay as long as we did. There are many issues with this school, most of which stem from the decisions pushed down by the owner and the administration. The negative reviews from employees listed on yelp, I absolutely believe to be true because the turn over for teachers is outrageous at this facility. My son had a minimum of 2-4 new teachers each school year. Just as he would form a new connection, that teacher would become disgruntled and leave. Our main reason for leaving was due to the change to a Vegan/Plant-based menu that the majority of the parents were opposed to. After months of debating with the owner, she decided to move forward with the change regardless of the opposition they received from the parents. This proved my assumption that the administration was pushing their own agenda and did not care what the families wanted. Lastly, during this pandemic they continued to charge full tuition to the families sheltering at home and did not provide any online content until late April after the families requested it. If we had the choice again, we would not have chosen our beginnings. If you are looking for a school with good teachers, and don't mind dealing with the headaches from the management than this school would be fine for you. read more

My daughter, now 2, has attended OB since she was 6 months old. She loves it and is thriving in every way. The teachers and staff are caring, creative, helpful and loving towards all of the 'friends' in the classrooms. We get daily report cards and weekly photo-filled updates of what our daughter is up to; the organic kitchen and chefs make amazing food that includes a diverse range of cuisines and ingredients. I know my daughter is being nurtured in many ways, which helps take the pressure off our 2 working parent household. The only downside I've seen in our time there is teacher turnover: in each of the classes my daughter has been in, 1-2 teachers left over the course of the year (as corresponds to her birthday). That said, the school has done a good job in providing consistency, with (trained) administrators and floaters who know the kids filling in gaps. Teacher retention is a top priority for the new head teacher and I'm hoping they can find ways to retain staff, or to have a more smooth transition process between one teacher leaving and a new one onboarding. It's a pity that the reviews for OB from 2011 skew the ratings. We joined in August of 2011, right around the time that the administration was working out several of the kinks which may have contributed to the poor reviews provided by other Yelpers. Back then, Paula, the founder, was pretty much the only administrative staff. My husband and I have found Paula to be very responsive to our feedback, and the (now fully staffed) teachers and administration to be open, available and responsive. read more

My family loves Our Beginning and I feel very much at ease having my child attend. He started at the school at 6 weeks old and now is a happy and healthy 6 month old who is advanced developmentally for his age- sitting unassisted at 5 months and already putting the components together to crawl. My partner and I, as well as my son's grandparents have spent a lot of time at the school just hanging out. We enjoy the atmosphere so much, when we drop him in the morning it's hard to leave. Rarely are the babies crying -there are 6 babies and two teachers and they are amazing at getting them all coordinated and sorted. All the babies are so different, but our teachers are supremely attuned to their needs and provide a fairly detailed report of daily activities each day. The school provides food for the kids and purées for the babies. Our son is enjoying trying new foods as he just started to eat solids. They have art day, music day and dancing day with special teachers who drop by each week. They go outside, they practice experiencing new textures like snow and water and sand. Seriously, my child is getting such amazing developmental support. We are lucky and blessed to be part of the Our Beginning community. read more

The reviews on this page say it all. You either get a 5 or 1 depending on the day. That's the theme here: Inconsistency My daughter's last day at Our Beginning is today, and I couldn't be more happy. The school, on paper, looks great! And the community of people that take their kids truly are. But that's where it stops. This school is focused on appearances. Publicity. "We're the only..." Sure... they offer a chef prepared meals... if they can keep a chef on staff... and in the 4 years we've been going there, that hasn't been the case... There only good chef, Mark, left years ago... since then its been a merry go round of people. One unhappier then the next... They changed what kind of food they serve as many times as chefs. They do this for all the programs too. "We have yoga"..... sure while they have a parent that is willing to do it for them they have yoga... And the teacher turn over is even worse.... they must be really underpaid.. I think there is only 2 people that still work there from when we started.. And this endless professional development days... The school takes 1-2 days off A MONTH to train the staff... and the parents are left to fend for themselves these days... I had such high hopes for this school. In the end my daughter made lots of friends and so did I, so it wasn't all "bad"... just super super disappointing because it had such potential to be great! I'd look else where..especially for the cost of this place.. read more

