My daughter attended La Casita Feliz for 2 years (age 3-5) and she is enrolled in (and can't wait…read morefor!) the after-school drama/Spanish program now that she's moved on to Kindergarten. We LOVE the director. We LOVE the teachers. We LOVE the space. My daughter learned so much--socially, emotionally, intellectually, physically. And she speaks Spanish with a lovely Argentinean accent to boot (gracias, Sebastian!). Pluses include: - warm community - predictable & fun routine - lots of creative play indoor and outside (which is how kids learn at this age!) - total language immersion - excellent communication both day-to-day as well as about student progress throughout the year - conscientious, reasonable, fair, and responsive daily management of the school - happy, healthy feeling all around My only criticism is that I wish the hours had been longer--but that's a personal logistics issue, not one I can blame LCF for. I just wanted to write a quick review from someone who has REAL experience at the school, day-in, day-out. Seems unfair to give a negative review for one tardy appointment and not getting a (non-refundable!) deposit refunded. People are human; rules are rules. If the reviewer HAD stayed at the school, I am certain that one frustrating experience would have been forgotten once they got to know Barbara (the director) and how she leads so expertly her excellent teachers and staff at LCF.

If I could give this 0 stars I would. When I first learned of the school I was quite excited and…read moreknew and liked one of the teachers, Sebastian. I showed up to have a tour which I had schedule multiple days in advance. No one was there. I called Barbara Ford, the director, over and over with no answer. There is no where to wait and it was raining so I just stood there hoping to get in. 30 minutes later Barbara arrive (I was able to reach her after 10 minutes of phone calls). She had said she was a few minutes out which turned out to be 20. The school was nice enough and it was the only place excepting 2 1/2 year old children that I had found thus far. I signed my daughter up and left the deposit. Being new to the area, we did not realize the traffic ordeal of getting onto Queen Anne first thing in the morning we were warned by other friends and decided to check it out ourself. Yes, we found out it wouldn't work for getting to work on-time and that we needed to un-enroll. I know there is a waitlist for the school and I was hoping that Barbara would be willing to refund me my deposit since it is quite a bit of money. But no, she said that is much too much work, even though there was a wait-list. Honestly this is just a very distasteful woman to deal with and I would highly recommend avoiding having to deal with her. There is a Montassori school in Ballard that accepts 2 1/2 year olds if anyone is looking for a kinder and more receptive place to send kiddos!

My daughter is in first grade at Tilden and she absolutely loves it - she is thriving there because…read moreof the smaller class sizes, specialised and individual needs based focus from the incredible teachers, and the community. Oh the Tilden family is special! All the grades play together, the parents of all grades know each other and help each other on a daily basis. Tilden kids are widely known and recognised in middle and high schools around because of the kindness and empathy that is fostered here. My daughter was an early reader and math doer, and the teachers meet the kids where they are and fit the curriculum to the student, not the other way around. The traditional epic Halloween carnival every year is a thing to behold - the kids look forward to it for weeks and talk about it for weeks after. There may be no playground (yet, watch this space) but the school has been so resourceful in having lots of mobile games and outdoor toys that give the kids the next best thing. They also have a fantastic after school enrichment which my daughter is thriving in (giving her freedom to play and have fun after the rules of school during the day). I can't say enough good things about Tilden - if you send your child here you won't regret it.

We have two boys and the older one is in Kindergarten this year. He's over the moon about going to…read moreschool. He loves his classmates, teachers, activities, aftercare -- absolutely everything. This is a wonderful environment of smart, caring, thoughtful people running this school and I'd like to believe it's attracts people seeking the best for their kids.

We had such a great experience with SLC (Montlake) from 2022-2025. Both of our boys absolutely…read moreloved going there every day. The teachers are incredibly caring and truly invested in each child. Ms. Lily has built an amazing program with a great balance of learning, creativity, and fun. What really makes SLC special is how personal it feels. It's a close-knit group of teachers where you actually know everyone -- not a big, impersonal center. That warmth shows in everything they do. The activities are engaging and thoughtful, and even now our kids keep asking if they can go back and visit their teachers. We're very grateful for our time there and highly recommend it.

We loved our time with Seattle Learning Center so much. Our daughter attended SLC from age 1.5 to…read more5, and she became such a thoughtful, helpful, self-aware child in their care. The teachers and staff at SLC are wonderful; they really were "our village" for those years. I appreciated their focus on play-based learning and social emotional growth. My daughter's kindergarten teacher remarks on how mature and helpful she is in the classroom now, and I know SLC was a big part of that!

This school is truly amazing. Every child is known. Each child has value and purpose within the…read moreschool. I'm disappointed to see a bad review from 7 years ago. I can confidently say that St. Alphonsus is nothing like that review. It's gone through many changes including a new principal and vice principal who are deeply committed to the well-being and growth of the school. St. Alphonsus has a half-day preschool class and two full-day preschool classes which shows how much this school is growing! St. Al's is diverse and welcoming of all religions and family dynamics. There have been many positive changes over the years leading to the beautiful school it has become!

