McDonald International School

My two sons studied there after we moved from Azerbaijan to the United States, and at that time neither my children nor our family spoke English.The staff and teachers showed incredible care, patience, and support. Within just six months, both of my sons became fluent in English, which was an amazing achievement and a life-changing experience for our family.It has been almost three years since we left Seattle and moved to Philadelphia, yet both of my sons still remember Green Lake Elementary School with great love and appreciation. Ms. Nash (Rachel) continues to stay in touch with my son, and as a parent, this means so much to me. It shows how deeply the teachers truly care about their students.We are extremely grateful to Green Lake Elementary School for the kindness, dedication, and support they gave our family. I highly recommend this school to any family, especially those new to the United States.

We are in our fourth year as members of the UCDS community and it's been a great fit for our family. Our second grader is happy to go to school, in part because the teachers are really good at making learning fun. Her teachers have done so much to scaffold her emotional self-regulation skills. The school has also helped her a lot with developing pro-social and conversational skills, especially via the oracy curriculum for first and second graders and also lots of ad hoc conversations the teachers facilitate between friends to work through disagreements. The school intentionally gives kids lots of opportunities to get to know other students outside of their primary classrooms. My second grader is extroverted and does well with this aspect of school. It can be a lot for some kids, definitely, but I'm told that by the time they get to fifth grade everyone knows everyone and it's a strong, close-knit group of kids.One highlight for my child was when she got to go to all school meeting. Each kid gets to take a couple turns at some point in the year going to all school meeting, which is a weekly meeting with representatives from each classroom in which they discuss important issues facing the school and faculty help them decide what actions to implement. My kid felt so empowered getting to raise a topic that her classmates had been discussing in their class meetings.The former head of school retired at the end of the 2024 school year. Jen, who was assistant head of school for many years became the head of school, and they brought in Deborah as the new assistant head of school. This leadership change has brought wonderful refreshing energy to the school. They listened to families and are introducing a revised and more robust math curriculum for the third through fifth graders this year. There are now two teachers in each classroom instead of one, which helps the teachers have more bandwidth to support students.

Our daughter has been at U-Coop for Pre-K and we've been super impressed with the program and community. We enrolled our daughter to get her more social exposure as well to transition her to a classroom environment.The teachers are qualified and purposeful, yet friendly and laid back. They started introducing the incoming class to the environment during the application process (yes, it started there - purposeful!) as well as at the start of the year. While Pre-K is "student led", it's clear from the daily communication that the teachers proactively use student-chosen topics as a foothold to engage various "hard" topics like science, reading, and math. The teachers were also super empathetic and helpful when we had some behavioral things happen during the year.The community has also been great. Compared to our past schools, U Coop stands out in how parents willingly engage with each other and welcome new families. As it's a coop, there are plenty of opportunities to engage with the entire school. There are also plenty of regular events (like all school sing on Fridays), special events (like mud fest), as well as parent organized events (like parent meet ups), and an active WhatsApp group for each class for parents to support each other. It's not one size fits all, but there's definitely a lot of options to engage depending on your style and what you can manage. I can also be working full time and not be able to go to all the events and know I'm not being judged.We are super happy here and would highly recommend the school!.

We've had two kids at the Wedgwood campus and have known several families at Woodland Park, all in the primary program (ages 2.5 to 6, including Kindergarten). Our experience with Northwest Montessori has been overwhelmingly positive. The teachers are fantastic, striking a thoughtful balance between structure and play. My kids are constantly engaged in learning—without even realizing it—and developing new skills in ways that other play-based programs we've tried couldn't quite match.One of the things we love most is the mixed-age classrooms. Younger children get to learn from older peers, and it's incredible to watch them develop independence and leadership skills. There's something really special about seeing a 3-year-old patiently help a younger child put on their shoes.As for safety and behavior, the school takes a thoughtful and proactive approach. Preschoolers—no matter where they are—will sometimes struggle with social conflicts, but what really matters is how teachers handle those moments. At Northwest Montessori, the staff are skilled at anticipating and de-escalating conflicts before they become bigger issues. They provide kids with the tools to manage their emotions and navigate social situations, rather than resorting to punitive measures that don't actually teach the right skills.We've been at a school before where conflicts were met with isolation or discipline that didn't fit a child's developmental level, and the difference here is night and day. The teachers are engaged, responsive, and quick to step in when needed. I've personally seen a teacher—normally calm and composed—jump into action when a situation escalated unexpectedly.This school creates an environment where kids learn not just academics, but also emotional intelligence, problem-solving, and respect for others. We've been so grateful for the teachers and staff who make that possible.