Our daughter has been attending forest school for over 4 years. She loves her teachers, classmates…read moreand learning hands on in nature. I was originally concerned she would not get enough academic experience in math or reading or would have a hard time integrating into public school later if she attended a forest elementary school. It was a relief to know they teach all Oregon Common Core standards and supplement learning in nature with chrome books and worksheets when needed. They even have a reading specialist and a PhD in Biology on staff. Our daughter loves to move, be creative and engineer things with her hands rather than sit at a desk all day so this has been a great fit for our family and more than worth the cost.

From the owner: We are school of community and nature. Students journey outside and into the forest every day. We…read morehave rolling enrollment K-8.

This is our first year at Lewis and this has been the most pleasantly positive and easy…read moreexperiences. Our kiddo is coming from a Montessori preschool setting, which ended up being very difficult for us. The school has offered us all the support, welcoming staff and families, lots of wonderful programs, that are all wonderful. Lewis promotes diversity-love-support to students & families from all backgrounds (they stand t true to the their word about being inclusive, unlike other schools that just throw the word around, but do not hold true to). All of the kids are so friendly to one another. It definitely has more of an arts feel to it. The facility is very secure, and the classrooms are very clean & full of natural daylight. Our student is also blessed with a 16 student classroom vs 25 students for the school we were slated to go to that us east of here.

an amazing school with great teachers I was a student there and had a great time. Music program has…read morelots of marimba and singing wide range of books in the library and really fun and enjoyable games in PE

I didn't know anything about Montessori before enrolling my kids at Sunstone. I am now a…read morefull-fledged convert to the Montessori method. This school has been fantastic for our children--not only are they learning but, more importantly, they are developing a love of learning. They have gone from feeling indifferent to school to doing long division at home for fun, or begging us to sign them up for after school classes.

We didn't know much about Montessori before enrolling our son at Sunstone Montessori four years…read moreago. We've appreciated the wealth of parent education nights that have informed us about the absolute brilliance that is Montessori education. Wow, Maria Montessori. Each time we're at the school for parent education or some sweet gathering for families, we feel starry eyed and grateful to be able to have our kids at a Montessori school. On top of that, Sunstone is a great community of compassionate people. The year is full of sweet community events and seasonal gatherings. My kids look forward to school the great majority of their days and come home proud of the research/math/knitting or other awesome things they've done. The guides are all excellent, committed and caring, and clearly like family with each other. Truly my only complaint is that I wish we could walk there! And I wish they'd start a high school!

Here is a haiku about Puddletown: Perfect, wonderful…read more and exciting just as well you should join right now! I joke, but it really is an amazing school. I have attended for 9 years and the community, the experiences and the curriculum are all great. Please enroll in the middle school program there so I am not a lonely 8th grader next year... - A Puddletown Student

My daughter joined the Elementary program at age 6 after enjoying several years at another…read moreMontessori preschool. The transition was very smooth and now in her 3rd year there, she's still doing wonderfully. The community (parents, administration, teachers, support staff) are all relaxed and intelligent people that clearly love and value children. The Montessori philosophy and learning environments are authentic and beloved by the children. There's plenty of interaction between the children and the outdoors, with fun interactive garden experiences and an interesting outdoor play area. Tuition is the same as most other Montessori schools, and they offer before and after care, and plenty of opportunities for parents to volunteer. Good times!

Just what we were looking for. We moved to Portland a year…read moreago, and after having had a good look at PPS decided that we wanted to see more movement, more music, more art, more green space, and most importantly more capacity to focus on the individual needs of our kids in their school. Our older one was about to start 1st grade, and the quality of the introduction into more serious learning (she has been in various international schools for 3 years) was very important to us. We did not want her to be one of 32 children for this important step, nor have PE once a week, and arts and music being relegated to add-ons dependent on funding. My younger child would attend pre-k, and here too a caring and nurturing environment with many opportunities for play was what we were looking for. We found it all at Tucker Maxon, and after a year there are still very happy with our choice. It's a caring, diverse school (more so than PPS) filled with great teachers. Mrs Humphrey was phenomenal in grade 1, and our son had not one but three great teachers in his pre-school class (of 12 kids total). I find the curriculum interesting and appropriate and have regularly volunteered in math class, which was a lot of fun. We had some issues with the amount of home work that after deliberations was reduced, and that worked out really well. The school is excellent at getting parents involved and creating a community. My kids look forward to school, something they never did before. They know all of the kids in their school, many by name and love hanging out in the playground after school is done, playing with kids across ages and classes, never in a hurry to leave. That to me is the biggest compliment a school can get.

