We moved our daughter to Beginnings Capitol Hill for her last year of childcare (Preschool 2) and my only regret is that we did not start her sooner. The director and teachers at are unusually adept at respectfully meeting our daughter's needs. They authentically love her and work with her strengths. They work with us on her areas of improvement and make sure we have all the resources we need to be capable and confident parents. The other families are incredibly inclusive and made us feel really welcome. Our whole family is better off for finding Beginnings! read more

I am not sure what the other reviewer was talking about. My children have been going here for almost 2 years, and yes there has been some staff turnover...but more like once per year, not every 3 months. Half of the staff has been there for years, a couple teachers have been there over a decade. I do have some issues with the director from time to time, but more because she has to put her foot down about rules and "be the bad guy." Someone has to. This is a safe, fun school with great food and facilities. My children feel safe and well cared for, and I feel confident leaving my children here. If the director is talking about me behind my back, I could care less ~ as long as it doesn't affect my children or myself, i don't see any reason why gossip would be a reason to keep your children from growing and learning at this childcare center. read more

BEWARE! Worst daycare ever!!! (there is no option for 0 start so i am doing 1 ) My son used to go this dayacre at capitol hill and we recently removed him because of following reasons: 1. Lack of cleaniness and hygeine : If baby has runny nose and if hands are dirty they wont clean it and thus allow germs to spread between babies.Teachers in infant class wear socks which are full of mud and Molly the owner will walk in shoes inside the class. But to parents they will show they maintain cleaniness and wont even allow you to enter the class even with socks on. 2.Lie with food: baby will eat only 1-2 bites or even throw the entire food but teacher will write ALL in the daily sheet just to make parents happy. 3. If the lead teacher is absent then other ladies in the class dont even know how to talk or write in english which gives parents hard time talking with them. 4.Diseases spread in this daycare on daily basis. hand foot mouth, respiratory,cough cold , food posioning. you name it and its there.. 5. If your baby is sensitive to cold fluids and you request them to give warm milk/water they will happily say yes but when you do a surprise visit its always a lie. We had the worst time at this daycare so i wanted to write this for upcoming families if they want to risk there babies life. read more

I have the upmost and utmost respect for Megan and Summer, as well as the other current staff at Beginnings. As with all places, there were some employees that I had my concerns about but they moved on. Megan is commonly surrounded by very engaged children and has been nurturing and caring towards our child. Summer has always stepped up when needed to fill in for teacher shortages and she is an excellent musician, bringing an added level of experience to my child's early years. I had some issues early on and my face to face communication with the staff helped ease my concerns and better understand how I could help my child grow in this environment. This involved me talking to the staff as well as listening and understanding things from their perspectives. It is great that this is a non profit daycare and there is a board that can be joined if one would like to implement change. If there are repeated issues one can make the choice that it is time to move on. If there is a perfect daycare out there, someone please PM because I have yet to find one. read more

Our son attended Beginnings School Queen Anne from when he was 3 months to nearly 2 years old, when we moved away. We had a great experience! His teachers were caring and helped him develop new skills, paying attention to his personality and interests. The kids spent lots of time outside and took field trips to nearby parks, including the babies. There was music and language programming twice a week. Many of the staff had been working together for a long time. The school is a small, community-based non-profit and we met many lovely families there in addition to the wonderful staff. read more

