Very lucky to find this daycare. Staff are wonderful- patient, caring, and flexible…read more My son and daughter love going there. Plenty of stimulating toys, games and activities and they provide meals and snacks throughout the day. We were really struggling with daycare issues and Nikki and Sarah have been so helpful and patient while we worked out the schedule.

We are so incredibly happy to be part of the PPP crew and are grateful to have found it after…read morerelocating to Portland. Meg, the Director, has been so patient with our 4 year old who is very new to a school environment. My husband and I have even found ourselves saying, "What would Meg do right now?" if we're in a tough parenting moment. You can tell she truly cares about her students and respects each of their individual needs. For example, our son has some sensitivity to sensory stimulus. Meg and the teachers have been understanding of his needs and have gone to great lengths to work out ways to make his experience as comfortable as possible. His first week of school went better than we could ever have anticipated due to the outstanding care he received. There were lots of updates throughout the first few days to let us know how he was doing, and if he was struggling with something (or really missing home at certain times of the day) we'd work out a plan for the following day to help him through it. Each week the parents/caregivers receive a recap of how the week went for all the students. In it we read about what the children learned and discussed so we can expand on it at home and get a dialogue going. There are also cute photos attached so you can see the kids in action! The school itself is so lovely. So much thought and care has been put into the kinds of toys, art supplies, books and gym equipment that are provided for children. The backyard is also a child's wonderland! A mud station, trees to climb, chickens to run around with, a sand pit to play in and swings to hang from are there so the kids can be creative, move their bodies and have a blast! My husband and I really wanted to find a school where free play is top priority, inclusivity is embraced and social emotional tools are taught. We have definitely found it at PPP.

I don't have enough good words to say about our 5 years at Creative Children's Center. It was our…read morefamily, it was the greatest experience with the school we could ever wish for. We found pretty fast that Reggio-approach is reflecting the values of our family. CCC provides it in the most accurate way, applying Reggio method to the modern american society. Our son started attending CCC as a 4 years old and last year he was graduating from Elementary. He is in PPS now and we can see all the results of going through CCC education. All those years builded the strong social skills, great self respect and respect to the others, natural curiosity, the desire to learn, to read, to explore, to work and play with others, to be in the group and to share creativity. During those years he was involved in several group projects that, without the exaggeration, were educational treasures. One of them - during the whole school year kids were building the Village out of carton boxes. It started like a play and grow in tho the whole learning, creating, exploring, finding your place and supporting others process. With a teacher support kids modeled the whole society life, opening own businesses, bank, airpot, electing a Mayor, reinventing the whole money system, opening charity organization and having a parade through the school! They created the Law and declared the values of their Village. The project was an excellent foundation of learning how to be a citizen and how to create a peaceful and creative relationships. On academic level, we were so pleased to see the development of our son's reading and writing skills. He had his brake through moments with reading, he started to carry the book everywhere with him enjoying reading so much! Our daughter made a huge progress with public speaking, started her writing and math at pre-K level. Teachers are supporting kids in the learning process a lot, trying to preserve and support kids natural interest to learn, removing the blocks, working with parents and families in a very close contact, support and sharing strategies and success. I can't even express my deep respect to the founder of CCC and all the teachers that we worked with. Our son is successful 3rd grader and our daughter is in Kindergarten in Public schools now. We are so happy so see what a wonderful foundation were all those years at CCC for them.

We were very interested in enrolling our twin boys at this school for the fall of 2020, so much so,…read morewe went ahead and signed them up in early 2020, pre-pandemic i.e., before the first COVID case had even arrived in the western world and before we knew there would be a shut down or any of the other crazy things that happened at that time. We also had a newborn baby who would later become medically fragile and require open heart surgery and multiple other procedures that year. As you can imagine, it was one of the hardest years of our life. Due to her health, we had to be especially careful about possible exposure. We checked in with CCC sporadically up until the summer. We were keen to know if the program would still go ahead despite the pandemic. They were guarded and at one point mentioned by phone that it was uncertain due to low enrolment. By the late summer, it became clear that we could no longer take the risks of enrolling our twins in preschool at that time. We explained the extenuating circumstances and withdrew the application in order to give the school as much notice as possible. By this point, we had already paid the fees for the first term. The school refused to take the pandemic or our unique situation into account and kept over $800. This is despite the fact that the CCC preschool program we had enrolled the twins did not proceed due to the pandemic. They refused to reimburse us and refused to let us put the fees toward future enrolment once it was safe to do so. They did not even get in touch with information of when the program would re-start even though we explained very clearly why we had to hold off but that we still hoped to enrol at a later date if possible, pending our daughter being more medically stable.

We feel so grateful for our 3 years at Kidspire! My daughter just graduated, and the experience has…read morebeen nothing short of incredible. The program strikes the perfect balance between child-led play inspired by Reggio Emilia and thoughtful Kindergarten preparation. The teachers are nurturing, creative, and truly invested in every child's growth. If you're looking for a preschool that feels like home and sets kids up to thrive, Kidspire is it--we can't recommend it enough!

Kidspire has been the absolute best to our family! Both our sons went to Kidspire and loved going…read moreevery day. They always felt supported, encouraged and loved by everyone there. The teachers and school director are the most caring, wonderful humans and we are forever grateful for all they have done for our kids. Our boys learned so many valuable lessons about kindness and the world around them. I am looking forward to sending my daughter there when she is old enough. Thank you, Kidspire, for all you do for our little ones!

