Young Child Academy/Seattle

In full transparency, we originally chose this YCA because it had space for all three of our kids and was conveniently located near my office—but we truly lucked out. It turned out to be an incredible environment for our children to grow, learn, and thrive. The staff are consistently nurturing, patient, and creative, and our kids have absolutely loved the variety of special classes like Art, Spanish, and Music. We receive daily photo updates and summaries about their day, which is such a comfort and joy as a working parent. The administration team is communicative, organized, and does a wonderful job engaging the parent community. When our son was suddenly hospitalized for asthma last fall, they went above and beyond—sending him art supplies and get-well cards that genuinely lifted his spirits. They’ve also been patient and supportive during milestones, like when our daughter took a bit longer to potty train. Parent-teacher conferences are thoughtful, insightful, and clearly reflect how well the staff know and care about our kids. We feel so fortunate to be part of this daycare community. I couldn’t recommend them more highly!

We love YCA! We joined the YCA community in January of this year. The teachers are amazing (yay, Teacher Caroline!). Our son has experienced the Infant and Toddler 1 rooms and he is thrilled to go to school each day. We receive daily updates about music classes, art classes, and Asian folktale classes. Every time I pick up Henry, multiple administrators and teachers say goodbye and cheer him on. He is happy, loved, and cared for during the work week, and we greatly appreciate it.

I have had 3 kids (2 since infancy) in YCA over 7 years. I've always felt confident that my children were safe and loved, and I've witnessed how hard the YCA team works to make it so! YCA provides a terrific enrichment program for the kids. My kids learned Japanese, made (many many) adorable crafts, developed great taste in music (it's pretty great hearing 2-year-olds lisping out beatles, metallica, ac/dc), studied science/drama/international cultures -- I could go on and on, but their enrichment program is unrivaled for preschool. My family and I have many many fond memories of YCA, and I am forever grateful to them for helping raise my family. ❤️

Two years in, our family continues to love YCA. Every age group has its own outdoor area, some staff have stayed so long that they attend HS graduation for their former students, and we love the big-family vibe. Our infant had such a great experience (rarely do the babies cry… not sure how they manage that!), so we also transferred in our older daughter. She was so welcomed and gained immense academic skills in such a short time to catch up and excel in the tricky covid-hybrid year of kindergarten.

YCA has been our children's second home for the past 7 years. We have two young boys (2.5yrs apart) and enrolled them both in YCA when they turned 6 months old, given their dad and I both have full-time jobs. From day one, we have felt comfortable entrusting our children in the hands of the teachers at YCA because they showed us so much patience as new parents and showered our boys with so much love, while ensuring they were always safe. The structure at YCA has allowed our boys to not only overcome some behavioral issues over the years, but also learn to absolutely love school and learning. When COVID hit, virtual kindergarten was not the best option for our oldest who had already graduated from YCA. Due to COVID, YCA received extended licensing and were able to accommodate him returning for a hybrid school year where he absolutely thrived. I could go on and on (and on) about how lucky you would be if your children are able to attend YCA. They create a place where teachers want to work, which leads to low turnover and an ability to form meaningful relationships with your children's teachers. And the Director, Chia-Pei, cares deeply about every single child and every single staff member which creates a family atmosphere. It's such a lovely place that has prepared both of our boys so well for school and allowed our family to build relationships that will last a lifetime. Thank you doesn't even begin to cover the amount of gratitude we have for YCA.