The Montessori Forest School has been a great fit for my son and our family. This has been his…read morefirst experience in a school type setting and Shaija has been absolutely wonderful helping us all transition. We LOVE the combo of the outdoor setting and Montessori style of teaching and learning. My son THRIVES in the outdoor setting! He loves the adventure and is a very high energy kiddo, so we love knowing that he is getting to move and play and breath in the fresh air. He has learned so much since he started and will often randomly bring up some fun fact he learned. He is learning about REAL things. Shaija is so passionate about teaching and she really cares for the kids.

Wonderful preschool! My daughter loves going here and is thriving. When anyone asks her she says,…read more"Preschool is SO MUCH FUN!" Ms. Jennifer and Ms. Meghan are awesome -- knowledgeable, fun, and very kind. They really care about the kids and have just the right balance of structure and flexibility. The kids learn a lot too. They did a whole unit on fire safety, where they learned songs to help them remember how to keep safe and they got to meet firefighters and climb on the firetruck. They do many lovely art projects as well and each day they are learning numbers and letters. The facility is great -- with different themed play areas that change every month or two, an outdoor playground and a big gym with tricycles for rainy days. Can't say enough good things about this preschool! (FYI, the preschool closed during the pandemic then reopened in 2023)

This preschool is FANTASTIC. Just about everything I could ask for. Some of the highlights…read more.. - student/teacher ratio is between 5-6 kids per teacher (for the preK) - actual science projects (as opposed to just watching someone do something) - reading, writing, numbers integrated in. Normally it's not "now it's reading time" but rather reading letters, sounds, numbers just become part of the day. - each student assigned "jobs" - line leader, feeding the fish, selecting the books. Kids get a job every day. - manners!!! Love that my child is expected to look people in the eye and say please and thank you, to have nice manners while eating, etc. - large facility gives kids elbow room. This may not seem like a big deal, but seriously, it is. - Christ and Bible based. Kids learn the biblical stories, learn to ask questions, etc.

Our son has been going to Mango Montessori for close to a year and he is about to start…read moreKindergarten this year. We moved to Redmond from West Seattle where our son was doing fantastic in the previous daycare. In Redmond we tried a number of places (tours and placements) and were reluctant to keep moving him. With other daycare in Redmond he would come home overly energized, struggling to focus and difficult to put down for the night. After going to Mango Montessori, it was night and day difference in behavior. Our son become more composed. He picked up where he left from in West Seattle and started progressing in his learning. He is now far ahead of where we thought he would be for his age, reading full words, writing & counting to high numbers. And drop off and pick up is a breeze. For anyone looking to invest in your child's future in the right environment for a balanced curriculum with great teachers look no further then Mango Monteessori. They're devotion & passion for kids education is clearly apparent and greatly appreciated.

Our 4 year old has been happily going to Ms. S.'s Montessori school since last September. We were…read morenew to the local area and after visiting a number of in-home and stand-alone day-cares, we knew right away that this would be the place. Heck, I wish I could be a kid again just so that I could go to kindergarten there. So many experiments and crafts for the kids to do, culturally diverse, small (10 max, I think?), and a really pleasant and caring atmosphere. I am just a little worried that when our 4 year will go to public school, she'll be bored since she has already learned all the letters of the alphabet this year. But, they do so much more than academic basics: it's the whole Montessori curriculum. I do wish they would go outside a bit more to play, but we make up for that at home. I also like that they don't charge an arm and a leg unlike some other options in the area that we explored and didn't like as much.

This is the best preschool in all of the Eastside. They have a waitlist so if you're searching for…read morea future daycare/preschool, reach out to them now. That said they are also reasonably priced. Since they are not a chain, it's very clear your tuition goes straight into the classroom for great teachers, activities and equipment. Our daughter attended here for 2 years. We are still in touch with them occasionally and go to their annual picnic because they were like a second family when we went there. I have 3 kids and have seen every type of daycare and preschool - Creative Sprouts is simply the best. The most impressive thing they taught my daughter was excellent social emotional skills. She was able to express her feelings, even in a conflict with her sister, from a very young age! Highly highly recommend.