I would not send my children here. I have worked as a substitute preschool teacher at community center preschools across Seattle and have never seen such aggressive and desperate behavior as I saw from the kids at Our Beginning. This is clearly due to the staffing and ratio problems at the school, as the kids seemed genuinely relieved to be fussed at by their teachers after every "bite" or "hitting " of a fellow classmate. This is the only time the kids are given authentic one on one attention because there are just too many of them and not enough staff. The kids do not get the stimulation and attention they need and act out violently against each other to get a reaction from the staff. There is a lot of talk about letting the kids follow their interests, but this leads to hours of unstructured play time with limited toys (due to some Reggio Emilio bs). Due to the diaper schedule, there is often only one adult on the ground with 13 two year olds (During this time the other teacher will be changing the diaper of one kid at a time as quickly as possible). This goes on for about 45 minutes and almost always involves multiple biting or hitting incidents between the kids. I've seen kids slam wooden blocks onto each other's heads, bite down hard on each other without provocation and refuse to let go, etc. The kids don't feel safe in the room, and the employees are understandably on edge, trying to keep everyone safe and happy. The school does not have a clear discipline policy in place other than not allowing time outs. This would be fine, if they trained their employees in ways to prevent physical altercations between kids in an effective and positive way. Instead, the teachers have to figure it out on the spot in a large, open space full of attention-starved toddlers and limited stimulation. It's a terrible system. There is a great deal of verbal appreciation for the staff, but no genuine investment or attempt to make their needs a priority (inconsistent or nonexistent breaks--even to use the toilet, frequent overtime/required hour long lunches to avoid having to pay the staff for the overtime of working 45 minutes later than their schedules say, low pay, no boundaries, begging staff to come in when sick, etc). The people who work here, in my experience, were wonderful, kind and idealistic but it is absolutely shameful the way this place is run. Neither staff nor children are genuinely looked out for. read more

My 2 children have been enrolled here for almost 3 years, and overall it's been an A-OK daycare+preschool for our family's needs. PROS: - All-organic menu. Food seems to be fresh and very diverse and my kids are okay with the items most of the time. They are picky eaters.. - Small center. Teachers here know most or all the children in the school. - With that said, teachers here are really high quality early education individuals and are really dedicated to their children. - My oldest talks about her teacher and the friends here every day at home. NOW the CONS: - Expensive $ But it is close to where we live and the kids like the center. - From what I have seen, there is a high rate of teachers and center administrators coming and going. I mean very HIGH. My toddler's classroom's teachers changed a lot in the past few months. On the other hand, my daughter's preschool teachers have been pretty consistent in the past year. - The center seems to be going under a lot of changes ALL THE TIME. New teachers, new center policies, new classrooms that are open and then no longer around the next month. As a loyal customer and parent, I would love to see the center do well and try something to keep the good teachers around longer please. read more

It's disappointing that the only reviews you can find about Our Beginning are from disgruntled parents who clearly had a frustrating experience with a new school still ironing out the kinks. What these ladies have described has not been my experience at all. Our son has been enrolled at OB for nearly a year and is thriving. You're hard-pressed to find a facility that doesn't have its problems, and from what I know there were some staffing issues early on -- a chronic problem for all daycares/preschools. They seem to have ironed them out, mostly by making some appropriate staffing changes and additions and by adjusting some policies to allow for the school's growth. Their enviable ratios are strictly adhered to and they have a full staff and back-up staff to make sure that's always possible. Their curriculum is creative, community-oriented (research Reggio Emilio philosophy), flexible and sensitive to the fact that every child develops at his or her own rate. The teachers and staff are loving, friendly, fun and knowledgeable. The administrative staff is accessible, efficient, sensitive and approachable. A security code is required to enter. The food is delicious, organic, local, healthy and plentiful. My husband and I joke that our son eats better than we do the days he's at school. And he is always excited to go to school and happy when he comes home, full of toddler stories about what he did/made and new things he discovered. Three reasons I only gave them 4 stars: 1) Their current outdoor space. It is a small "caged" space, an extension on the building, with no greenery. The school posted plans to landscape, enlarge and improve the outdoor space months ago, but nothing has happened. 2) The parking lot is oddly shaped, pretty tight and shared with an office building full of people. If you drop off or pick up your child during peak times, you are often doing 17 point turns to get out without hitting other cars. 3) Currently it isn't possible to communicate directly with teachers via email. My only experience with childcare programs/preschools is with Our Beginning, but from what I've heard along the mommy grapevine, this facility can stand tall and consider itself "competitive" with the other revered and more established facilities in the area, especially when it comes to providing a loving, nurturing, safe environment for our children. read more

