CPP is such a wonderful preschool! We love that it is a co-op model because it means that all the…read moreparents are very involved in the organization and management of the school. This not only makes the school very affordable but it also connects us with a community. We especially love that the school prioritizes giving the kids free-play and child-led activities (lots of fun crafts and new themed activities each month)! The kids play indoors in the morning, do crafts and the teacher even provides snacks for the kids. Then the kids play outside for almost an hour every day! The only downside of the co-op model could be the parent volunteer requirement (1-2 classroom days a month and some weekends) which can be tough for busy parents. However, it's really fun to be in the classroom with your kiddos if your schedule allows it. If you are looking for a way to ease into preschool, meet your local community and give your child a great place to learn social-emotional skills, it is wonderful!

This has been such a great find for my family: it is affordable, connects us with a community of…read moreNorth Portland families, and includes lots of free play with interesting ever-changing props and tools. The kids play outside almost every day and everything generally operates on a toddler's puttering schedule rather than a strict curriculum. The only downside I can see is that the co-op model (which requires volunteer time and regular monthly "jobs") could be tough for 2 full-time working parents, but if you are looking for a way to ease into preschool it is wonderful.

Our daughter started at Little Explorers when she was 18 months old and stayed for over two years…read more During this time, she grew and developed so much, surrounded by love, care, and encouragement from the teachers. We are a vegan family, and the school was always thoughtful and accommodating, making sure she had great options. We are deeply grateful for everything the school has done for our daughter and our family. Highly recommend!

We had the pleasure of sending our son to Little Explorers for a year.  We absolutely loved our…read moretime there and valued the love and care Aarin and her team provided during his time attending.  When our son had a hard time transitioning into school, Aarin graciously received him and always offered him a hug.  My son enjoyed the play space outside, fun art projects, and cooking. Aarin and her husband Quinlin have also created a wonderful community amongst the families. They organize social gatherings at their house, meetups around town, and also go camping as a group. It truly feels like a family. Going to Little Explorers is such a treat. I recommend them over and over!!

Our son started at Olive Branch School (OBS) just after turning three and will attend until he goes…read moreto kindergarten in the Fall. We have had a great experience at OBS! The kindness and patience of the staff is amazing. Teacher Emily is an expert in child development and education through the Montessori method, recognizing individual strengths of each child. The staff takes great care to prepare and regularly rotate activities designed for different aspects of development. Their home is a safe environment with an outdoor space and conveniently located near two parks. We have seen so much growth in our son since he joined the OBS community. He had a speech delay and Teacher Emily worked closely with Multnomah Early Childhood Program for services. Not only is his speech improved, but he is more independent and has made friends. We are confident he is ready for kindergarten and are so glad OBS has been part of our village!

We've been sending our daughter to Olive Branch for a year and a half and couldn't be more thrilled…read morewith her education here. She loves going and talks about how much she loves her teachers and fellow students all the time. I attribute so much of her outstanding development to the care and attention of Emily and Chris. I highly recommend Olive Branch to anyone who wants a loving and safe environment for their child to thrive in.

We could not recommend Willow Tree more highly! It's warm and creative with tons of outdoor time,…read moreart, gardening, and a Reggio philosophy that lets kids focus on discovery and play. Teachers Kim, Annemarie, and Danny are loving, experienced, and do an incredible job helping preschoolers navigate friendships and relationships to find their voice, which I didn't realize was something I should be looking for in a preschool until I saw it happening. Our daughter was a very slow-to-warm-up kid and had never been in a group care setting before so I worried about her ability to separate when it came time for preschool. The teachers helped her through her initial nervousness with endless patience and warmth, and 2 years later she's a confident, kind, collaborative kid who is SO ready for kindergarten. I truly credit Willow Tree for that. We will miss this place deeply and can't wait for our youngest to join when she's 3!

I highly recommend this charming neighborhood school! I have so many good things to say, where to…read morestart... Willow Tree Preschool was my son's first experience away from me, as well as his first experience with other children in a structured environment. The school was the perfect transition for him (and me!), as it was welcoming, organized and fun to be at, which gave him the right amount of structure balanced with the freedom to be himself. When I first met Kim, the owner, I told her I felt like it was what I had imagined that perfect preschool would be for my son--natural materials, a beautiful setting, and an outside play area and garden to explore with wonderful teachers and kids. My son truly enjoyed going to school each day and my husband and I could tell that he felt valued as a part of the school community. He had his own hook, cubby, cup and wash cloth at school, as well as a "me" book to share and a journal of his own to write and draw in each day--small details that made my son feel pretty special. He enjoyed the visiting art, music and yoga teachers that made each day interesting and dynamic. I know he felt safe and free to explore and discover. He came home happy, focused and even more open to collaboration with his younger brother. We loved that the school hosted events and field trips that included the children and parents, which helped our entire family to be a part of the community as well. My husband and I were always delighted to receive a "Daily Page" each day by email that recounted the day's activities and projects, which we shared with appreciative aunts, uncles and grandparents. Kim and her staff made special efforts to let me know how my son was doing, and I always felt like they were open to hearing my concerns and suggestions. We're sad to be leaving Portland this fall, but if we were staying, I'd want all three of my kids to be part of Willow Tree.

