I simply cannot recommend this preschool enough. Both of my kiddos attended Pathfinders and as soon…read moreas my daughter started there we realized that we were a part of a very special family. With the low teacher-to-student ratio it is clear that they get to know the children and nurture them as individuals. They do a wonderful job of developing curriculum, covering the fundamentals of education, and make the extra effort to celebrate all of the special holidays (the Christmas celebration and Mother's day tea are SO wonderful). My daughter was absolutely prepared for Kindergarten having attended this school which is all we could hope for as parents. Tammie and the rest of the staff are excellent communicators, trustworthy educators and we just consider ourselves so lucky to have had such wonderful people be a part of such a precious time in our children's lives!

We are so grateful to have found and have our twins attend Pathfinders Preschool. They are such a…read morefriendly and nurturing environment where you truly feel a part of a loving community. My kids come home with such creative, thoughtful art projects and I appreciate that they do celebrate and recognize birthdays and holidays. Staff provides prompt communication. When compared to our experiences with the public schools my husband calls Pathfinders staff "Angels".

We waited a couple months for a spot to open up for our 2 infants in foster care. The day one of…read morethem was supposed to start I was told they needed additional confirmation. I was standing in the daycare with my baby and her bag packed. I was told the boss notified them the night before that we needed additional confirmation to start. This was never communicated to us till I was in the building trying to drop my baby off... I asked them to give me an update that day. I called twice and left voicemail. I finally get a call back from them saying she is good to start... Communication is VERY poor which is ultimately why we decided for our babies to not go here.. HOWEVER, Jess was professional the entire time. I caution anyone sending their foster kiddos here.

if I could give a 1 star I would right now, I can't stress enough how important it is to watch how…read moreyou treat people. My family and I were getting ready for the tour, the lady named Jess only greeted my husband and my 5 year old son, while I'm standing there. she never made eye contact, never bothered asked if I'm the mom, meanwhile I was the one that recommended my husband to call and schedule a tour. My point is, I want to get to know the staff well so I know who I'm entrusting my kids to. However, it was already a red flag that I was being ignored. Thank you, but I'm taking my kids somewhere else.

Caring teachers and very invested principal. Mr. Kealy is very responsive to kids and parents. HFS…read moreis awesome!

We started our 4-year-old here and we're so impressed with the individualized, caring approach that…read morewe moved our two older kids to Holy Family the next year. It's a small school, and that means the entire staff knows your kids and the teachers always get back to you.

Our experience with Cadence Academy was extremely upsetting. The school claims to be NAEYC…read morecertified but doesn't reflect the values/standards that certification represents. My daughter is 3 and has ADHD and autism and they knew she had special needs and had behavioral challenges when we enrolled. Yet they would send her home after about an hour most days and would fully exclude her around two days a week, yet continued charging full tuition. This caused tremendous stress for our family -- emotionally, financially, and with our work schedules. The school felt extremely chaotic, with constant teacher turnover and little compassion or understanding for children with special needs. We never knew who her teacher would be or what room she'd be in- there was zero structure or educational enrichment. My 3-year-old daughter came home saying the teachers "didn't like her" and that she was "bad," which was devastating to hear. Since moving her to a preschool that truly values inclusion and care, she's thriving and happy again. I would never recommend this school to any family and will continue to share my experience with as many parent as will listen.

We have used Cadence academy for a little over 7 months and have been far from impressed. The…read morecurriculum for my 4 year old was almost non-existent. They have staffing issues which all centers are faced with currently but it made the center unreliable at times. They often had to shut down and ask parents to keep their kids home due to staffing (this happened on a monthly basis). They do not have cameras in the classrooms and with the constant turnover I am not sure that their staff is really properly trained to work with kids. Ultimately I believe daycare workers should be paid more to work with our children but that is another rant... My son hates to go to daycare and occasionally has referred to himself as a "bad boy" even though we have NEVER name called in our home. We had the last straw when we picked our son up from daycare and we walked in on a teacher restraining him. He was screaming and when we asked why he was being restrained it was because he was "running around and not listening". Further digging with our son we found out this isn't the first time they have held him down for basically no reason. There have been no incident reports given to us which is detailed in the parent handbook whenever a kid is restrained. I was so upset by this and worried for his welfare I called the director Shelby who didn't really have any solutions and promised to get back to me that afternoon. Instead of making this issue her top priority she, did NOT get back to me or look into it since it was a "busy day". I immediately yanked him from the daycare after that. (There have been other red flags but this was it for me).

We Love Lacey Parent Coop Preschool, it is play based learning that really gets kids ready for…read morekindergarten. We have been with the school now for 3 years and plan on joining again when my baby is old enough. Kids don't have to be potty trained but just the exposure to kids that are helped my son decide he was ready. Also I love the parent involvement, there is parent helping required but it is only 2-3 times a month and it is so much fun to get to take part of not only my child's education but his classmates.

DO NOT SEND YOUR CHILD HERE. All this place cares about is taking your money. Your child's safety?…read moreNOT GUARANTEED. That is exactly what they told me after my daughter was attacked by a new child at this daycare--twice. Initially, they told me it was just a "tiny scratch," but it was actually a deep laceration. It was so severe that we had to take her to the doctor, and it still hasn't fully healed. After the first incident, we were furious but hoped they would take measures to protect her. Instead, they allowed the same child to attack her again. When we asked what they would do to ensure this wouldn't happen a third time, they told us they "couldn't guarantee anything." Essentially, they admitted they cannot guarantee a child's safety. We had no choice but to pull her out immediately, even though we had pre-paid for the full month. Despite speaking with the owner, they have refused to refund the remainder of our tuition. It has been almost a year, and it still breaks my heart to see the scar on my daughter's face every day.

I've been sending my kids here for a few months and they've been thriving at the learning…read moreexperience. The teachers are amazing and my kids love them.

My daughter attended Fern Gully for 4 years. We love it so much!! She learned so many important…read moresocial skills. The teachers are kind, patient and fun. And best of all it connected us with a community of like minded people and friends for a lifetime. I highly recommend this school!!

Unfortunately, this "school" is not what it advertises to be. If you are considering sending your…read morechild here, I recommend that you reconsider that decision for the safety and well-being of your child. "We provide Waldorf inspired, holistic, outdoor education." " a mission to nurture the whole child in all areas of development, including physical, social, emotional and spiritual, as well as intellectual." "We focus on social- emotional awareness, creativity & resiliency." None of this is actually accurate. The teachers lack the knowledge or skill (or both) to incorporate the ideologies or either Maria Montessori or Rudolf Steiner. They do not focus on social-emotional awareness. The teachers utilize punishment that is not rooted in Montessori or Waldorf. My son, who has neurodivergence, was punished so HARSHLY here that his neuropsychologist asked, unprompted by me, to send a letter to the school teachers to educate them on how to appropriately handle discipline and how to offer support instead, for young children. My son endured extreme trauma here. There are many other farm, forest and outdoor schools in Olympia. I recommend any of them over Fern Gully. I would stay far away from this place. They do not offer a safe environment for your child - they don't supervise the children and they do not keep them safe emotionally.