Yelp filtered out my detailed review for some reason. I am posting again to simply say: Our experience with this center was not good and we would not recommend it to any parent. Our daughter is in a wonderful facility now and the difference is amazing- on every level. read more

I've really loved some of my child's teachers and the food is great, but this school is so poorly run that I'm surprised it is able to continue functioning day to day. It's sometimes almost amusing how much of a disaster it is. Communication is awful. I don't recommend it. read more

I enrolled my daughter into the infant room at 3.5 months after having a horrible experience elsewhere. The big smile my daughter has on her face when she comes to daycare just melts my heart and makes me know that I made the right decision. She has excelled in this environment. She is cared for as an individual, what she needs. Anything my daughter needs, she is attended to per my instructions. When we had trouble at home with sleeping, a diaper rash, and introducing solid foods, the teacher was a valuable resource for us. To address the ratio concerns, during drop off a helper comes in until the other teacher arrives, so there is always 1:3 ratio. They just got new cribs. And are up on high chair regulations too. They have high chairs that are low to the ground so they can eat by the other "big" kids eating at the table. She is taught sign language something we are also working on with her at home. She has a giant smile when she goes to music class on Wednesdays. I am very much a part of the classroom experience and stop by frequently for music, dance class, and just to say hi. I also have to mention that we did baby lead weaning approach to food and this daycare has done a phenomenal job allowing my child to eat whole solid foods and I especially love that the food is all organic. I want to eat their menu! My daughter is now 8 months and we are really looking forward to her transition to the toddler room when she is twelve months old. Before you dismiss this daycare, read the some 20 off filtered reviews that give raving reviews of the daycare. read more

We started our son when he was 3 months at Our Beginning (in the fall). As any new parent can relate to this, it was an emotional transition for all three of us. However he has thrived at Our Beginning and I find the reviews extremely unfair. When you put your child in the care of strangers, you need to know that they are in good hands, nurtured and stimulated. I feel confident that he gets all of that at Our Beginning. My son is happy when I drop him off in the morning (and loves seeing all of his teachers) and is happy when I pick him up in the evening. This is my only daycare experience but I do know that one thing is consistent with all daycares: babies don't sleep well and they get sick easier than if they were at home. However my son is very social (albeit with a runny nose) and enjoys himself. Everyone has a right to their own opinions but I just feel like there are scathing things being said about a place that has wonderful teachers. I have been frustrated by the many days off the daycare takes but haven't done my research to see if this is the norm. I would recommend speaking with parents at the school. We're all going to be honest and forthright when it comes to the best situation for our own children. I speak to a lot of the other parents on a regular basis and the consistent issue I hear is that the daycare takes too many days off. Beyond that everyone is happy, including us! There are few options out there for infant care and I feel confident that we made the best decision/investment for our son. read more

This school says things that never happens there!.There is no respect for the ratio. The child's safety and well-being do not exist. The child does not only needs organic food. The parents can buy it from any organic grocery-store. Even the cook left. Think before bringing your precious child to this daycare. Good luck. read more

We've had a really positive experience at Our Beginning the past year. My toddler has had caring, well-qualified and hard-working teachers. The space is good and the organic food offerings can't be beat. The Reggio Emilio philosophy appears to be working well for our son. He also enjoys music time with Mr Ben on Wednesdays and dance time with Joselito on Fridays. We've enjoyed getting to know the other parents too. It's a great community that I've seen come into its own over the past year. We plan to keep our son here for preschool. read more

My experience in the past year with Our Beginning has been very positive. We (my wife and I) appreciate the personal daily accounts of our child, the consistent, open communication, the community feel, the positive environment, great food, and the parent/teacher approach to working through phases and issues. I love that they spend time outdoors, work on group, craft projects and teach the kids through experiences and consequences. read more

I have visited Our Beginnings on 3 seperate occassions and have not witness any child being treated unfairly or without supervision. I have seen children playing, enjoying the day and learning. The center is clean and the staff appears very informed. I'm interested in those with poor reviews to provide feedback on what exactly you witness. I am new to the area and don't have the "bias" opinions of friends. From what I've seen, witness and the laughter and learning of children. Our Beginnings is high on my list of possibilities. read more