Hands down the best school my child has attended so far (this is her 4th school since birth). We…read morelove that the school is doing their best to help build a parent community, the communication is excellent, and the teachers are SO caring. Other things we love: meal and snacks are prepared there and they use whatever is growing in the garden (and let families take the excess produce home too), many opportunities for parents and kids to get together during non school days, awesome child teacher ratio (smaller than state requirement), lots of outdoor play time (I love it and believe that's what kids need to thrive - be outside. I love seeing that my girl comes home with dirty clothes because of outdoor playing), loving teachers and staff who really take their time to understand the needs of your child and families. I can't say enough how much we love CS. My child doesn't want to go home everyday I go to pick her up. I think that says it all.

I could not have chosen a better school for my 3 year old. We toured many schools prior to…read moreselecting Children's Garden and there was really just no comparison. The teachers and staff are so incredibly warm, loving and kind. You can literally feel the energy of love right when you enter the parking lot! This school has done a fantastic job of creating a trustworthy and inclusive community among parents and staff. Everyone is just lovely and supportive. The curriculum is uniquely and carefully carved out for each class. The weekly updates are adorable. They are proactive with checking in on each child and sending updates. Regular celebrations and community events. This school is simply wonderful and we are happy to be here.

We had our daughter here for 5 years. She started in the infant room and went through to Pre-K…read morebefore moving to her public school Kinder class. In some ways we wish we would have kept her in through the primary grade. Our experience was so positive. She needed extra care and nurturing in the infant room. She just wasn't the kind of baby you could easily hand off to others, but the teachers in the infant room held her constantly and really went out of their way to help her to settle in. They would even hold her while she slept which was amazing. She progressed through each class really well thanks to the care, kindness, expertise and nurturing of the teachers. What we really loved was that they could accommodate the individual needs of our child in a way that helped her to make friends, while growing her skills and confidence. The focus on, kindness, life-skills and academics is perfect. Now that we've moved on to a public school we truly see the value of the school. Our daughter is reading more than a grade level above her class and doing math that is a grade level ahead of her class. She is testing higher in nearly every academic area than her peers. We feel we owe much of this to the work of the countryside teachers who were so dedicated to her. We recommend Countryside to any friends looking for schools.

The school is old and the classes are dark. The school director is nice and pleasent. The…read morekindergarten teacher was not friendly with kids. The classrooms are small, so the teacher will put your kid in the bathroom if he is crying! That is what happened to my son! Also, one of the teachers, using his mouth and hands to tickle the kids.... Should not happen.... Way over the boundaries!

Everything has been amazing here at The Discovery Center! Our daughter has been going for nearly a…read moreyear and a half and still gets excited to go to school each day and talks about her friends and teachers all the time at home. The homemade meals have been a great way to introduce her to foods we might not make at home, and the staff has done a great job with providing alternative food options when needed to work around our daughter's allergies. Our daughter had a reaction at home to soy and it turned out to be an allergy to all legumes. While we were figuring this out the Discovery Center staff went above and beyond and had a list of safe foods and a list of foods she couldn't have that we would update to ensure they were avoiding all potential allergens as we figured this out. This made us feel safe sending her to school during a more uncertain time. They still go above and beyond to avoid her allergies and provide other food options. Our experience potty training our daughter before she was two years old would not have been possible without the help and support of the staff. They helped take her to the toilet often and continued to help potty train her while at school. There's a great balance of education, play, and outdoor time. We can tell she is learning a lot and we know she is having a ton of fun too. Our daughter will come home and suddenly start counting to numbers we haven't even tried to teach her or sing new songs! Our daughter is insanely shy around new people, she still is scared of some grandparents. But she is very comfortable with everyone at The Discovery Center, I couldn't imagine sending her somewhere else. The classroom and daycare size is a perfect middle ground where there are plenty of kids our daughter's age, but it still has a more intimate feel where everyone knows each other. The whole place has a great "family" vibe where all the parents will pitch in. There was a time when they were remodeling the outside play area and they asked if some parents could volunteer to help put together some structures on a Saturday. It felt like nearly every dad showed up to help get these structures built and the owners provided us all a home cooked lunch for coming together and helping out. Speaking of remodeling the outside, since we started at The Discovery Center the entire center has had so many improvements. From new play structures outside, to a new outdoor infant area, to a full remodel inside. It's been fun to see this place grow and improve over the year and a half we've been sending our daughter to school. The Discovery Center has been a great daycare for our daughter, has been flexible and helpful for our needs, and we will be bringing our newest daughter to the same school here soon!

