Our twin boys started at Safari Kid at age three. Previously, we had tried a small Montessori…read moreschool in our neighborhood which was not a good fit for our family. In the year that they have been at Safari Kid, their progression has demonstrated positive growth in so many ways. Safari Kid has provided an excellent environment for our boys to discover the joy in learning. Their response to the play-based and socio-emotional aspects of the curriculum has been so positive. The administration and staff go above and beyond in providing a sense of safety and community, helping our kids to grow into independent, sociable, curious, playful, and confident learners. We truly feel that the teachers, administration, and staff care about the well-being and growth of our kids. As parents we are continually impressed by the new skills acquired by our children from lessons provided by Safari Kid. We are so glad we found Safari Kid!

Our toddler has been at Safari Kid for a little over one year, spanning two classes, and we could…read morenot have more positive things to say. Nurturing, communicative, and trustworthy. Highly recommend!

My verdict: either mismanaged or malicious…read more Our son attended Sunshine Montessori Preschool for a year. We looked past a few red flags because our son seemed satisfied with his experience. Then, just six weeks before his third birthday, we were informed that he did not have a spot in the three-year-old classroom and that his spot in the two-year-old classroom had been given to a child on the waitlist. Yes, you read that correctly: Our son was forced out of this preschool without justification, and we were given six weeks to find new childcare accommodations at a time when most providers have six-month waitlists! After asking around, it became clear that this situation is by no means common for childcare providers. I won't get into the other red flags we identified because frankly, they pale in comparison to this infraction. I have had some time to process everything, and it has left me split between two conclusions: either Sunshine Montessori is managed so poorly that they failed to continue to care for our son or, for reasons I can't comprehend, the leadership at Sunshine Montessori made a malicious decision not to continue to care for our son. I'll leave you to draw your own conclusion. My only advice is to proceed with caution if you're considering leaving your child in the care of Sunshine Montessori Preschool. You too may be left scrambling to find a new provider on short notice.

Not a good environment for neurodivergent kids, significant lack of support or willingness to try…read moreimplementing simple accommodations to help them succeed (e.g. visual schedules), and only surface level engagement with the NWRESD process. My child was enrolled for approximately 8 months. Of the handful of places my child attended over the years this was by far the worst experience we had. The first red flag was when they declined to attend my child's IFSP meeting. They were uninterested in collaborating with us to develop strategies to manage challenging behavior (and would later send my child home early several times because they were unequipped to deal with it) or collaborate on accommodations they could implement. We left sunshine a month earlier than planned because we were so fed up, felt like they saw our child as a "behavior problem" that we needed to fix, and I was left with anxiety about how my child would do in kindergarten and beyond. If there wasn't such a shortage of childcare we would have moved programs earlier- the only thing that kept us there was a lack of availability. We also thought Sunshine overall felt unfriendly. The head teacher barely looked up at drop off to say hi and it didn't seem like the kids worked on very many engaging projects. I'm used to my child coming home with paintings, and paper plate animals, and handmade balls of wool, or cut out/glued on/colored paper, or seeing their artwork on the walls of the classroom- but that wasn't the case here. I want to be fair and say I don't think everything was terrible. My child made friends, she liked her room teacher, she made progress in academic learning, very occasionally brough home cute craft projects, played with some fun toys, had access to interesting learning materials, and I didn't fear for her safety. If your child does not need additional accommodations, is fairly self directed, follows verbal directions, and can still for extended periods they may do fine here. If they are wiggle worms that need extra movement in their day or have learning challenges, I strongly urge you to look elsewhere. My child is now THRIVING in kindergarten and I'm so thankful for the support they are getting at another school. I'm also so thankful to the NWRESD teachers that visited in the sunshine classroom and reassured me throughout our struggles my child was acting in age appropriate ways and doing their best even with such lack of support.