I brought our infant in at 7 months and he is now 18 months as we move into a different daycare for personal life-work balance reasons. While there are a few things that could be improved ( teacher to infant ratio kept getting worse and there was a lot of teacher turnover,there could be more language focus) I will say that their focus on organic food (I learnt a few recipes from their chef Maya and her helped Kelchi!) and dance/song classes for the kids is wonderful. My child seemed to be happy at the end of the day. I think they are still working on getting off the ground (teacher retention) but overall its a safe and happy place to bring the kids and leave them in strangers' care. I wish Paula the best! read more

This is a lovely child care center. I have direct experience as a parent with several centers in the area, and this is a special place. It's a beautiful, calming environment, caring and devoted educators and staff, AMAZING food (USDA certified organic!) and a terrific location. My preschooler is happy to go here every day and is full of stories of their adventures. I have been really impressed with the Reggio approach as well. Highly recommend. read more

Our son was on the wait list for a long time so we sent him to a different daycare in the area. OB was our first choice for the reason that it is close to where we live and the peace of mind in knowing that our son will be giveen healthy meals throughout the day that are locally sourced, baked on premises, not full of garbage, etc. For that alone it is worth it to us to pay a little more. Other childcare places in the area are ok. Honestly it comes down to parents preferences and values and this one just lines up with what we feel is the right thing to do. Four stars only because of it being one of the highest priced daycares in the area and because of a few waiting list miscommunications. read more

We have had a great experience at Our Beginning, our child has been there for 7 months. At first I was concerned about the large size of the school and how that affects the ratio, but my daughter's teachers have been awesome and able to give her the attention she needs. She has really blossomed there and made lots of good friends, including teachers, staff, kids, and their families. Now she doesn't want to leave when I pick her up! We have had no complaints about the quality of care. I like the language they use when talking to the kids and dealing with conflict resolution, etc. Their incorporation of natural materials in toys and furnishings, and their organic kitchen are both a plus. We did have some bumps on the admin side but they have hired additional people and they are really responsive. While the place is on the large side, I think they are making smart choices to support growth and it will just get better and better with time. It's starting to feel like a nice community in addition to just a school. I recommend checking it out and making your own educated decision. Hopefully all the positive reviews will start to change this rating! read more

My daughter was enrolled at our beginning from the age of 10 weeks until the age of 19 months when our family moved away from Seattle. As a whole, we were totally satisfied with the care that our daughter received at Our Beginning. We did experience some of the same frustration with center management that was referenced in the earlier reviews (we started ~6 mos. after the center opened), but they've made some good hires on the administration end since then and they've gotten much better and more communicative on that front over time. The one thing that hasn't changed is that the quality of the teachers has always been excellent. They do have a high rate of teacher turnover, but we always felt that our child was safe and well cared for at Our Beginning. We've now been away from Our Beginning for over three months, and our daughter still brings up the names of her teachers and classmates in a fond light. She also still loves to flip through the two scrapbooks we received from her teachers (infant room and toddler room) with pictures of her time at our beginning. Parents are given a full written report on their child's day along with their teacher's verbal supplement, which we loved. The children's meals are all provided by the center, and the quality and diversity of the menu is great. The center is willing to work with cloth diapers, which was a huge plus for my wife and I. All in all, we loved our time at Our Beginning and we would definitely recommend it to anyone who's looking for care in the Fremont area. read more

It is really hard to find daycare for infants in Seattle. No matter how early you get on wait lists / conduct interviews for nannies, you really cant solidify things until the month you go back to work. Our Beginning was our first choice. I got on the wait list and stalked them pretty much every month on my son's admission status. We could not get our son in to OB before I had to go back to work so I enrolled him somewhere else until there was an opening. All I can say is that it was so worth the wait. This place is special. The teachers and even the cooks there really care about the kids. I agree that administratively they have a little work to do but the child care is top notch. The women in the infant room know each kid and clearly love them. Their needs are always proactively addressed. Its amazing to see how under control and happy these infants are. The Measles has been a big parent topic across the country. I was very impressed that in my first month with OB, the owner proactively sent out an email providing daycare immunization stats and the game plan should things escalate in Seattle. Having a baby happy to go to daycare and feeling that peace of mind is the best gift...I guess I shouldn't say 'gift'. This place is pricey but very worth it. read more

