I have no idea what issue Cathy G is talking about...I've been a facilitator with Seattle Free…read moreSchool for two years now and I love it! I've never once had a bad experience, either as a teacher or as a student. Seattle Free School classes are totally free, easy and casual to teach, and can be anything- from craft classes to life-improvement classes to job skill classes to investing to all sorts of things. I love the fact that the emphasis is on sharing knowledge of any and all types. I only wish more people were brave enough to teach, as there is so much knowledge to go around!

The classes may be great. The person who answers the phone is distracted and brusque. If you are…read moreconsidering teaching a class here, my advice is go somewhere else. Send in a proposal to the UW Experimental College. Give a class at the Y. You have to make all the arrangements to find a location and facility and you have to deal with Ms. Curt distracted with noise and laughing in the background as she snaps your head off. Maybe it is de rigeur to hold business conversations in a noisy background for some. It is not for me. ** The other 5 star reviews are likely friends of Ms. Curt.

When you stop learning you essentially stop living. I have been attending classes at LLC for the…read morelast 8 years at their last two locations in Northern Seattle. It has been a life-changing experience for me as well as many others who attend regularly. The teachers are an outstanding group of people who are committed to learning by participating. There are no lectures; there are group discussions on a wide variety of topics from current events to literature, to exercise for health, to the arts in many forms. Every class presents an opportunity to expand your mind and/or body that creates a vibrancy in later life that stimulates learning that may not be otherwise possible due to physical constraints that is a normal part of the aging process. If you are a senior, it is worth your time to come to LLC and leave you ailments and apathy behind and permit your mind to return to the joy of learning.

I've been a student at Lifetime Learning Center for about ten years and can't say enough good…read morethings about it. It's a 38 year old non-profit educational institution that offers reasonably priced college level classes for adults of all ages. Over 25 of these non-credit classes are offered per quarter and include such subjects as literature, opera appreciation, history, watercolor, cinema, movement, writing, poetry, bridge and much more. New and different classes are offered every quarter and they're taught by a great faculty who all volunteer their time. There are often nearly 300 students enrolled per quarter. And the cost? It's amazingly inexpensive--the tuition for an 8 week course is typically just $30. This place is unique and is often referred to as one of Seattle's best kept secrets. I can see why. It's a very friendly place too. They hold Open Houses at the beginning of every quarter so that people can meet the instructors and hear brief summaries about upcoming classes. In March 2013 Lifetime Learning is moving to new facilities at 3841 NE 123rd St. in Lake City. (It was formerly located in a school near Green Lake for several years and before that in a Sand Point area school for many years.)

I've taken a few classes at GA now since they opened in Seattle about a year ago. The class space…read moreat WeWork is awesome although it can be noisy at times depending on other classes taking place at the same time. The current courses are focused on web development, product marketing, social media and a few others - I hope they expand their offerings soon because the class format is straightforward and easy to digest.

Recently started taking a few workshops/classes here and really enjoy it. The staff here are…read morefriendly and helpful and they have free coffee while you are there. Cant wait to take more classes here =)

This summer and fall, I took two watercolor classes (each six-weeks long) with Robin Bundi through…read moreNorth Seattle College Continuing Education. Both classes were fun, informative, and affordable. I learned so much and my love for painting with watercolors grew with each class. The North Seattle College campus is easy to get to and has plenty of parking. The buildings aren't labeled in the best way, but it's a small campus, so take time to walk around before your first class and you will figure it out. The campus is clean and the classrooms were comfortable. I like all the art work there around campus and the supportive signage inside the buildings. Even though the architecture is Brutalist, I find that there is a warmth there. I look forward to taking more classes at North Seattle College in the future.

I wanted my 14 year old to be more effective in the kitchen so we chose to take a Knife Skills…read moreclass offered through North Seattle Continuing Ed. I was very pleased there is a way to take a class with my teen and that we could learn something valuable in the process. We sharpened and honed our kitchen knives, chopped up vegetables lots of different and practical ways, and got inside the kitchen tips from our instructor Debbie, the Kitchen Coach at her facility just a few blocks from the North Seattle campus. We got to share a cooking activity with several other couples and teams of three and we all ate the feast when we were done. Need an evening activity with a family member? NSCCE has a well run, professional platform for making that happen.

I actually really like UW's Professional & Continuing Education school. So far I've taken four…read moreComputer & IT classes and I've learned a lot. UW has been a great fit for what I was looking for. I learn best through the traditional classroom format. UW was one of the only places that offered part-time night classes that are in-person. They also offer online only classes or self-paced study if you are interested in that. The classrooms are located in Downtown Seattle, which is convenient for me. The building is easy to get to using public transportation or you can use their parking garage which is reasonably priced. The classes usually meet from 6-9 PM, once a week, for nine weeks. I agree that the classes are expensive, with the average cost around $1,150 each. If you are currently working, check with your employer to see if they have a tuition reimbursement program or talk to your boss to see if they will cover it as a training expense. Other students used the G.I. bill or unemployment benefits to cover the cost. UW also offers some need-based scholarships. Some of my classes have definitely been better than others. In general, I would say that the Certificate program courses seem more structured/developed versus the intro/pre-requisite classes. A lot of it also depends on who your teacher is. However, there is only one section offered (per location/format), so you don't really have a choice. UW does send a survey around the third week, so they really value feedback and will try to improve things if they are not going well. Lastly, I would say that the refund policy is strict, but fair. In order to get a 100% refund (minus registration costs), you need to drop out before the class starts. If you drop out during the first week, you can get 75%. The classes are small, so they only take a limited number of students and if you drop out, it's not like they can get someone else to take your place. To make sure you are signing up for the right course, read the course description carefully, attend an Info Session, or e-mail one of their Enrollment Coaches.

