My daughter attended Fern Gully for 4 years. We love it so much!! She learned so many important…read moresocial skills. The teachers are kind, patient and fun. And best of all it connected us with a community of like minded people and friends for a lifetime. I highly recommend this school!!

Unfortunately, this "school" is not what it advertises to be. If you are considering sending your…read morechild here, I recommend that you reconsider that decision for the safety and well-being of your child. "We provide Waldorf inspired, holistic, outdoor education." " a mission to nurture the whole child in all areas of development, including physical, social, emotional and spiritual, as well as intellectual." "We focus on social- emotional awareness, creativity & resiliency." None of this is actually accurate. The teachers lack the knowledge or skill (or both) to incorporate the ideologies or either Maria Montessori or Rudolf Steiner. They do not focus on social-emotional awareness. The teachers utilize punishment that is not rooted in Montessori or Waldorf. My son, who has neurodivergence, was punished so HARSHLY here that his neuropsychologist asked, unprompted by me, to send a letter to the school teachers to educate them on how to appropriately handle discipline and how to offer support instead, for young children. My son endured extreme trauma here. There are many other farm, forest and outdoor schools in Olympia. I recommend any of them over Fern Gully. I would stay far away from this place. They do not offer a safe environment for your child - they don't supervise the children and they do not keep them safe emotionally.

I was told Hands On Children's Museum is a must do with kids and I'm glad we finally got here…read morebefore we move back east. I think we spent close to 5 hours here and my kids would of stayed longer but I had a few stops to make and saw their was going to be some traffic going home so decided it was time to go. There 2 floors and a decent size outdoor area. It was rainy when we went but that didn't stop by kids from checking out the outdoor area. The art lab was huge. There were so many things to check out my kids were so engaged and didn't want to leave.

I don't often find myself in Olympia but when I do and I have the family in tow, then this is it!…read moreThis is the family friendly, rain or shine you're going to want to visit. The Museum is quite large with both indoor and outdoor space. There's a cafe area with food and drinks. I was quite impressed about the amount of activities to do from crafts, to science projects to all sorts of ways to flex your creative muscles. This was quite the experience and bonus points for all the seating for adults. I can't wait to come pack!

My daughter came through mid-year. She fell in love with her teachers…read more The staff took our vegan diet seriously and respectfully. They worked with us and genuinely want to give families a good experience. There was a field trip a week. There was a gorgeous farm school campus. Now, my daughter was in the Tumwater location but still learned and loved. She would skip into the classroom without turning back to say goodbye to me. I am so grateful for the wonderful experience. Thank you!

My son has been at Sequoias Treehouse since he was 3 month old, he is now 10 months, and our time…read moreat Sequoias has been wonderful! I greatly appreciate his teachers, Sandy and Laila. I call them his second and third moms! They both have such a warm command of the room, and I am provided with a detailed sheet every day reporting how much bottle he drank and at what times, also outlines his naps and wet diapers. They have an open door policy in the infant room so I often stop by on my breaks to say hello for a quick baby snuggle.

We looked all over Thurston and Pierce Counties for the right private school and let me just start…read moreby saying, we made the right choice. It first started for us looking for a pre-K during Covid as a need, but instead it turned into gaining a whole community of friends that we adore. Since we are not the most religious in terms of being Christian or Catholic, some of the private schools in the area had too much focus on religion. Others pre-K schools felt as though we would have just been hiring a babysitter. Waldorf was a breath of fresh air, literally. The kids actually spend time outside in nature! Being kids, getting muddy, pretend play and learning about the wonders of our world. They focus on the whole child, not just academics and there are no grades, no tests, no homework and instead teach a love of learning. Not only that, they throw some really rad festivals and events for the kids - magical even! We are so blessed to have found a fun and safe place to call school.

I never thought I'd find myself writing a warning like this, but after what my daughter went…read morethrough, I feel compelled to speak up. They are not welcoming. We enrolled her in Olympia Waldorf trusting the promises of a nurturing environment, holistic education, community, and balance. What we actually experienced was chaos, lack of accountability, broken promises, and a lot of emotional strain. This school is nothing like what is advertised. Please do your research there are even documentaries that shed light on the reality. Sending my daughter here is one of my biggest regrets as a parent. If you want your child to be ostracized, send them here. Out of respect for my child I choose not to put specific details here. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out.

