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.

My child has been here for a few years. Every morning, I still feel that ache in my heart of guilt…read moredropping my child off at daycare. Even after several years here, my child still cries every morning at drop off...There really are NO better child care options in Tumwater though so I still give this 5 stars. The staff are so wonderful, so this is the best and only option, but I do think parents need to know that it is chaos in the classroom during the day. I think 22 kids to 2 teachers at the age of 3. It's a lot of kids running around, some sock-less, and it's just a lot. I don't know how the teachers do it. Bless their souls. I keep my child here because the teachers are absolutely wonderful and kind!!!

Had an amazing experience with all who were involved in caring for my daughter. They were…read moreabsolutely wonderful with her, she was always having a great time when we went to pick up. always sending update pictures or detailed notes, absolutely loved it. So sad to be moving. I will definitely miss our tigers teachers

We have been here almost two years with two children. We have moved up multiple classrooms with…read moreboth kids. Our experience in all the classrooms has been great. The center is flexible with multiple different schedules. The teachers aren't just phenomenal with the kids but very communicative with the parents. We get pictures of our kids and details about their day in the app. If I send a message in the app I hear back quickly. Any "issues" we have had were quickly addressed and we have felt listened to by staff. The other great thing here is the families. My kids have made so many friends and we have formed relationships with the families there. I think we will have community bonds because of this daycare for a long time. I love that meals and snacks are included and we don't have to worry about packing that. We have experienced every classroom in here besides the newborn one and all have been fantastic. I feel very lucky to be a family at this daycare.

It's very sad since Allison the old director left. She had such great energy and her staff loved…read moreher. The new director Kayla does not communicate with families, our daily reports are awful. The staff seem so unhappy. I never know who is in my child's classroom. Kayla, does not support her teachers. It's very sad to see it go downhill. Shop around...

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!

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.

Both of my grandson's have attended Capital Montessori for 3-6 year old. They have enjoyed…read moreeveryone that they interact with there. They always looked forward to their day at school. The staff is nurturing and kind. Both of my grandchildren learned to love to read and learned how to enjoy their independence. I highly recommend looking closely to see if they are a good fit for your family.

CMS is a great school with an assortment of great traditions, from Absolutely Incredible Kids Day,…read morefamily potlucks, to the annual egg drop. Most recently they've been ages 3-6, but starting July 2013 they will begin an elementary program again. Mrs. Reed in Children's House 2 is a patient, intelligent, nurturing teacher who works with parents to help their children enjoy learning.

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.

St Andrews is a safe and inviting preschool. Our daughter always feels loved and supported at this…read moreschool. They're considerate, thoughtful, and so fun! We have seen our daughter blossom this school year.

Both of my children went through St Andrew's Preschool. I had visited many before signing up, and…read moredidn't find any other school that cared about my child. Sure, other places can teach...but I wanted a nurturing environment. I found it and am happy to say that my children thrived in the atmosphere and are now leaders in their class.

Our Sparkleberrys journey began almost 6 years ago when my oldest daughter first started preschool…read more We now have had at least one of our three girls enrolled in Sparkleberrys each year ever since! Sparkeberrys had been an awesome experience for all of my girls and in every way. The teachers are kind, attentive, helpful, understanding and well loved by their students. They teach kindness and the students learn through play and socialization with other children. My 3rd grader still says Miss Jocelyn was the best teacher she's ever had and my kindergartener keeps asking to go back for summer camp!

All three of our children have gone to Sparkleberry's now, with our middle finishing up his last…read moreyear there this spring, before heading off to kindergarten. The teachers and the program are amazing and have been a fantastic fit for our shy and opinionated children. When our oldest was having a hard time with saying goodbye and being away from us, Jocelyn and her team stepped right in to help with the transition and were great with communication throughout the day (and outside of school, too!). Highly recommend Sparkleberrys, and we look forward to spending the next two years there with our youngest.

First, this is not so much a review of foundations, but rather with CADENCE…read more regarding Foundations, The teachers are wonderful, especially Ms Sarah and Ms Demi, who are fantastic. The facilities are great, and so is the quality of education they provide. As far as the school goes, I give it a 5 put of 5. That said, recently they have been acquired by a company called cadence. Since then your kid will get sent home for the slightest reason. If they have a fever then it's mandatory three days out instead of 24. For some things it's 5 days. Nor will they accept results of a negative Covid test. Cadence's ridiculous policies puts a tremendous amount of strain on working parents that unfortunately offsets many of the great aspects of the school. In Cadence's defense they will refund some of your tuition back if your child is out for a long time.

The elementary program for this school is less than adequate. We are leaving foundations after my…read moreson's kindergarten year and are working diligently to get him to where we think he needs to be academically. I don't know if that is attributed to the program or the teacher; I know I am not the only parent coming out of this year that feels this way. They test the students on subjects they simply don't teach. And if they do - I hardly saw evidence. The communication with my son's teacher was lackluster at best. During a parent teacher conference, I asked a simple question about reading materials, and she completely shut down. She couldn't answer what the kids use to assist in reading, as I quickly discovered my son hadn't learned anything and needed to know how best to supplement at home. When I asked what materials they use, she stopped talking, put her hands in her lap, and looked down for a good minute. It was truly disturbing. it was as if someone unplugged her. My husband and I were very confused. Communication over day-to-day activities was also lackluster. One Friday, my son dropped his entire lunch (that we provided), and they did nothing to get him anything else to eat. Not even a cracker. Nor was it communicated to me that this had happened. I waited until Monday to ask if he had actually dropped his food, and his teacher did confirm it and told me she looked for some food for him, but 'nobody had any', which is odd considering the school has a chef. Another day I walked up to the playground to see my son eating leaves off the ground. A typical kid thing to do, but his teacher had no idea. Why? Well, I asked what she did when they were outside - in Discovery Park - a pretty heavily wooded area. My son told me she remained at the picnic table for most of their outside time. Then, after he ate a berry off the ground - I emailed again, looping in the program director. I was surprised that they had a berry-producing tree (that the students had full access to); I was told then that 'Obviously, a teacher cannot supervise each and everything all children do while in our care.' Considering there were 10 students, and usually an assistant on the playground with the teacher. I was shocked. One day I got to school early, poor timing on my part; not wanting to interrupt his playtime with friends, I waited in the parking lot where I saw that his teacher indeed sat at the picnic table. She didn't get up once in about a 40 minute period. She sat facing the parking lot, away from the wooded area. This also explained why my son came home with scratches all over his body, with no explanation. The school set some pretty impressive standards for covid, which, to be honest, is why we enrolled him. Those precautions went right out the window; I'd say a month or two into the program. As parents, we weren't informed of this. I know of one event that happened a WEEK into the program that was explicitly against their self-imposed covid protocols. Any time I tried to express my disappointment, or frustration I was met with justification. These are our experiences, and I can imagine that if I receive any response, it will invalidate the things we experienced and justify behaviors. To be honest, I was reluctant to even post this as a review as I feel like in my gut, somehow it could come back on my son. We paid good money for this program, and to come out of it having sent him to daycare his kindergarten year, I'm sure any parent can imagine both the disappointment and the resentment that we feel.

This is a great preschool. They accept 2-6 year old kids in split classrooms. It's a nice…read morepreschool experience with good rhythms and routines. The days have similar patterns and the kids respond well. There is plenty of free play, some circle time, art, more free play, stories read, etc. It is only a partial day program and not a full day daycare, but it's good for getting little ones of the house, and learning about the world without you. It is a church so there is a Christian element, and light bible education. I'm a fan and I know others that have or will go there with all of their children.