Our son has been there for almost a year and we are so impressed!! The teachers and director really CARE. They have different service projects going on throughout the year and put an emphasis on empathy, which I love. We also have an older child and between our two kids, we've experienced a handful of preschools in Ballard and West Seattle. This is the best by far. read more

Left feeling traumatized and betrayed. Awful staff and communication. Left with no care after contracts signed. Staff has completely ignored all emails. Still haven't heard back from them to this day. ____________ We were officially offered a spot at A Child Becomes preschool. I emailed our SIGNED contract accepting the 2 available spots that were offered to us (morning and afternoon) so I scheduled an appointment to do a tour at the preschool the following week. During our scheduled appointment, the Director kept interrupting our appointment by saying hi to everyone and hugging and chatting with all the parents. I am a working mother and had to take time out of my work schedule to make this appointment so I found this extremely rude that she wasn't prioritizing our meeting. She even took a crying child off a parents hands in the middle of our appointment to help her since she was crying. I mentioned to the the Director that I didn't have much time and that I needed to go back to work and she said that the children always come first. The very next day, we received an email about giving our afternoon spot to someone else. Email stated it was given to someone else two days ago. This is just TEN days after I emailed my SIGNED tuition contract stating our ACCEPTANCE into the preschool for the morning AND afternoon spot. They gave our accepted spot to someone else. I replied in a panic asking for an explanation. I didn't quite understand why they would give our spot to someone else when I've already signed the contract. Sent an email 2 days later with no response. Sent an email one week later with no response. The director has now been completely unresponsive. Her name is Michelle Neal and is no longer answering any of my emails or an explanation as to why they broke the contract. We thought we had guaranteed childcare starting on May 6th so I began to decline other childcare offers, giving up our spots on those wait lists. I've been scrambling trying to find schools to take us on such late notice. We were finally able to get into one school but it was almost triple the cost of A Child Becomes. We really have no other choice so we had to accept this offer. In the end, we are very happy with our now current daycare as their curriculum is far above average compared to all the other daycares our son has been to. Overall, this has been a very traumatic experience. I was adamant about getting into this school because I've heard so many amazing things about it and have been recommended by several parents from all sorts of mommy groups, blogs and Facebook groups but now I do not understand why. This has been the most rude and unprofessional school I have ever met with. I do not recommend this school whatsoever. In addition, the school is under a church and it felt really dark with poor air circulation, which is not desirable during a time where there is a pandemic happening. Everything looked cluttered, unorganized and dirty at this school. I really wanted to love this school but A Child Becomes has left me traumatized and betrayed. read more

I can not recommend this preschool enough. Not only did both of my children leave fully prepared academically for kindergarten but social/emotional as well. All of the staff at A Child Becomes teaches to the whole child. The children feel loved, heard, and important. This little preschool is a gem. read more

My son attended A Child Becomes from the time he was 2 1/2 to 5. He loved every year. Each year giving him a new experience, and shaping his expectations for what school should be like. He still talks of his teachers, and how he felt safe, and loved by them. We chose A Child Becomes because of Shelly's understanding that each child develops at their own pace and didn't require their students to be potty trained. They are a play based school where the children are encouraged to imagine, explore, make believe all in a learning rich environment. We loved our experience there. As my son would say, we wish teacher Shelly could teach our son for life! read more

After doing lots of research from the preschool fair and open houses, we decide this was our top choice. Until registration came: lined up at the crack of dawn after being told there were only a few spots left in the class and would be assigned "first come, first served". Learned later that it doesn't really work that way. "teacher Shelly" moves her favorites in as she chooses- heard it from her own mouth. I'm not excited about sending my child to a school that plays favorites. He can learn that hurtful lesson later in life, thanks. read more

We've had three children at "A Child Becomes" and we feel so fortunate to have this great school in our neighborhood. Teacher Shelly's programs nurture the children's curiosity for the natural world with many 'live' creatures in the classroom, field trips outdoors and outdoor play each day. There is lots of creativity with arts and crafts and pretend play. They learn how to best respect their teachers and fellow students. The teachers at A Child Becomes are warm and caring and really seem to love to teach this young age group. We think it's just a great place for children to be! read more

A Child Becomes is a magical place for learning and growing. My youngest daughter, who is now 13 attended and it was an incredible experience for her. She spent 2 wonderful years at A Child Becomes and it instilled a love for school which continues to this day. The teachers were warm, nurturing and very skilled in early childhood development. I can't say enough about this amazing community that is A Child Becomes. read more

A Child Becomes Preschool was such an amazing place for my son. Teacher Shelley has created a school full of curious and engaged learning. A Child Becomes is fun for the kids and instills a love of learning. He left A Child Becomes Preschool very prepared for Kindergarten. read more

This school not only fosters and develops a love for learning, but more importantly, it fosters and develops emotional intelligence, by encouraging and teaching to show others' kindness and love. The Teachers here are amazing and model these important traits. Both my daughters had difficulty with separation from me and the Teachers were always accommodating and helpful. I couldn't have asked for a better introduction into "school". The kindness and understanding exhibited by the Teachers allowed my girls to know that they were safe and their feelings mattered. It also fosters creativity and an excitement for life and learning. This is a school where you can feel the love and acceptance. You can know with certainty that your child will receive a safe and nurturing environment where they will feel free to express themselves and their creativity. I believe the first impression of school is vitally important and I know that ACB is the reason both my girls developed a love for school and learning. read more

This school is okay. Nothing that makes you go wow and I love it but it's not a bad school either. They seem to keep the kids busy which is good! They have a fun outdoor area. I question the organizing and structure of the class. I think they need to figure out ways to include all the kids in the class in the activity they are doing as group. Maybe when they're having table time, they can set up the same activity on both sides so all the kids can participate instead of only half the class. The ones that were too far away from the group activity began to wonder off. They had their activity set up but on one end of the long table, not everyone can see and participate. I also would like to see more teaching and explaining instead of using the word no, we don't do that right now... It felt like an overwhelming environment a little in the school. Maybe it was just one of those crazy days and usually it's not like this. read more

A Child Becomes was referred to me by a friend, and I had just had my second child and I was desperate for something/anything for my 3 year old. So I enrolled him without looking anywhere else. At the time, I had no idea how lucky I was - to get a spot for him and to have stumbled into a phenomenal school experience that both my children (now 12 and 9) still remember fondly. It's a warm and welcoming learning environment where kids learn autonomy, feel a part of the learning experience, share warm fuzzies and discover - all sorts of amazing things. I remember one day outside at Hiawatha with my son and there were bugs crawling on the bench. I made a comment about the all the bugs, he then said, "those are insects because they have 6 legs." I had never talked with him about insects and no clue where he got this, so I asked. And he said, "Teacher Shelley told me." This is one of the innumerable facts he shared with me during his time at ACB. My daughter's experience was wonderful also, she loved art and we still have her framed creations from her days in Teacher Pam's class. Both went into kindergarten with good friends from preschool and were well prepared academically also. I would recommend this school without an ounce of reservation. read more