I simply cannot recommend this preschool enough. Both of my kiddos attended Pathfinders and as soon…read moreas my daughter started there we realized that we were a part of a very special family. With the low teacher-to-student ratio it is clear that they get to know the children and nurture them as individuals. They do a wonderful job of developing curriculum, covering the fundamentals of education, and make the extra effort to celebrate all of the special holidays (the Christmas celebration and Mother's day tea are SO wonderful). My daughter was absolutely prepared for Kindergarten having attended this school which is all we could hope for as parents. Tammie and the rest of the staff are excellent communicators, trustworthy educators and we just consider ourselves so lucky to have had such wonderful people be a part of such a precious time in our children's lives!

We are so grateful to have found and have our twins attend Pathfinders Preschool. They are such a…read morefriendly and nurturing environment where you truly feel a part of a loving community. My kids come home with such creative, thoughtful art projects and I appreciate that they do celebrate and recognize birthdays and holidays. Staff provides prompt communication. When compared to our experiences with the public schools my husband calls Pathfinders staff "Angels".

The parking is HORRIBLE pretty much all the time! On a very busy road and it makes it very…read moredifficult to get in or out.

as a mother that had postpartum depression the level of worry i had with sending my son to…read more"daycare" was so high. i was mess and this story starts before covid. I was crying dropping my son off with what felt like strange that is now our extended family. I was having a hard time Ms Angel, and Ms Beth along with all the magical caring staff members cared and helped even if it was a hug and talking time to bond with and my son to put me at easy! okay now let's talk about the butterfly room! My son comes home everyday with a story and a new dance long with a new skill! it brings me to tears how much they have done for our family! ms Marina is incredible and i'm so thankful to have them!

My son has gone here since he was 4 months old. He is now three and loves his daycare so much! The…read morestaff has always comforted him when he was having a hard day or a hard time at drop off in the morning and it makes me feel so much better knowing that I'm leaving him in good hands. West Olympia KinderCare has always had good communication with me too, they give me daily updates at pickup how his day went and how well he's doing with his potty training. I will truly be sad when he has to leave to start kindergarten. Thank you being a daycare I can trust and for all you do!

The teachers here truly care so much about our son. We love getting pictures and updates daily and…read morewhat a great connection he has with his teachers. The hours they are available also makes balancing work with child care so much easier.

I am still amazed more people don't review child care centers. That would be helpful if they did…read more We have used three different child care centers in the Olympia area over a period of 5+ years. Two of those I consider excellent, and I would recommend them to anyone. Serendipity is one of the two excellent ones (message me if you want to know the other one). I believe that the quality and success of these places is determined by strong leadership - by good directors who know what they are doing. They are the ones who can hire the best teachers and retain them. Of course, we are obviously very happy with the teachers at Serendipity. Our child likes them too! Serendipity is relatively large, with about 3 classrooms per age group. It is well organized and professional, and all sorts of information is available to the parents on daily activities, meals, learning, special activities, etc. One unique aspect is that there are numerous classes that the kids can take during their day (for an extra charge) there at the facility. They have swimming lessons, ballet, various sports, and more. Imagine avoiding the hassle of taking your kid to these activities...instead, just letting the school do it for you! So yeah, we are happy with Serendipity.

Teachers alone should get five stars. The staff are great. My kids have had a great bond with…read moretheir teachers. The facility is really nice, but here also is the reason for my mediocre review. I think the rent/overhead must be really high, because it is far and away the most expensive daycare in the area. And the tuition is going up incredibly from one year to the next, mostly due to the administration's desire to offer a benefit to teachers, which is admirable. But given how expensive the tuition is, one would think there would be more perks to being located at such a nice fitness center. The kids do get to use the pool 1x a week in the summer, and they go to the gym occasionally, but classes are expensive and I don't think they use the outdoor space enough in the rainier months. Bottom line: Given the tuition hike, we'll be looking for another place, weighing pros and cons. There is no money better spent to me than making sure my kid is well-cared-for. Just not sure it has to be so inflated compared to the cost of living here.