So glad that we found this small school with a big heart! I cannot say enough about the welcoming…read morecommunity and focus on academics and merits. The diverse and community is also great and a welcome change from our prior Seattle public school experience. Our kids have all liked their experience here and the academic and service focus is also a plus.

My younger sister and I used to go to BF Day, and our baby sister goes there now, and let me tell…read moreyou, that is dang good school. It's a small-ish school (as most elementary schools are) in Fremont, near the Woodland Park Zoo. BF Day is rather diverse in all meanings of the word, and does a good job of teaching kids that everyone is important and loved. The parents are generally lovely, as are the teachers, though many of my favorite staff members have retired. It can be a bit of a hippy school, but that is far from a negative, it just encourages kids to explore their creative sides and embrace themselves. I haven't heard a single negative thing about BF Day, though I do know that due to some zoning issues, a lot of kids have lost their transportation, which is a majorly sucky, but I don't believe that the school is at fault there. tl;dr BF Day is pretty much the best and everyone who went there loved it

NOT CLOSED, people! Not at all! When I moved my boys and me…read morenorthward from Portland to Seattle, I had researched the "cluster" school system (never was a name more appropriate for a system or situation), though my research was clearly insufficient. Because I made certain that I moved into what I thought would be the perfect cluster for my kids' schooling needs and profile...I just failed to realize that would make no difference whatsoever to where they went to school. My boys are half hispanic, and I wanted very much to continue with the Spanish language education I only sporadically inflict on them at home. So I moved into the Laurelhurst-ish "cluster." What Seattle did not advertise is that its school zoning situation is not just a cluster, but the mother of all godforsaken clusters. They found no availability in any ONE school for both my boys. That's because clusters at the time were only "suggestions" of where kids could attend schools. Suggestions that were largely completely ignored, and no matter where you lived in Seattle, your kid could be bussed into nearly any zone at all. So you can basically move your family onto a tent settlement ATOP a particular school, and not be allowed to enroll in it until the 300-child wait list of kids from a school 15 miles away takes their priority. W, as the kids say, TF. So the last years have been a constant cluster indeed, with my boys in two different schools and and in and out of several. Having tried or toured quite a few schools in the area now, I can say, this one is my favorite elementary school in Seattle so far. My son has a wonderful teacher, Miss Jackson (and yes, it is so punishingly hard not to say, or at least think, "If you're nasty!" every time I say her name) who despite being forced, as all teachers are, to teach to a strict test curriculum imposed by the lowest-common-denominator-encouraging "No Child Left Behind" legislation, is still highly dynamic, wildly flexible, and very encouraging of creativity in all its manifestations. I absolutely love her, and I love the diversity of the students and the parents--a graceful blend of the privileged and the struggling, chaotic and the orderly, the uber-hippies and the uber-hipsters who all somehow manage to be very empathic and very likable. It also sits at just the right notch on the spectrum of academic rigor. We tried John Stanford International with Nico, and he called them "The Von Trapp Family Singers." Whistles to encourage hallway lineups? No talking in the corridors? Boys' and Girls' lines for 5th graders? No dark sarcasm? In the CLASSROOM?! Yikes. Plus every mom I met there without a single exception kind of gave me the impression that the only hard decision she has to make in any three-week period is whether to give her cook, nanny and housekeeper massages or Lush bars as holiday gifts. I'm extremely grateful for this school and for how happy Maximo is to attend it. Teaching excellence here is clearly valued, as is parental involvement. If you're in the area AND in the market for an elementary school, stop in and say hi. They're great people.

The Valley School is a truly amazing place. Our family relocated from the east coast to Seattle…read morelast year and our kids started Valley in PreK and 1st grade. The Valley School has been the MOST warm, loving and supportive environment for our whole family. Our kids both love school, absolutely adore their teachers and have made fabulous friends. They say every weekend, "I wish we had school today". Both of my kids are truly jazzed about learning and I love that they get deep into their work, especially when it means that they come home covered head to toe in dirt! I can't recommend Valley highly enough.

The faculty at The Valley School are highly skilled and very professional. On a daily basis, I am…read moreimpressed by the creativity and patience of the teachers. It is a nurturing community and a wonderful place for children to grow and learn.

We have been on their waitlist for 3 years with no communication from them unless I reach out…read moreasking for an update. We also had to pay $100 to get on this waitlist which always seemed odd to me, but because we were told our child is next in line on the waitlist we believed it would be worth it. In the last 6 months I have asked for a refund for the $100 waitlist fee since a 3 year waiting period with no positive news in sight is totally unreasonable. All I want is a refund for the service I am not receiving. Save your money and avoid signing up for the waitlist as we have been next in line to get in for 3 years now.

My kid is in Discovery currently and is having a great time. He loves his teachers and is happy to…read morego to school every day. He's learning a huge amount about how to respect his own person and others, and the focus on social-emotional learning at Small Faces has been incredibly good for his development as a human.

I was looking for a good place to have my daughter, and found the best teachers. Now they open this…read morenew place Cielito Lindo right at the heart of Wallingford. I recommend a visit to their brand new place, and see for yourselves. Your children will be in the best hands and work on their Spanish and social skills. Highly recommend