Update: I had a call back from the manager days after this…read morereview, they must have gone through their list of touring parents to match my name with the review - creepy! Please be aware that this review is based on the tour that I did with my child and that I have no experience of day to day operations of this place. First impression stepping in is that it is dirty, there are dirty boots in the entry and the the entire place could have done with a good scrubbing. After being told they have approx. 80 kids attending at this school it kind of made sense that floors will get dirty quickly. If first impression was bad the worst was yet to come. The layout is poorly planned and I don't think the building was designed to hold so many children. There is clothing and other stuff everywhere which gives a very messy and cluttered impression. The classrooms are small for the amount of children and I don't what to think of how noisy and stressful it must be, for the smaller children during early morning/afternoon as they host kids from 8 different elementary schools. When I visited what would be my daughters class room they where just about rolling out the TV. Apparently they have DAILY "film time" session as a part of their curriculum. I also got to see when they served lunch, which a very saddening experience in itself. Not only was the portions tiny for an active growing children but the food itself was a gray unidentifiable "soup" served with some very dry pieces of carrot and 1/2 sausage bun. None of the kids seemed enthusiastic about it (who can blame them). No wonder we have failing school results and soaring obesity rates in this country when this is how we educate and feed our children. My heart goes out to the little ones and I feel for the families that might not have other options than to leave their kids in these type of facilities. The teachers (including the one giving the tour) was all very friendly and I do not doubt their good intentions but they seemed very tired and stressed out. To me the state of the place and the TV/lunch situation is a clear indication that the teachers don't have enough time/energy/resources to keep up with the high number of children.

We highly recommend Turquoise Learning Tree . Our 18-month old daughter has been attending for a…read moreyear now and absolutely loves it. When we arrive to drop her off, she immediately starts talking about her friends. Her teachers have all been fabulous and we love that she's learning Spanish at such a young age. On the administrative side, Melanie and Delany are proactive in communicating and are always so helpful when we have any questions. Turquoise Learning Tree certainly feels like a second family to us!

Little Fruit Farm Montessori has been an absolutely wonderful place for our 5-year old son. It's…read morebittersweet that he'll be graduating this summer! He's been with Teacher Lauren for 2 years now and we're so happy with the growth we've seen in him. Teacher Lauren is a fantastic educator who provides a well-balanced Montessori education. We had experience with Montessori with our older son and was looking for that experience for our younger son. Little Fruit Farm has the wide array of Montessori educational materials, but what was most notable was Teacher Lauren's intuitive ability to balance trying new things with the encouragement to continue exploring subjects with our son. Her approach feels more rooted and true to Montessori principles than all the other places we considered. Our son also received personalized attention - class sizes seemed to average around 8:1 for most of the time he's been there. He went through several emotional phases, as young kids do, and Teacher Lauren was very collaborative and worked with us. I went to observe the classroom several times and was impressed with how well the students focused on working and learning together. Little Fruit Farm is an in-home Montessori and Teacher Lauren has gone to great lengths prioritize most of her home towards teaching. It's a calm, safe, and inviting environment. She has a great backyard space where the kids play, learn about the natural world through gardening and pick organic blueberries and strawberries. We feel as a result of our son's work with Teacher Lauren that he is elementary school-ready. Not only is he reading short books, adding and subtracting up to 20, he's also developed a sense of self-reliance, calm and care for others. He's also made some adorable friendships with his classmates and has a great relationship with Teacher Lauren. We highly recommend Little Fruit Farm and are so appreciative that our son had a chance to work with Teacher Lauren. She's an excellent teacher and a lovely person, and we're lucky to have found Little Fruit Farm.

Two years ago we chose Little Fruit Farm because Ms. Lauren spent a lot of time building trust with…read moreme. Through many conversations, she emphasized her caring approach, her years of experience, and how uniquely qualified she was to work with young children. Based on those assurances, we believed this would be a safe and nurturing environment. Unfortunately, that did not turn out to be true. We were part of the school 2023-2024 for about six months. It is also important to note that Ms. Lauren was the sole teacher and only adult in the school, even though she had told me before we enrolled that she would be bringing in an assistant. There were early and ongoing red flags that I should have paid better attention to. One time, for instance, during drop-off, she was cleaning in the bathroom and expected me to simply leave my child unattended. I told her I felt uncomfortable doing that and she agreed. Another time she asked me to keep my child home from school during a state inspection. At the time, I had been taken aback. She said my kid had been acting out by jumping around and being loud during circle time. She later backtracked on this request. These and other incidents were extremely concerning, but they were minor compared to what ultimately came to light. One day at pickup our child told me that his teacher "squeezes my arm and it hurts." We spoke with Ms. Lauren that same day. She denied ever hurting the children and instead suggested that we consider having him assessed for developmental issues such as autism or ADD. A legitimate concern, however, one that should have been expressed in a separate conversation. Also, two years later, no other educator or therapist he has worked with has expressed the same concerns. The following day we received a message from another parent at the school. Their child told them that Ms. Lauren had been spanking my child or smacking him on the back with an open hand when he "misbehaved." The parent shared that they asked their child multiple clarifying questions and that he was able to consistently describe what happened and even reenacted it. We then spoke directly with those parents, including the child's mother, who incidentally worked in a professional capacity with children. They confirmed their concerns and also shared that Ms. Lauren had previously asked her to stay after drop-off to "observe" our children for signs of autism or developmental issues. This was something Ms. Lauren had never discussed with me. Of course, after this, we immediately pulled our kids from the school. We also filed a police report and a report with OR Health and Human Services, which is documented on the state child care portal with very little detail, but it does state that she used corporal punishment. I highly recommend parents review any child care center here: https://findchildcareoregon.org. Many, if not all, of the other families at the school at this time also withdrew their kids. This was not an easy thing to come here and express. But, I am hoping it may help other parents have the information they may need to protect their kids.

