Seattle, WA
Bertschi School

Director's Comments

Question to director: Do you have any additional thoughts on what parents should consider when looking at your school? Is there any advice that you would like to provide to prospective parents?


Through play young children experience and make sense of the world around them. In Bertschi's Pre-K program children engage in playful activities structured to encourage inquiry, and creative expression. Carefully planned activities are designed to help children broaden concepts and increase skills in the areas of social awareness, creative expression, language arts, math, personal hygiene and safety. The children are guided at their developmentally appropriate level and are encouraged to become responsible individuals who care for others and their immediate environment.

To thrive at Bertschi, a child must be ready for a full-day program, and be able to make transitions between activities and teachers throughout the day. Pre-K students travel to resource classes including PE, music and library, and our drama and Spanish specialists come to the Pre-K classroom to teach.

Parents' Comments

Parent #1
The Parent Council is active and very committed. And the school head is great. Also, the school does Not do an annual auction or other fundraising event -- all events are for fun only and fundraisiing is done by letter/personal ask. Finally, this school is surprisingly diverse (the 2nd most diverse independent school in Seattle). We love it!

Parent #2
I cannot sing enough praise about this program. Our child who is in the pre-K program became very ill and was hospitalized for a week at Children's hospital in Seattle. Both of his pre-K teachers came to the hospital to be with him. One of his teachers has children and a full schedule but still found the time to be there for my son. The other pre-K teacher sat at my son's beside and told jokes and sent him fabulous pictures...both my boys feel a deep connection with their teachers this year. When my son returned to school all of the children showered him with acceptance. The teachers encourage kindness, social awareness and in the meantime the children are constantly intellectually challenged and don't realize how much they are learning. It is truly a home away from home. My son runs in and is full of joy when I pick him up. Somehow they avoid conflict at this school.... While I write this note, my son is at home with his dad (who just called me to tell me) separating all the lego starwars heads into groups of five and adding up all the numbers to see what the total is (multiplication!) .....

Montessori? Waldorf? Play-based?

What school type is right for your child? Is one model better than another? What does the research say?

View an example from the Savvy Source guide to learn more.

Next time you're reading your child's favorite book, be sure to help your child to name the (read more)

Comment (4)

Share From Send A Link To Your Comments:

Take Our Expert Quiz

how is your toddler or preschooler progressing developmentally?