I cannot say enough good things about the school and the staff. My son used to go to a different…read moredaycare before and the day he started going to Good Samaritan, I can see total change in his personality, he is more confident and outgoing. The principal and all the teachers are very caring, they care about kids as their own, my son is happy here and I would recommend anyone this preschool.

I would give this school ten stars if I could. The staff are absolutely incredible with the…read morechildren and care about them as if they were their own. I have had two children attend there through the years and the staff turn-over is very low. The director is incredibly thoughtful and friendly and caring. She goes above and beyond to make sure you feel comfortable with your children in their care. One of the best parts is the school's flexibility. You can choose two, three, four, or five days per week, choose the days, and choose the amount of time. The regular day is 9-1 and the kids eat lunch at school. You can also choose a longer day of 9-3, and/or before and after care which would cover a full work day. They follow the LWSD school district calendar, for the most part, and also offer summer camps. I couldn't be more pleased with our time at Good Sam School!

We've had a wonderful experience with Eastgate Montessori Garden. Our daughter joined when she was…read morejust 2 years old, and even after only half a school year, we've already seen tremendous growth. She has become noticeably more confident, more social with other children, and her English skills have improved dramatically. What truly sets this school apart is Teacher Monica, a rare gem in the Greater Seattle area. With over 30 years of Montessori teaching experience, she brings a depth of understanding, patience, and guidance that's incredibly hard to find. She also had a knack for recruiting compassionate and loving assistant teachers such as Rebecca, Lori, and previously Gnana, whom we greatly appreciated. While only a very select number of schools in the area have teachers with comparable experience, those schools tend to be quite large, and it's not always guaranteed that your child will be placed with one of their most seasoned educators. At Eastgate, the environment is more personal and intentional, and we felt confident that our daughter was receiving direct support from someone who truly understands Montessori principles and how to nurture each child's growth. We're grateful for the warmth, consistency, and quality of education our daughter received here. Highly recommend!

We moved from the east coast and started with EMG from last November. I have to say we are very…read morelucky in finding this school. EMG is a true gem for the eastgate community. What I love most about EMG is their Montessori approach to education. My child has flourished under this method, which encourages hands-on learning and exploration. The teachers have created an environment that is both nurturing and stimulating, allowing my child to develop their unique interests and talents at their own pace. But what really sets this school apart is the teachers. Monika and Manisha are both wonderful educators who are passionate about their work and truly care about their students. They go above and beyond to ensure that each child in their class feels valued and supported. I have personally witnessed the impact that Monika and Manisha have had on my child. They both have a unique ability to bring out the best in each child and help them reach their full potential. I am so grateful to have them here. In conclusion, I highly recommend Eastgate Montessori Garden to any parent or guardian looking for a school with caring and loving teachers. The Montessori approach to education, combined with the school's warm and welcoming atmosphere, make for an exceptional learning experience.

oth our kids have attended Cascadia since PreK. We had heard about this wonderful institution from…read moreour colleagues and were very intentional in our choice. Mrs Keeton's leadership and high bar for the teachers and students is amazing. Cascadia provides our kids with a safe environment (home away from home) where there is focus on academic rigor but also on whole child development. Mrs Keeton and all the teachers/staff genuinely care for the children and set a high bar for them both academically and socially. It is also very well recognized amongst other middle/high schools of the region (Overlake, EPS, Lakeside, Eastside Catholic etc) and Cascadia alum have made great impressions at these schools. If you are looking for a nurturing yet academically rigorous school, this is your place!

My both kids attended Cascadia and we thoroughly enjoyed our journey through Cascadia. Cascadia…read morenot just provides strong academic environment, but also overall development of the child - development in terms of social, emotional, public speaking, creative writing, confidence building, respect for others. The director of the school knows each child personally and involves actively in the child's development. Cascadia is a small, closed, connected community which differentiates Cascadia from many other schools in the area. Some might consider the smaller school size and lack of at-school activities to be drawbacks, but that did not bother us as our kids always had time to pursue their interests outside school as well. Our kids are not at Cascadia anymore, but they look forward to meeting teachers and other kids at every opportunity possible. Even after our kids graduated from the school, parents still try to keep in touch and help each other. We are pretty fortunate that our kids attended Cascadia and thankful to teachers and Mrs. Franklin.

We found Field & Forest Outdoor Preschool while looking for an all outdoor program for my then 3…read moreyo. And I am glad we did! By going here she had the opportunity to run free, explore, learn about nature and pretty much come back home every day covered in mud. And happy! The best preschool experience. We loved the outdoors and the teachers so much that we enrolled her little brother when he turned three.

Avoid this school, its a scam. Had our child enrolled and learned she had a sensory issue, tried…read moreto disenroll her after a few weeks but the school said no and we had to pay the entire year tuition. They threatened litigation when we asked for a break. We even found another family who would take our spot, and they refused. It was an obvious RED FLAG when they asked us to sign a litany of legal documents just to enroll in preschool... This place is not family friendly, its a scam. $500 enrollment fee + $2000 tuition wasted.

great school. My son loves ELL. The teachers here are very kind. At the start, my boy didn't like…read moreto drink milk, and the teacher helped him drink by himself. When he slept, the teacher would pat him. Full of love here. When he went to Tiger class, he began to learn Chinese words and English, he made great progress here. ELL also offers good food. Teachers here are easy to communicate. ELLs also hold some events such as Chinese traditional culture, summer graduation celebrations, and some nice coffee time. Teachers held one-on-one with parents every school year.

My son has been going to ELL for almost 5 months now and he's loved every moment. Since this is his…read morefirst time, we were worried about him adjusting but the teachers were all great and he got fully adjusted just within a week.