Parents beware!! My son has been in attendance in your…read morefacility for almost 5 years since he was 4 months old. It was a place where he formed good friendships, and the staff at the time really cared about the children and their development. Over the past year, we've continued to see repeated teacher turn over, lack of staffing, closures, and the new staff being bought in either does not follow what should be standard practices to keep kids safe, engage, and develop children or they frankly don't care about their wellbeing. My concerns, and those of other parents continue to be met with animosity and contempt. Often with blame being placed on the children, rather than the adults who should be guiding and caring for them. Within the past few months it has become apparent that neglect, abuse, and inappropriate practices makes it unsafe for children to remain in this facility. No child should ever be forcibly held down to nap, an occurrence that has happened atleast twice that I am aware of with my child and never addressed in an appropriate manner. Additionally, teachers have left unsafe items within children reach such as pepper spray with toddlers, unattended children while teachers are on their cell phones or not engaging and watching the children to ensure they are safe, staff of all levels talking negatively about other kids, parents, and staff within earshot of the children and parents, and teachers using inappropriate language directly at children on occasion. Due to the continued issues of neglect and abuse my son has received from the staff within the center in recent months (of which I listed only a small fraction,) as well as continued lack of understanding or improvements to correct the issues that have been impacting not only my child but other children within the center. It is no longer safe for my son or frankly others to be in the care of your facility, I am happy to discuss with corporate my concerns, and suggest that follow-up with other recent de-enrolled students parents be done if it has not already taken place. This was a very hard decision but the place we loved and felt was a second family for our son is no longer there, and my hope is change will be made to bring it back to a safe nurturing place for children to grow and prosper.

I am so impressed with this place. We tried out another daycare because I was a little worried…read moreabout the cost of kindercare. After about 2 months at the other daycare I realized my mistake and you get what you pay for. The orchards kindercare is top notch, I have a 2 year old. The staff is exceptional and so friendly. Very family like. I am grateful and will be here for a longtime to come.

I wouldn't say we are picky parents, but the saying "third time's a charm" fits for us. After…read moretrying two other childcare options, we found Childroots and we couldn't be happier. Their philosophy of child led learning and socializing is a perfect fit for our child. The director and teachers are always available and are in regular communications with us about how we can best help our kid overcome problems, enhance his learning, and work through some of this big childhood emotions. We know our kid is growing fast, and when we can't be there, we are so glad that Childroots can be. They are not only helping our now 5 year old build skills for life, they are helping us be better parents.

We adore Child Roots! Our oldest son attended from age three until he went to kindergarten and now…read moreour youngest son is there. The teachers are caring, creative and kind. We were skeptical about the cuisine as we didn't think our boys would like it, but they have become adventurous eaters because fo the wide variety to foods offered. We're so happy to be a Child Roots family.

My son has been at Pine Village for 2 years now and has thrived. He talks about what he does in…read moreschool all the time and his teachers! When I was laid off of my job in April and we had to reduce hours, he asked when he could go longer again. Mia is a natural with children and also with the school space. The outdoor area is beautiful and she is constantly improving it. You can tell this is her passion! Mia also is great with communicating with the parents and will post pictures and info all the time! My son has learned so much from all the teachers Mia, Casey, Nicole, Meg, and Myra. We are so lucky to have found such a warm and beautiful school.

Having our daughter in Pea Pod during her toddler years was a wonderful experience! She thrived…read moreunder the loving care of the parent coaches, Tara and Jasmine, and other parents. I also learned a lot about parenting from our discussions and readings at our parent meetings (especially "No Bad Kids" by Janet Lansbury). The co-op experience is unique because you get to be in the classroom regularly along with a parent coach and two to three other parents each day. It creates a very special community experience, and you get to be there with your child as they learn and grow. As a new parent with a Covid baby, I was so thankful to find a strong community at Pea Pod. I'm still close with many other parents from our cohort, and I love that our kiddos have known each other for over half of their lives! Most importantly, I feel like my child was truly cared for, respected, and allowed to be herself at Pea Pod. This meant - and still means - so much to me. It was the best childcare experience I could've wished for during those two precious years of my daughter's life, and I would recommend Pea Pod to any parent looking for loving care and a community for themselves and their child!

Peapod is an unlicensed, unregulated co-op preschool operating out of Tabor Space in Portland. As…read moreof July 2025, they were cited by DELC for unlawful care. No license, no DHS oversight, no required training, and no accountability if a child is harmed. They employ Jasmine Kennedy, who is unregistered and has no early childhood education experience (confirmed via her own public LinkedIn profile). She doesn't lead activities or engage with the kids meaningfully. Crafts were never more than paint haphazardly smeared onto paper out blocks of wood. Never once did we see a semblance of any kind of planned lessons or sessional activities from this "teacher." (Even through peapod says she's not a teacher, she's listed as such on both their website and her own LinkedIn). Multiple children, including ours, disclosed being grabbed, yelled at, and made to feel unsafe by her. When we raised concerns, the board shut down communication, deleted our posts, and said we needed to "manage our energy" at drop-off. No one ever asked how our child was doing. A leaked multi-page board document reveals a disturbing pattern: after a child disclosed being hurt by Jasmine while alone with her, the board portrayed the parents as the problem. They called the mom manipulative, overly anxious, and mentally unwell, implied her concerns were racially motivated, and labeled both her and the child liars. Jasmine was described as emotionally overwhelmed and burnt out, with the document centering her discomfort, not the child's safety. Multiple other parents had also shared concerns about Jasmine being rough, but those were ignored as "boundary setting." Instead of addressing her behavior, the board unanimously voted to terminate the family's enrollment claiming the family was "a harm to the community." Since speaking out, Peapod leadership has labeled us mentally unstable, mirroring the retaliation described in their own records. Peapod uses community-friendly language, but behind the scenes it silences parents and protects unqualified staff at kids' expense.