this is an update from my previous review. Unfortunately, Discovery Center turned their back on us…read morewhen we most needed. 2 weeks before our start date, my spouse was laid off and we needed subsidy to pay part of the tuition. We let them know and they immediately changed their minds about our enrollment. They said: "Either pay full price without the subsidy or we will not accept your kid". On their end, the money they receive is the same - the only issue is they had to report the paperwork and taxes related to it. School in their response claims my kids have never been part of the school: As mentioned in my original review, it is because they decided not to enroll our kids TWO WEEKS before we started. This is the whole point why we wrote the review.

We have had two children go through the Goddard School on 228th Ave. NE, with our youngest…read moreapproaching the final year before kindergarten--7 years of cumulative time with our kids. The administration has been top notch. The teachers have been consistently bright, caring, and gentle. The school policy "errs" on the side of protecting our children, even if that includes occasionally asking another parent to withdraw a student after multiple aggressive behaviors (they are fair and give chances). We have found this policy to be a blessed relief after having children in schools in Texas who were at risk of injury from bites, especially, and other aggressive behaviors. One common criticism in reviews has been staff turnover. It is true--I noted it on one of the feedback evaluations a few years ago. It is an unavoidable part of running a program in the costly Eastside of Seattle. Goddard cannot afford to pay their teachers Microsoft salaries while maintaining a reasonable market price for tuition. There are, however, staff members who have been there from the beginning. While childcare in our region is not anywhere close to cheap, Goddard has a very fair pricing structure and the well-developed curriculum and nurturing that is part of the experience makes the price, in my opinion, a bargain of sorts. The school administrators have ALWAYS been immediately responsive to any concerns, requests, questions, or feedback. They work hard to make the school the best it can be. I don't give 5 stars lightly, but as an educator and a parent of four, I have seen what works and what doesn't. This place works.

We had a positive experience with the infant room and some toddler-room teachers. Unfortunately,…read moreour experience changed significantly after our daughter transitioned to a toddler room shortly before turning one, especially after a caring teacher went on leave. Communication and management issues further worsened the situation. One major concern was the toddler room's policy against bottle feeding. Despite practicing with sippy and straw cups, our daughter was still unable to use them reliably, and we did not believe she was developmentally ready to stop bottles, particularly since she was born three weeks early. We asked to delay the transition or allow temporary bottle use, but our initial requests were declined without a clear alternative. We ultimately escalated to the owner, who allowed bottle feeding as an exception in another room. This raised concerns about whether the transition was developmentally appropriate. Washington regulations state that children should transition from infant care to cups when developmentally appropriate. The center focused on the toddler-room ratio, but our concern was whether our daughter was actually being treated as a toddler when she still needed infant-appropriate feeding support. Bottles were not permitted, there was no refrigerator or bottle warmer, and the materials were primarily designed for toddlers. We were also told the favorable ratio during her first week was simply because enrollment was low. We were told she had to transition before one because there was no space in the infant room in September - they enrolled more infants. We were additionally told that it was important to let children "suffer sometimes" so they could learn. Different families may have different views on this philosophy. The final trigger for us was how our daughter's crying was handled. After being out sick for several weeks, she returned needing extra comfort. At pickup, we found our 12-month-old crying alone on the floor in a different room while two teachers were occupied cleaning. She had no other children around her, her eyes were visibly puffy, and she looked exhausted. The experience was deeply upsetting and made us question whether she was receiving the responsive care she needed. That evening, she also appeared unusually thirsty, had dry diapers, and drank a significant amount of water at home. This was especially concerning given the inconsistent communication we had already experienced regarding her food, fluids, and naps. When we withdrew, the office administrators were apologetic and acknowledged the teacher-turnover challenges. The owner maintained that the bottle accommodation addressed our concerns. We also requested that October tuition be waived since our daughter would not attend a single day after withdrawing in mid-September, but the request was denied based on the enrollment agreement. Ultimately, every family has different expectations for childcare. As two busy working parents, we need to trust that our child's developmental needs are recognized and that basic information about her care is communicated consistently, without repeatedly having to advocate for it. We are grateful to the teachers who cared for our daughter warmly, particularly in the infant room, but based on our experience, we decided this was no longer the right environment for our family.