Let's start by saying what a hard job taking care of (even one!) child can be--I cannot imagine the compassion and patience these teachers possess to care so well for our little ones on a daily basis! Our son started in the infant room at Beginnings Queen Anne when he was five months old and we just left the school at two and a half years as we were moving out of Seattle. This was an amazing daycare for our family to learn about the childcare system and have our son exposed to new adventures and more learning than we could provide at home. Hands down these teachers love the children--I always felt confident that my son was enjoying his time at school, was safe and treated very well. After touring multiple daycare facilities in the Seattle area we selected Beginnings and have been very satisfied with our choice. The school is on the smaller side which we enjoyed and the infant room has had the same group of teachers for the past two years--they are wonderful with the babies and made the transition going back to work much easier than I expected. The school felt much more personable to me than some of the bigger chains we visited and I was always able to have a very candid and open relationship with the teachers and administration if there were any concerns. As with any childcare facility there was some turnover during our time in the toddler class which is why I rank the daycare a 4/5--though once staffing was settled we were very happy in the toddler class. The days are spent with lots of play, art projects, outside time, and even weekly Spanish and music lessons. My son learned about how to respect others and their feelings, how to share, how to be a good friend and excellent manners under the toddler classroom teachers. When we experienced difficult toddler behavior (we went through a biting phase) the school even brought in an early childhood educator to provide some solutions for our family to help end this behavior. To the negative reviews I have seen on Yelp for this daycare: 1. Sickness: There will be sickness in any group care situation--it takes ALL parents and teachers to keep a healthy school and I'd remind parents to keep their own children home when they are under the weather. If anything, I wish the school would have had the authority to send more children home when they obviously could have used a few days off. I believe the law states they only must go home with a fever, diarrhea or contagious illness. The school asks that all children and parents wash hands when they enter and leave the school and I rarely saw other parents take the time to do this when dropping off their kiddos which would really help contribute to reduced sickness. 2. Communication: One of the reasons that we loved this school was the diversity of the teachers and the different cultures our son was exposed to while attending. I maintained excellent relationships with all of the teachers by taking a few minutes every day to sit down when I picked up or dropped off to school and get to know the teachers, other students and parents and the daily routines of the classroom. They are some of the hardest working and caring women I have ever met. Anytime I had a concern I addressed it directly with the teacher and was always welcomed by the administration for further discussion and addressed promptly. Overall we loved Beginnings and would recommend the school to anyone looking to find a safe and nurturing place for your little one to start their learning journey. There are plenty of opportunities provided to volunteer in the classroom, join the Board of Directors or the Parent Advisory Group and stay involved in your child's education. Our last day was full of tears for both myself and the teachers--that says a lot about the quality of care we received :) read more

I cannot say enough good things about this daycare. I highly recommend the wonderful people at Beginnings to any parent looking for child care. My daughter has been at Beginnings for just over one year, and I'm always amazed at the kindness, patience, and respect with which she and the other kiddos are treated. Group child care is an incredibly difficult job, and the professionals at Beginnings do it extremely well. Yes, there was a biter in my daughter's class. They handled it, and everyone involved learned a good lesson in problem resolution and patience. Yes, germs are passed around - these are toddlers and preschoolers!! - and my daughter was sick several times. That's life, and they do all they can to reduce exposure and the spread of sickness. Nobody's perfect, but Beginnings is perfect for my daughter and me. A note to other reviewers - As a parent, it's important to me that my kiddo learns things like perseverance, patience, setting realistic expectations, and problem solving. These are modeled constantly at Beginnings. To teach kids that it's OK to give up and run, or point fingers in anger, the moment something's not perfect, is doing a major disservice to them. read more

This was the response of the folks who run the place: April 28, 2016 Dear Tammie and John We at Beginnings understand that for a host of reasons families become dissatisfied with their current care situation. Sometimes even with the best efforts of all concerned, our environment may not be the best match for a particular family. While our program meets the State of Washington and NAEYC accreditation standards and ratios, biting and various challenging behaviors are common in any toddler room. Furthermore, we cannot guarantee that your child will not get bitten while in group care. We have made attempts to remedy this situation, including passing along literature and offering parent workshops about biting behavior, having our Public Health nurse consultant and other trainers come in to observe in the classroom, and providing extra staffing in the room. We have offered to meet with your family to discuss your concerns, but haven't received any response. Due to your unreasonable requests and a lack of trust in us as your care providers, we cannot continue to offer care for your child. Your child's enrollment at Beginnings Schools is terminated effective April 30, 2016. Best Regards Michele Butler-Myles Executive Director Beginnings Schools- Capitol Hill & Queen Anne 206.604.8370 mbm@seattlebegin.org www.seattlebegin.org -------- Stay tuned... read more

Our son has been at Beginnings since he was six months old. Now he's almost two. We love the teachers and leadership. They treat him like a prince. For his first birthday they made a photo tree with dozens of adorable pictures they'd taken of him at school (which they also upload into a password-protected site that parents can view). It's obvious how much they love and cherish the kids. He plays outside and inside, reads all the time, loves his friends...plus they taught him to eat with a fork and spoon way before I ever could have. We're big fans of beginnings. read more

