Northgate Early Learning Center

**I’d like to point out that I initially posted a 5-​star review in April 2015. It is now March 2016, and this is my current, updated comment:
We love the teachers and staff but the church (IFGF,
) that owns the center is crazy. It’s a money-​hungry organization that treats its staff poorly and did all it could to destroy a parent group that was formed to work with the church pastor/​administrators, the daycare center director and the rest of the parents. Last summer the church increased the tuition by $ 250 with only one month of notice. Subsequently, many families left. With pressure from the parent group they agreed to make the tuition increase less drastic, but the church leadership has been very difficulty to deal with. Unfortunately, a very talented and wonderful director left due to the heavy-​handed and profit-​oriented church administration, and many of the best teachers have also left. Since then, about half of the families have left. The church administration is totally unpredictable and I feel like they will either suddenly hike up the tuition again or shut the place down.
It’s really too bad, because our daughter really loves her teachers and enjoys the center. The church is ruining everything. We’re are on several waiting lists at other centers, but I will be sad to pull our daughter — she will miss the great teachers and her friends.

I enrolled my daughter here in the cricket class when she was four months old. I can’t tell you how amazing this place has been for both of us. She is now ten months old, and continually amazes me with the things that she has learned at «school» (I put it in quotations because I originally thought it was funny, but it’s true!)
Every teacher I’m come into contact with is caring and sweet to all the children. All the kids seem to be very happy to be there, and I have seen multiple (older) kids hug their teachers before they leave. The school is split up into classrooms by age and milestones, which is so great. My daughter is constantly around babies her own age, and I can see her learning from what the other babies are doing.
The teachers are such team –players. If one classroom needs a hand, there is always someone there to help. Even the director, Jean, is constantly pitching in and I have seen her multiple times helping with the babies! Reading them books, or singing to them.
The organization of the program as a whole is ever-​evolving, but they do a great job. I can’t imagine it’s an easy job! They are open to parent suggestions always, and do parent dinners pretty often to keep an open dialogue.
The bottom line is — it feels like family here. (For instance, I forgot formula the other day, and the director bought me some instead of having me commute all the way back!) My daughter loves it. I feel not only comfortable leaving her in the care of the teachers here, but actually feel as if it’s the best thing I could be doing for her! She would not know half of what she knows if not for NELC. And I am never ever worried about her well being.
From a parent, I would highly recommend NELC for kids of all ages. It can be so hard to leave your child with strangers, and I couldn’t imagine a better situation.

My wife and I enrolled our son here a little over a month ago and we couldn’t be happier. Ever since, it seems like our son has become more vocal and has learned a lot as well. The faculty is very cordial and tight knit and the parents are very friendly. Jean, the director at NELC, has been very accommodating and I have heard nothing but great things about NELC from the other parents once Jean took over. The facilities are clean and they even have a full size gymnasium for the kids which should give them all the exercise they need. I suggest if you are looking for quality daycare in the North End to check out NELC.

Both my kids have gone to this school. The teachers really care about the students and the director is focused on licensing and the overall education standards you need to continually challenge kids.
The school also has nice outdoor and indoor spaces for busy kids to play. I still have not seen a lot of daycares with the amount of indoor and outdoor place space available. With the rainy weather here in Seattle the indoor place space is a big plus for my busy kids.
Classrooms are not cramped and are a good size. After only a month or so in the preschool classroom my two year old came home learning his colors and ABCs and numbers (something we had been working with him on for months). They take him on a lot of field trips and adventures, which he loves. My infant lights up every morning when i drop him off in the infant room where the staff is knowledgeable with decades of experience with infants.
We looked a number of daycares but none measured up in terms of quality and cost.
There is a new director named Jean as of May 2013. She can be reached at
.

My son has been here since he was 10 months old and he is now 2 years old so he started out in the infant room before transitioning into the toddler room. The different names for each age-​appropriate classroom, (Crickets, Honeybee’s and Dragonflies) is representative of the creativity and fun that is provided for the children by the staff. Daily report cards are extremely detailed for the infant room and still gives me a good summary of my son’s day and songs/​topics that he’s learned. The teachers are very methodical about handwashing and frequent diaper changes.
My son is particularly enthusiastic about the large indoor gym full of balls, frisbees and tricycles. He is also a big fan of outdoor time and nature walks in every kind weather except for rain (although he would love go out in the rain too if he could: P) Parental involvement at planning meetings have been very impressive. I would highly recommend this daycare center! The waistlist was VERY short — at least when we started in 2009, we were able to enroll 1 month after meeting the Director.

This place was a life saver when our original daycare closed down. They offer well staffed programs from infant room to after-​school. They are owned and operated by a church and promote Christian values. But the focus is on values not dogma so it is comfortable for people of any faith.
They have a full size gym for rainy days and a commercial kitchen where they make meals for the toddlers and older kids. Meals and snacks are included in the price which I know you don’t get at every facility.
I have always felt comfortable dropping my son off here. He is almost 4yrs now and has attended since he was 4 months. You can email Leah the director at
. Note that they were formerly called The Northgate Preschool so some signage may still refer to that.