This school contains many stellar educators. However, the administrative functions are…read moredisorganized, capricious, incompetent and outright disrespectful to their teachers and parents. We had a child in their preschool program. Enrollment was complete chaos: they promised us space in the after care program, assured us there would be plenty, then forgot to add our name to an email list serv for families so we never received the email asking to register. We had to beg and plead for a spot for extended day so that I could continue full time at my work. Their emails to families never come from one person, sometimes it's the head of school, sometimes the CEO, sometimes the librarian. It makes it so confusing and to this day my husband is still not receiving emails that I do, and vice versa, seemingly randomly. During our year of enrollment the preschool encountered numerous challenges and communication to parents was abysmal. Our classroom flooded and randomly had to be closed for more than a week. There were issues with the "lunch program" which is I guess adequate calorie wise, but truly pitiful. Many staff and families feel that the admin leadership, Director of School to be specific, sees the PFA program as a cash cow, but does very little to improve or support the preschool division. (And there's a question about whether they really are in compliance with all of PFA mandates). Half of the enrollment at this school is the preschool. Our beloved teacher raised many concerns with their leadership team and was ultimately fired for being a squeaky wheel, and she was literally the only reason we could recommend this place. After this school year none of the families I know will re enroll and many of the preschool staff are planning on quitting. All that said, I believe that TM has the ability to reform and I sincerely hope they do, because I believe that the educators have skills and experience and the grounds of the school are incredible.

Our kids have been at Marylhurst for three years, and they're thriving academically, socially, and…read moreemotionally. Our fourth grader is reading at a tenth-grade level, and our first grader is doing second-grade math--but more importantly (to us), they LOVE their school and are having an awesome experience. The teachers are just exceptional. They're all deeply attuned to each child's learning style and emotional development. The narrative reports we receive twice a year are so thoughtful and insightful that it's palpable that our kids are really KNOWN and appreciated for who they truly are. Their personality quirks, the edges where they're being challenged by a concept... it's all there. The teachers seriously SEE our kids. All of the teachers we've had has been experienced, compassionate, and connected with the kids. But the best part is that our kids have fallen in love with learning, which is what we hoped for most. Our oldest was quickly becoming an anxious perfectionist at a public school in kindergarten before we made the switch, but as soon as we moved to Marylhurst, he began to expand into a flexible, growth-mindset oriented student who understands that mistakes are one of the best ways to learn. The kids get to learn not through endless worksheets or computer programs, but through student-led projects that often turn into elaborate, imagined worlds. Since the kids own so much of the process together, they are invested in their projects, and learn to collaborate across ages in blended classrooms. And the campus is beautiful; it's woodsy and peaceful, with a pond and forested trails for cross-country running. We couldn't be happier with our kids' experience at Marylhurst. It's a nurturing, inspiring community that fosters curiosity and confidence. 10/10, five stars.

This is my son's first year at Marylhurst and he loves what he is learning and how he is learning…read moreit. He is currently in pre-school participating in music, PE and Spanish and we plan to extend into Kindergarten and beyond. There is a true sense of community amongst the school. The learning style is definitely great for our kiddo. I highly recommend you tour, it's what sold me!

Our family dedicated five years to this school community. We had three children enrolled,…read morevolunteered our time, supported fundraising efforts, participated in school events, and genuinely believed we would remain part of this community for many more years. Like any engaged parents, we occasionally raised concerns when we felt our children were being treated unfairly or when situations involving faculty, volunteers, or school culture warranted attention. Some of those concerns involved exclusion, favoritism, and poor treatment of children and other families that we felt was inconsistent with the values the school teaches. We brought these concerns forward respectfully and through the proper channels because we believed that addressing problems is part of building a healthy school community. Instead of working toward solutions, we were ultimately informed by school and parish leadership that we had raised too many concerns and that our family and children did not belong at the school. Shortly thereafter, our children's enrollment contracts were not renewed. What has been most devastating is the impact on our children. After five years, they are being forced to leave behind their closest friends, teachers they love, and the school community that has been such a significant part of their lives. This experience taught us that families should carefully consider how the school responds to feedback and concerns. In our experience, raising concerns about the treatment of our children did not lead to meaningful dialogue, investigation, or resolution. Instead, it ultimately led to our family being excluded from the community. We are deeply saddened by how our family's time at this school ended. We never imagined that respectfully advocating for our children and bringing concerns directly to leadership would result in being told that we did not belong.

I'm an alumni of this school and they always treated everyone with respect no matter what. I would…read morehappily send my kids once they are old enough.