New Farm Montessori creates a warm, loving environment for all children. Here's a few amazing…read morethings about the school: Amazing homemade, fresh snacks and lunches Chickens and a bunny Walks to the park All the wonderful Montessori classroom resources Lots of singing and guitar playing Art Did I mention the wholesome food? And best of all - teachers that love the children.

From the owner: New Farm Montessori is a home-based preschool program for children age 2.5-6 years in the Arbor…read moreLodge neighborhood of North Portland.

This preschool is outstanding. The classroom is a beautiful space filled with fun and creative…read moreoptions for learning. The teaching staff is highly experienced, compassionate and fun. They do an amazing job combining hands-on play with structured activities throughout the day, with lots of opportunities to develop social skills and school readiness. Also, the families who attend the school are a close-knit and supportive community. The hours are convenient and flexible (offering both whole and half-day options and full and part-time options) and the price is very reasonable. The preschool is also connected to a public charter school that is open to all PPS students, which is especially convenient for those with school-aged children who would prefer one location for pick-up/drop-off. My child has been attending Trillium preschool for two years and absolutely loves it. I would highly recommend it to anyone.

Our family has been with Trillium Preschool for four years, and we'll be sad to leave this sweet,…read morecreative, fun, inspiring, supportive little preschool program in 2018. A wonderful little school for youngsters to get their feet wet in school, pick up important social skills, make art, do messy science, and explore their growing world.

Great daycare with really experienced and caring staff; my child loves attending school every day…read more The children get plenty of time to play and do lots of fun art projects.

From the owner: Sweet Day offers play-based, high-quality childcare to children ages 2 through 5. read more

Lots of staff turn over at the Lombard location. You never really knew who the director was, or if…read morethere was one. A lot of new people watching the babies. Not great for consistency.

I want to provide an honest review in the hopes that it helps parents make an informed decision…read moreabout childcare for the little ones they love. My son started going to DG when he was about 7.5 months old, in 2014. At that time, if I had reviewed this place, I would have given them 4 or 5 stars! There were awesome teachers in the infant room that cared for him. If I had reviewed in 2015, when he was in the wobbler room I would have given it 5 stars because his teacher was AMAZING and he was learning to speak and understand Spanish as well as English. If I had reviewed in 2016, I would have given it 4 stars, because he had great teachers in the toddler room but this is when everything began going downhill. Teacher turnover was continuous in every room except the room my son was in. The teachers were not only leaving, but when they were giving notice to the management, they were being asked not to return. I ran into many of the previous teachers in the community and each one seemed to have a similar story to tell. Luckily for my family, my son's lead teacher was great and a stable caregiver. Then came the transition to the preschool classroom... From the beginning, there was a communication breakdown during this process. When questioned about the coming transition, I was told the preschool room teacher would be coming in to the toddler classroom so the kids would get to know her before being placed in her classroom. After weeks of waiting for this to happen, I asked about it and was told that yes, in fact, the teacher had been coming in to the toddler room. I asked the toddler teacher if this had happened and she told me the teacher had not been coming into her room at all. The director was eavesdropping on our conversation and when I left, she casually met me at the door to talk to me about the transition. She assured me that the preschool teacher had been in the toddler room and that it "must have been" during the two days that the toddler teacher was out on leave. Mind you, she was only gone for two days, and the director claimed that the reason the toddler teacher didn't know was because it happened on those two days. My son, along with all of his buddies that were moving up were given a date by which they would be moving. Then, the date moved up by a week, and then suddenly, it moved closer again. There was no "transition." The kids moved into the preschool room and I was excited about who their teacher was going to be. After about a week, suddenly, that teacher wasn't there anymore. When I asked my son he said she "went on vacation" which is what the kids were told. After a week of her not being there, and a week of random fill-in teachers, I finally asked where she was. I was told she left to "pursue other opportunities" by the director. After many many weeks of waiting to hear who they were going to hire and complaining to the owner, the owner called a meeting for the parents of all of the preschool kids. They finally hired a new teacher and the owner tried to create a meeting where questions and grievances could be answered. The problem with this was that she was not honest about the problem with her daycare. She placed blame on the teachers and did not take responsibility as the business owner. Fast forward. For a few months, things were great with the new teacher. My son (and the other kids and parents) loved her! She had experience and loved kids. The kids were actually learning again! Then, she got another job. The director that took over the preschool classroom really was doing her best in a terrible situation but she had no experience taking care of and teaching preschool children. Around this time, the business merged another location with ours. The room was chaotic during drop-off and pick-up times. I imagine that is what it was like all day long. My son began crying that he didn't want to go to school. He cried on drop-off and he cried after being picked up. He couldn't tell us who the teachers were that were taking care of him each day. It was heartbreaking. We were searching for another daycare and had been for weeks, since we had waited until after the new school year had begun to start looking. Finally, in January of 2018, we found a new daycare and got everything set up to begin at the new place at the beginning of February. Hallelujah, we were in the clear and ready to be rid of DG! Then, one day at work I received a text and picture message on my phone with a photo of my son's hand and a text message that read, "There was an accident at school. Please call as soon as you can." My son had burned his hand on a stove in the staff lounge when a teacher had taken the class in to make play-doh. That was the final straw. We pulled our son that day and never returned. By looking on the state's website, you can see another child had been burned the previous year. Discovery Gardens was great from 2014-2016. After that it was anything but great.