This school is incredible…read more Quality of teachers, curriculum, and facility. Professionalism and kindness of staff. Their diligence keeping kids and faculty safe with Covid-19. Thankful for this school! Our daughter loves it and planning on sending our twin boys here too soon.

I absolutely LOVE Guidepost! I'm proud to be a Guidepost mama! My son has been going here since he…read morewas just over 2 and he will be 4 in Feb. I can see the immense growth in his independence, skills with his numbers, vocabulary, and general knowledge! This child sings songs about continents and tells me about adding numbers! What?!! And none of it feels pressured or stressful. It's organic, thoughtful, and just magic! Many ppl feel that Montessori teaching leaves a lot to the child workout boundaries but I can say that's not true. Yes, children are observed to see what they naturally gravitate towards, but they are also guided and encouraged to explore other activities in their classroom environment. I can go on and on but I truly love this place, the community of parents and absolutely amazing teachers! I'm kinda obsessed with all the natural wood through the school and classrooms too. Don't judge me!

Ashcreek Playschool has been such a life changer for my kids, and myself! The community a co-op…read moremodel brings us amazing and getting to be in the classroom in the front row of your kids education is priceless! We have been apart of Ashcreek for 3 years and we absolutely love it. I couldn't imagine my life without it!

I cannot praise Ashcreek enough! My daughter started with their summer camp in 2022, continued with…read morethe school program, and is currently on her second school year. She was born at the start of the pandemic, and it was SO hard to build a community as a first time mom. I wanted part-time care to have a break for myself, but I also recognized that we both needed socialization and connection. Ashcreek offers the part-time, hands-on structure that we needed, as well as providing a safe and welcoming environment. I was especially impressed with their covid precautions. The school is an inclusive space with an emphasis on social and emotional learning. I have learned so much from all of the teachers and the other parent volunteers!

Renee and the teachers are amazing with the kids. My daughter has been going for two weeks now. I…read morewould normally wait longer to write a review, but she has really blossomed in those two weeks! The teachers are so caring, respectful and attentive towards all the kids. They do so many hands on activities and spend a lot of time outdoors, in the amazing play space, where they can run around and play. My daughter already loves it here. Sh looks forward to her new friends and teachers each day and when I pick her up, she doesn't want to go home :)

My daughter went to Teacher Renee for approx 1 1/2 years or so, and she loved it! I really didn't…read morerealize how good it was till we left. My little one used to go to another daycare and she would kick and scream before we even left the house, telling me she didn't want to go. But, with Miss Renee's place, she just would grab her bag and talk about her friends and how she loves Miss Renee. Total 180! My daughter knew the name of all of her school mates and their parents. She even would surprise me daily with knowledge she learned at Inch by Inch. I was so amazed!! I thought it was just a daycare and it's so much more than that. It's a preschool with a special type of education that my daughter is really acceptable to. The staff is pretty nice, the facility is very natural and clean. If you are contemplating going here then just try it out for a week (if they have openings) and you'll see the difference between one of those "Fast Food" like child centers and Miss Renee's amazing personal and loving facility. I definitely recommend it. We left this school for an immersion program and I totally regret it. Now there aren't any spots for us. . If you can get in, go for it. - Tanya W. (Google Review)

My niece loves it here! All the teachers are very friendly at pick up and drop offs. The COVID…read moreprotocols have been comforting as sending my niece in a pandemic was a little nerve wracking. She comes home happy, clean and excited to go again each day! I would recommend Yellow Wagon to anyone looking for a preschool in Beaverton!

Yellow Wagon was a great fit for our family! Our daughter enjoyed attending three days a week and…read morethe Summer Camps they offered. The teachers were so caring and our daughter thrived on the structure and variety of activities they made available. She still asks to go back!