I wasnt sure at fiirst what to think of the R.E.Philosophy. Maybe I'm still a little unsure of what the process consist of however i believe it's safe to say After researching a little more about the philosophy i know more than the owner does. Our Beginning has absolutely no CLUE what Reggio Emilla philosophy is. Being from a big city I believed in learning from your surroundings too but I've also learned from a structured setting as well.I believe Our Beginning has a brilliant idea of catering to a Green area as Fremont is known for but I think they should consider that the need to go back to the drawing board on some issues and re access their R.E. Philosophy. Im not writing to give it a poor review but I don't see this place ever having a chance if changes aren't made soon. just from experience and word of mouth from fellow parents . read more

This is crap. These parents sound like they have a vendetta to settle. Every business has problems but I have first hand knowledge that most of this stuff are all lies. Would they really be in business if they were doing all these things. Come on are they really smothering babies?? I know they go over their ratio once in awhile but 10 to 2 is just insane. Did someone poop in these peoples cherrios?? Why are they lying?? Why are they trying to ruin other peoples lives?? Is it because they are miserable and they want everyone to be?? Please I challenge you to go into the daycare and experience it for yourself. Dont let hurtful lying people sway you first. Before you say anything I have no ties to this daycare anymore. But my kids did well there. read more

DO NOT ENROLL YOUR CHILD HERE!!! We have a 5 month old who currently attends the Our Beginnings daycare center. Based on our experience, I would strongly suggest you look elsewhere for childcare. We are in the process of interviewing nannies so that we can find an immediate alternative to this daycare center. We have repeatedly witnessed the daycare center far exceeding the legal child to teacher ratio. One day there were 10 infants in the room with only 2 teachers!! Our Beginnings promises a 1:3 ratio however this is not the reality. In addition, we have witnessed blankets over children's heads and had to rescue a hysterically crying baby because she was wedged between the crib bars and the mattress! To put this in perspective, 4 of the 6 families in our infant room are actively seeking alternate care for our children. For what it is worth, we did call the state and report this to the Department of Early Learning in the hopes their license will be revoked. I am concerned greatly for the safety of our child and of all of the children in the center. In addition to witnessing the center breaking the law and putting our children's safety at risk, our infant (who is the world's best sleeper) routinely only gets 40mintes to 1 1/2 hour of sleep per day. He is so exhausted and overtired it takes an entire weekend of him sleeping constantly in order to catch up. At home, our little guy sleeps 10-12 hours a night and typically takes a 2-3 hour morning nap and a 2 hour afternoon nap! We can't understand why he doesn't sleep when in their care. As indicated by the other posted review, the owner of this center is unresponsive and non-communicative. She does not care about the well being of the children. She routinely chooses to skip parent meetings and has not been replacing staff, even though the turnover rate is extremely high. Sometimes the teachers don't have a replacement available in order to take a lunch break. The list of issues could go on and on but I'll stop here for now. We greatly regret placing our child at this center. read more

I would not recommend Our Beginning to any parent. As a working parent, it is important to choose a daycare where you feel that your child will be kept safe and happy. Our beginning is not that daycare. My 8 month old son was left unattended on a rocking chair by one of his teachers. He fell off the chair and bumped his head. This was poor judgment by the teacher. The teacher, per the daycare policy, was supposed to write up a record of the event and call the parents, but this never happened. I found out about the event 3 weeks later. The other teacher in his classroom who was not present during the incident had brought it forward to the nurse, and the nurse and director informed me of the event. I was told that the policies and procedures were not followed. The infant classrooms always have 2 teachers present, so I think it goes beyond the policies not being followed. They do not have a culture where they feel safe reporting issues. Another person was aware that my son had been hurt, and I was told after the fact had been monitored for a concussion, yet that person never called us, the parents. The director informed me when she found out, and told me I could take him to the doctor and they would pay for the cost. I called my doctor, but he said three weeks after the event there was not a lot they could really check out. I would have taken him to the doctor if I had found out immediately, but not three weeks later. My child was put at harm, and I felt that I could not leave him at this daycare another day. Not only had something awful happened to him, but it was kept a secret for 3 weeks. I used up all my vacation and sick time while on maternity leave, so I had to take two unpaid day to stay home with my son, and then my husband and I had to try and locate an alternative daycare situation for that Monday. We had put ourselves on the waitlist in our beginning while I was still pregnant, and selected it based on touring and visiting many sites, but were forced to make the same decision in a quick weekend. In the end, Our beginning really soured me to the daycare experience and made me much more cautious and nervous. I regret sending my son to this daycare. read more