I am disappointed to learn, in the middle of taking my class, that the instructors are not required…read moreto answer emails nor speak with you outside of class time to answer questions about the material. If I had known this, I would never have taken the class. I did not realize there would be no support during the class. I was told if I had questions then it was my responsibility to acquire a tutor.

I originally signed up for one of the many courses that Context International offers on the…read moresuggestion of a close friend. I didn't know what to expect, but decided I would give it a shot. What I found was an incredible set of tools and methods to be more effective in my every-day life. By understanding and focusing on what is most important to me, I have been able to combine my passion for technology with my love of working with people in a tech management role at an early-stage startup. I have since taken a variety of other courses from Context and each one has been incredibly valuable, helping me understand what motivates me, the experiences I want in life, and the legacy I want to leave behind. I would highly recommend these courses to anyone who wants more out of life.

Wonderful series!! Helped me TREMENDOUSLY with my career, improved communication, sales and…read morepresentation skills. I think for anyone who deals with people in any kind of way this course is an absolute must, be it sales or management. Found it very helpful for personal relationships in my life as well. I found exactly where my "glitches" were and was able to work around them with great success. I tell all my friends and business colleagues about it!!

I went to the School of Visual Concepts for a day-long workplace training on content strategy. I'd…read morenever been here before, but would definitely go again! The school is located in a busy, high-traffic part of South Lake Union. There's a paid parking lot across the street, but it was also easy to get to by bus. The building is fairly large, with several classrooms and conference rooms. It's pretty minimalist, but the letterpresses and type trays are cool and fun to look at, and the hallways display interesting student work and large-scale steamroller prints from the annual Steamroller Smackdown competition they run. They also sell letterpress cards made in-house, with some cute designs. Our training was from 9-4, and while I knew they were providing lunch, it was a nice surprise that they also offered breakfast: bagels, donuts, coffee and fruit. They also had an excellent snack bar for grazing throughout the day, with chips, trail mix, fruit snacks and cookies, plus coffee and tea. The bathrooms were conveniently located, small but clean and well-maintained throughout the day. There were several other events running at the same time, but the facilities were well maintained all day long. Our presenters were an in-house instructor and a guest speaker, and they did a good job keeping things interesting over a long day, with videos and activities to break up the speaking. That said, there were some downsides. Our group of about 50 was really too big to fit, even in the largest room, and the people on the edges of the room had a hard time seeing the monitors. The large meeting room is almost all floor-to-ceiling windows, and even with the blinds drawn, there was a lot of glare; combined with a slideshow that was white text on a light blue background, it was very difficult to see -- which wasn't ideal, since our activities required seeing what was on-screen. The street outside was high-traffic, including frequent buses, and there was some sort of construction project going on in the parking lot that was quite loud and distracting. Most of this, I think, can be chalked up to a group that was too big. However, we fell behind almost as soon as the training began, which threw the schedule off -- we didn't get a break until after 11. Lunch was scheduled for 1, which felt kind of late, though at least we had the snack buffet to work on! Overall, I liked the facility, and most of the issues we had came from being too large of a group for the room we were in. They offer letterpress and hand-lettering classes for individuals, and I'd really like to come back and try one of those. If you're looking for graphic design or printing classes in the SLU area, do check out the School of Visual Concepts.

I am always anxious before going to a place I've never been before. The staff here was so kind and…read moremade me feel welcome and known the moment I walked into the classroom. I feel this is so important -- without a learning *community* learning is difficult. I took a full day workshop on visual meeting facilitation. I have tangible and valuable skills from just one short day here and am looking forward to applying what I learned in my work!! Also - free breakfast and lunch! Only gripes/suggestions: 1 - when doing name tags it's nice to get into the habit of asking students to state/write gender pronouns, SVC doesn't seem to have a policy around this but I think it would be appropriate 2 - this might only be specific to my instructor, but I think more could've been done to set ground rules for class at the beginning (like how/when to ask questions). there were a couple students in my workshop who ended up dominating conversations. this is really common with extroverts who quickly jump in with comments. But sometimes implementing a policy of "if you just spoke, wait a bit to see if someone else has something to add" can be helpful and encouraging to more quieter types/internal processors in the room. I also had a list of questions i wrote down expecting we would have time to ask questions at the end, but we ran out of time. So policies around class participation could be helpful! I enjoyed the more interactive parts of this workshop especially when we broke into groups and had more time to chat with each other and apply what we were learning. Highly recommend classes at SVC, I'll be back when my wallet lets me!

