My little girl started in July of last year. She has loved it here! The staff is so professional…read moreand care for my daughter and the other children in such an exceptional way! I would recommend this daycare/preschool to any parent in the Vancouver area! They actually have a curriculum that they follow! My child learns a different letter every week and they have so many fun events/special touches! Thank you so much for your care!!

My daughter (2 almost 3 yo) absolutely loves this place and so does my husband and I. It's very…read moreclean and organized and the kids have a blast. Her teacher (teacher Macy) goes about and beyond to give us feedback on her progress and since starting here her potty training has gotten so much better. We are very happy to have found Red Robin!

The Goddard School in Salmon Creek is amazing. The teachers helped my little guy break out of his…read moreshyness and learn how to make friends. He loves going to school, and asks to stay. The team is always responsive to our requests and needs and always, always puts well well being of kids first. Teachers are valued, respected, and a collaborative part of the leadership team. And, it shows. They're comfortable bring up ideas or concerns, and are greeted with responsiveness. This is the cleanest childcare facility I've ever seen in my life. This is also the only place that I trust my child to go during the pandemic. they already cleaned and sanitized more than any place I've ever seen. Now that's even amplified. Not only does the whole staff love my little boy, and he loves them... Not only have they helped him grow socially and emotionally... Not only does he love going to school everyday... Not only is it's a collaborative team where teachers are actually valued, respected, and listened to... But. I will never forget the night my mother-in-law passed suddenly. Because of the team's responsiveness, I never worried about if I would be able to get ahold of him during a constantly changing situation. It's not only that. I actually felt comfort knowing that I could reach out to them at any point, get a response, and that response would be to fully support my child and my family in any way possible. This school is truly amazing.

Wonderful staff & excellent leadership! My kids have been attending the Goddard School Salmon Creek…read morefor about 5 years and it has been the best experience. They love school and it's a great feeling knowing how happy they are there.

Look no further--this place truly feels like an extension of family. From day one, I felt warmly…read morewelcomed into a community that lives its philosophy of learning through play. The curriculum is thoughtfully designed, allowing students to suggest topics they're curious about, and the school supports these interests with genuine enthusiasm. The staff excels at helping children through transitions, fostering emotional growth and resilience. Snacks are provided, and families bring lunch from home. Expect plenty of outdoor time--there's a beautiful patio that serves as an extension of the classroom, encouraging exploration and creativity. This was my son's very first school, and I'll be forever grateful for the WSU family!

From the owner: Three years ago the WSU Vancouver Childcare Development Program closed. Innovative Services NW, a…read morelocal nonprofit organization is opening the doors again beginning October 2nd. The program utilizes Creative Curriculum while developing skills in literacy, mathematics, physical, cognitive, and social emotional areas. The program as open enrollment for students 2.5 to 5 years old. Please reach out for more information or a tour. Contact information Main line: (360)546-9069 Email: enrollmentWSU@innovativeservicesnw.org

They will secure their bag no matter what. We had a bullying issue and took our kiddo out with…read moreshort notice. My kiddo was 4, other kiddos made her feel uncomfortable for being "too brown". Other parents were not notified. I wasn't impressed. The staff is not trained on how to handle social emotional learning. I wish it worked out, just wasn't pleased with the care with such a high cost. Per contract, we had to pay for the next month because we didn't give a 30 day notice. It was more important to withdraw her as we saw this took a toll on her confidence and comfort in a learning environment. Thousands of dollars to waste in our experience, making something work that wasn't working.

It was my son's LAST day at this school and he worked so hard to be good in class all day. The…read moreteacher made sure to send him home crying by LYING. She said he completely trashed an area of the classroom. My son wouldn't fuss up to it so my husband took him to view the footage. Surprise! He didn't do it. What was the point? He's not coming back? Why did y'all have to do that for? I am so glad he's finally out of this school. It felt like he's been labeled this awful kid for doing normal three year old behavior. The other kids would come up to me during pick up time and tell me how he's been "bad all day." He was placed in a class room where I was told "five minutes of reading or dancing at the carpet" was age appropriate for circle time. Then he moved up to a classroom where he'd be expected to sometimes sit at the table with no toys or activities for 15-20mins while teachers put away cots. Of course he's going to struggle and not control himself as well as the 4-4.5 year olds. He's a fresh three year old coming from a room with no established routine.

I've had my children attending Kindercare for the past 2 plus years now. I had one of my children…read morestart in the infant room and work her way up. All of my children have been nothing but loved and taken care of every minute of every single day. This place is family. It's home outside of home. I see these wonderful ladies at the front every single morning and evening ready to help in anyway they can! Or just smile at you while you come through the door. My husband and I were brand new to the area and I can truthfully say, we found family within this Kindercare. Salmon creek Kindercare is by far the BEST daycare my children could receive. Not only have my children learned so much from these wonderful teachers but they also are so structured which is by far the best. If you're looking for a place where your children will feel safe and loved, it's here!

I got the pleasure to receive training at the Salmon Creek Kindercare and let me say it was…read morewonderfully done. Big thank you to the infant teacher Deb. She taught me so much and is such a wonderful teacher. I can't recommend enough that the infant classrooms at this location are beautifully ran. The employees here are very kind and welcoming and the directors are wonderful people. It was a pleasure to get training here and made me so confident in how I run my classroom at the kindercare I work at now.

We love little acorn! My daughter has been attending the Sunshine class this year, and teacher…read moreLindsay and Jamie are amazing!

We love Little Acorn! My daughter is in her 3rd and final year this year. She absolutely LOVES…read moregoing to school. The teachers have all been amazing, and we really enjoy all the extra things they do throughout the year such as Santa's Workshop. Highly recommend if you're looking for preschool for your little one!

Our first experience with childcare outside of our home was with Lakeshore Learning Center. Our…read moreeldest joined when he was 4 and our youngest, 2.5. We primarily have worked with Ms. Kristina, Ms. Gaby and Ms. Journey. Seeing that this was a new experience for us, there were a lot of reservations I had about this new chapter; as with any parent, I was scared that they would not receive that attention they need, the level of care, etc. The teachers at Lakeshore Learning Center quickly put my anxiety at ease after seeing how they took my children under their wing, looked after and genuinely cared about their growth and wellbeing. Each teacher has a warmth to them which makes it very clear that they are there for your kids as both a teacher and friend. I was/am impressed by their structured daily routine and how they keep the children engaged with art, science, dance, song, sensory, etc. The center itself is clean, well organized and operated with kind people. Also, I cannot say enough about how pre-K at Lakeshore really provides the essential tools for Kindergarten readiness. We are thankful and blessed to be attending Lakeshore Learning Center. Thank you for all the love you have shown our kiddos!

My son has been attending for a couple years now and he has such an amazing time at Lakeshore! He…read morealways talks about Ms. Becky and I personally adore her. He loves seeing all his friends and the staff. The teachers are all so sweet and always playing with the kids! Thank you to Ms. Mari for encouraging me to trust such a great facility to take care of my son. Also a special thanks to Ms. Gabi who has the most patience I've ever seen in a person!

I rarely leave a one star review, but this childcare center has been absolutely unresponsive. I've…read morenever witnessed such a lack of any customer service whatsoever.

My oldest daughter is 5 years old and my youngest is 6 months. We have been using them for over a…read moreyear now and I love them!! The staff is so friendly and caring. They really do love the kiddos. Of course, there are incident reports however the staff is very good about communicating with you on them and really do there best to keep all the kids safe!! They were outstanding at taking the extra precautions during this crazy covid-19 stuff to ensure our kid's health would not be compromised. Thank you Children's Villiage for being so amazing!!

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

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