My son attends Beginnings School in Queen Anne and we could not be happier! The communication is excellent and its a great, safe and creative environment. I toured almost every daycare in Seattle, and I felt that my son would have the most individual attention at Beginnings School. Because of the size of the school, teachers really get to know the students and that makes all the difference. They bring in musicians, bi lingual teachers, field trips, parent events, etc. What I like the most is that I can call my son's teacher at any time during the day and talk directly to her for an update. I also get emails with pictures of him! read more

Our daughter started at Beginnings in the infant room and has enjoyed the last two years in the program. Leaving a child in someone else's care is a difficult experience for any parent, but we definitely felt the staff at Beginnings were competent, patient, and extremely caring [and were good coaches for new parents]. We thought the infant room was one of the best options around, with great teacher/infant ratios, cribs for naps, and lots of fun activities for the developmental stages. They also have a nice outside area where the babies and teachers can enjoy the summer weather. The toddler room is a busy and joyful place. It has its own play yard, including play structure and sandbox, where there children can run around. The toddler teachers helped us get our daughter on a good nap schedule, taught her how to eat with utensils and drink from a cup, and work hard to reinforce messages about sharing and interacting positively with other kids. Our daughter always comes home happy, and often times I have to convince her to leave her friends in the afternoon. The school also caters all the meals, which is a big selling point for us not to have to think about packing snacks and lunches. Like any child care program, there is a little more sharing of cold bugs and teacher turnover than a parent aspires to see, but Michele and Summer do a good job to manage parents/kids through those time periods and bring in teachers who really do love and invest in the kids. Overall, I would give Beginnings a strong recommendation. read more

Our child has been going to Beginnings for over a year now and is in the toddler room. We know that our child is getting a good mix of educational activities and, most importantly, socialization skills. I feel very comfortable and know my child is in good hands. Our teacher Megan is so nurturing and good at working with my child on social interactions, developmental skills and educational activities - our child loves her! The staff room is always open and accommodating to us and helping us when needed in a kind manner. The teachers and staff are always open to us talking with them if we have any concerns and I feel very comfortable bringing things up and they are always responsive in a caring, nurturing way (especially Summer and Michelle). I would definately recommend Beginnings and looking forward to our 2nd child going. Yay for Beginnings! read more

Our 19 month old son has been attending Beginnings since he was 4 months old. He loves going to daycare, and has formed special relationships with his teachers and classmates. The environment is safe, food is healthy, and staff are warm and friendly. His days typically include outside time, music, reading, nap time, and art projects. He even learned to sing his ABCs last month! I am very thankful to have found Beginnings! read more

Full disclosure: I'm a member of the Board of Directors for the school (which is a non-profit). However, I volunteered to join the board this year after an unbelievably positive experience having our daughter in the infant room (she's now in Toddler 2). Not having a full appreciation for the difficulty of finding a daycare in Seattle, we didn't really start looking for a place to take our daughter until about a month and a half before her mom was going to go back to work (which is WAY too late, apparently. Start looking as soon as you know you're pregnant...). We visited lots of places and got on the wait list for several of them. Beginnings wasn't our first choice, mainly because it wasn't in our immediate neighborhood, but it was the only place at the time that we could get an actual start date, instead of being put on an indefinite wait list. As it turns out, we got really, really lucky. Visiting a prospective school is a weird experience. Your kid is going to end up spending the majority of their waking life in this place and ultimately you can't know what it's really going to be like until they've been there for a few weeks. However, I can tell you my experience. The staff is great and you can really feel the effort they put into their jobs and the love they have for the kids. Our 23 month old loves them and talks/asks about them all weekend long. There is regular communication with parents, including lesson plans, monthly themes and songs, and photos of the kids doing activities. Most importantly, I feel safe leaving her there every morning. Parent involvement is high and they offer regular information and training sessions for parents on a broad range of topics. I'm sure that most reputable daycare/preschools have all of these things, however personally, I really appreciate the diversity in both the staff and family backgrounds. At the Queen Anne location at least, both teachers and families represent countries, cultures and languages from all over the world, including Germany, Turkey, Japan, Ethiopia, the Netherlands, the Philippines and others, which is really one of the main things that set it apart for me from other places we visited. No place is perfect, but complaints are responded to quickly and politely and problems are resolved quickly. We've been there for over a year and a half now and have really enjoyed it. read more