I don't know why it's taken so long (about four years) for me to review this place, but it deserves…read moreabout five-star "as good  as it gets" review.  My boy was there from about 18 months until almost three years old, and really appreciated the place, particularly after mixed experiences with a subsequent Montessori school. It is open to children from 15 months to 6 years old.  The facility is the basement of a large residential home. The owner-headmaster of the school (and a much school in Issaquah) lives upstairs. The entrance is around the back, shielded by the house from the street noise of Bel-Red Road. Access from the parking lot is by a nicely landscaped boardwalk.  The schoolyard is securely fenced, with lots of forested natural scenery outside the fence. The highlight is a stream called Country Creek, through the corner of the school's property. (It starts near Cascade View Park and flows into the Sammamish River.) The city has it marked as salmon spawning habitat, but I haven't seen its salmon run. Indoors, there's a toddler school room, and preschool room, and some office and other private space. Both classrooms were brightly lit and cheerful even in the gloom of winter. They were spotlessly clean -- and our boy was there before pandemic. It was well equipped, with learning materials organized Montessori-style.  The teachers were dedicated and caring, and because of the small classes they always had abundant time for the children. And because the owner is a Montessori teacher who lives upstairs, a familiar substitute was always available when teachers needed days off.  Communications were excellent: a simple form with a few little status updates, written notes about anything unusual during the day and scheduled events ahead, plus availability to talk about any concerns at pick-up time. (They weren't champions with e-mail, but better at it than a subsequent school.)  A highlight event (scheduled well in advance so parents could see their kids' delight) while our boy was there was a visit from a mobile petting zoo. A truck (maybe more than one) arrived one day with rabbits, goats, sheep, assorted other animals -- and a pony. Their staff set up cages and hand-wash stations, and let the kids interact with the animals. In the parking lot, kids took turns riding the pony. Now I want to look at my photos and videos and share them with our boy.  The tuition was very affordable. In part, that's probably because it shares overhead with the owner's house. But it's also due to the place's one inconvenience, that parents had to send lunches when dropping off the children.  A note about Montessori schools in general: the learning style is exploratory and largely self-directed. Budget permitting, I think it's ideal for most toddlers and preschoolers, except for some with special needs. But it's not such a clear choice for elementary school and up; if a child absorbs a strong sense of self-motivation to work at school, it's superior. If not, a conventional classroom with stronger guidance may be a better fit. But Prime Time enrolls kids during the early years when Montessori is best for most children.  In retrospect I wish we had kept him there until he was too old, but we had previously wait-listed him at another Montessori school (which provided excellent lunches). Our reasoning had been to transfer him while he was little, to get the disruption of changing schools over with earlier. But as it turned out, the pandemic was a vastly greater disruption to children (and adults) of all ages.  After all that praise -- and the observation that the inconvenience of sending lunches was balanced by the very reasonable price -- I feel comfortable giving Prime Time a five-star "as good as it gets" without any concerns about grade inflation.

Great school with small classrooms! Loving teachers. They provide a very clean and nurturing…read morelearning environment and really love the kids! The playground area is very beautiful and offers lots of things for the kids to do.

This preschool is a fun and engaging place for children to grow and learn. This was the first…read morecommunity my family came to in the United States. Although my daughter could not speak English at all, she had a fun preschool experience with many friends and teachers. I really appreciated the support from the teachers.

An intimate environment where children can learn though a "play based" curriculum that introduces…read moreeducational concepts to children between the ages of 2 1/2 to pre-K. It builds a solid foundation for entering into formal, public or private, education system. The teachers are dedicated to providing the best early learning skills to each student. I love the changing environment and introduction of new concepts plus the spacious and fun outdoor area. This school has been in continuous operation for over 50 years in Kirkland. It is not daycare but a beautifully constructed learning environment that introduces your child to the excitement and adventure of learning.

They're skilled at enrolling students and earning strong reviews, but their concern doesn't extend…read moreto the children or parents.

We had really high hopes for the school as Ms. Hansen, the school director, is clearly invested in…read morethe Montessori method and has been practicing for decades. The school is set in a lovely natural settings and the class sizes are small. Unfortunately, we experienced several major challenges this school year and have opted to transfer our daughter to a new school year because of them. Communication is poor. The Kirkland campus does not have a dedicated administrative assistant. All communication goes through the admin assistant at the Bellevue campus and then to the teachers at Kirkland. While there is a dedicated email address for each classroom, teachers do not check or reply to messages. And since there is no communication at pick up and drop off, there is no way to communicate with the teachers other than the two conferences throughout the school year. If an emergency arises, you will need to call the Bellevue campus and hope that someone answers the phone and is able to relay the message to the Kirkland campus. The school does not enforce its own sick policy. Students who showed up with snot streaming down their faces and persistent, barking coughs were allowed to remain in class. Our daughter missed more than six weeks of school because of this negligence. We had multiple conversations with the school director, and things would get better for a week and then return to their norm. In contrast, during our daughter's first year of preschool (at another school) she was sick once the entire year. We were not happy with some of the language our daughter picked up from the teachers. She began using the work "guys" frequently shortly after the beginning of the school year. She also learned a song with the lyrics "the little one stops to pray to heaven." Bullying on the playground was not address. There were two older boys in class who frequently put children 'in jail" and would not allow them to play on the playground (as reported by our child and several other parents). They also would not let the children play with certain toys on the playground. Bullying should never be tolerated and needs to be shut down asap. This year's class was incredibly young (many kids in diapers that could not talk, toddlers with snot streaming down their faces, etc.) and it made the school feel like a daycare. Our experience did not align with the price of tuition nor the experience we were sold. Bottom line, there are better Montessori options in the greater Kirkland area.