Fantabulous group of conservation-minded, organic growing, urban/suburban gardeners with a…read morebeautiful demonstration garden in the city. The setting at Good Shepherd Center in Wallingford is perfect for strolling the grounds, walking the dog and running the children around till they fall asleep with exhaustion. Need ideas for composting? Tilth has 'em. Want to know if tomatoes will ever get ripe in Seattle? Tilth can fill you in on growing tips. This is a great association to associate with.

This past growing season I bought a half share in the Seattle Tilth CSA. I've gotten CSA boxes…read morethrough several other farms before (both in Seattle and Wisconsin) and the Seattle Tilth CSA really delivered. Each week the produce was diverse, fresh, and delicious. Items were well selected and I had very little produce go to waste. The half share was a good amount for my wife and I. I also really liked the add-on options; we were out of town one week, and were able to get credit, we used our credit to select goat cheese and honey from the add-on options. That goat cheese was truly incredible! I've also got to commend Seattle Tilth for their educational programming and community empowerment work. Really a great resource for our city.

I wrote two letters to the owner via The Writer's Workhop website, but to my disappointment, I…read morereceived no reply in regards to my queries about a class that I was interested in taking. It is not very encouraging when you have a published writer and owner of a writer's workshop who ghosts sincere people wanting to know more about a class being offered before paying $500 for it.

I took two classes with the Writers Workshop. An online class on the Art of the Narrative and an in…read moreperson class on personal essays/memoir. Nick is a great teacher and makes classes fun and informative for writers of varying levels. I've been able to use both classes to great effect in later writing projects and just had my first essay published that I started while in one of Nick's classes. I am also always recommending the fiction class to friends who want to learn about the art of storytelling.

This college use to be great but it's very much changed. Many classes are online or hybird options…read more Online is not all that great. Teachers republish a course each quarter and all they do is be there for students that need assistance or they just grade materials. Other wise the course is self taught by their lectures. Their lectures can vairy from well written or lazy teachers use youtube videos that are not even their own. Online learning isn't for everyone. As you need to be disciplined for it. Many of the classes are written like you should already know the material and you're just passing it for credit. Well, many students this is their first exposure to the material and that's not helping. Online classes are a joke. Taught by youtube videos, poorly written lectures that raise more questions than answers, material that is no where near close to the actual tests/exams... I learn little with this college and some of the low 200 classes are so easy, you can pass them with no effort at all. Many teachers just give you the answer to the quizzes and that defeats the purpose of learning. Many times you are allowed more than one attempt on a quiz/test and that also defeats the purpose of learning. Especially when a mock exam is near identical to the real one. Online classes are a joke if you can use ai to write posts or home work assist if you're confused. Everyone uses it and does it be college likes it or not. Canvas app is terrible and doesn't work half the time and teachers tell you that and some how it is getting 4.5 star reviews. Okay how many of those reviews are paid/fake? Quite a few online classes the teachers barely do any work and the course self teaches it self with an extended software. It is rare but I have noticed a few teachers abandon online classes after they start. No, that's not helpful to students that actually need to get this course for credit. Rarely do I have to shout at the department in charge of the class and tell them teacher disappeared/abandoned class. This college has frequently just randomly dropped one of my classes here or there. No valid reasons why just dropped. I figure its because the teachers do not want to teach unless it's a full course load. This is frustrating to those that actually need it. I have really strong writing skills and after 20+ years of professional work I am realizing how much of a joke this college is. Students, cheat, teacher's don't care and ai is a double edged sword for those that ethically do assignments. With students phone addicted or media addicted it surprises me that anyone passes their classes. If I could afford a university I'd go there but I can't. Tons of certificates and AA degrees many of them useless as students find out when leaving the college. Limited BA or master degrees and not everyone wants technology or medical.

My review is for the Tomobolo Institute Continuing Education Program at Bellevue College. DON'T DO…read moreIT. I have never been more disappointed in an educational program as I am with this one. A complete waste of money. I signed up for the certificate program in Technical Writing. I understand that these COVID-19 times require different ways to learn, but this program has a ridiculous format. You need to interact online in a chat forum with your classmates as a requirement for the degree. There are no lectures, and most of the reading material provided sends you to some other internet link since it is neither instructional nor through. And since it is a "learn online" program, otherwise called a "learn on your own" program, it is impossible to get answers to simple questions when you are at an impasse in your personal learning. The instructor said that she's available to help, but often it took many days, and a repetition of the question to get any response or clarification. No way to meet the deadlines of the course and get the work done within the designated time frame. Well, I take that back. The instructor doesn't really care about the course deadlines.... she said I could submit all the work late. And she doesn't really care about the quality of the work either. So I could have just sent in "whatever" and sent it in "whenever." But I enrolled in this program for the instruction, and "to learn how to become a technical writer". I got nothing from this program except 'robbed." In my attempt to drop the class and get a refund I was told "yes" by the Bellevue College registrar, then told "no" by the director at the Continuing Ed division despite my explaining that the program did not meet my needs or expectations. I would think that they should try just a bit harder when you have taken the time and effort to contact them multiple times. I rate this 0 stars.