Seattle Infant Development Center & Preschool

SIDC has been a wonderful place for our son. We’ve been with the Center for over a year now, and our 18-​month-​old loves it. The teachers are great — many of them have been there for many years, and they seem to understand and appreciate every little person’s growth and development. We also were looking for good teacher/​child ratios, and SIDC had the best we saw — this was especially important to us in the Infant room. Now that our son is a toddler, he has the opportunity to go on field trips, from going to Pike Place and watching cheese being made to going to the Aquarium. And we love that they have FareStart food, which is healthy and varied and assures that our son tries (and likes) a variety of foods.

I drop my grandkid off here and the staff seem nice but the facility manager needs to be fired. Play ground equipment wrapped in frayed duct tape, large AC units resting on top of rickety boxes, cardboard in the windows instead of screens. It is amazing no one has a closed head injury.

We have been very impressed with SIDC. We currently have a 4 year old daughter and 2 year old son at the center. Both are attending full time though they started out as part timers.
Our initial reasons for choosing SIDC were part-​time offerings, teacher tenure, and the best ratios we saw. Using these three criteria SIDC was the clear leader.
We have been happy with our choice and impressed by aspects of the center that we didn’t even think through. The educational curriculum is well thought out and has challenged our advanced Daughter at every level. It’s so strong we are concerned with finding a Kindergarden that isn’t a complete repeat of what she has already learned.
The kids have a ton of fun. There are field trips to downtown locations. They play outside rain or sun twice a day. They have messy sensory tables that you are glad they use at school instead of your house. My kids are usually so excited to see what is going on in the morning that they barely wave goodbye to me.
The central downtown location has been great because I get to spend my commute time with my children. It’s also meant that traffic jam has never made me late for a pickup because I can always just walk to the center.
My advice is if you want to come in with a baby or 1 year old make sure to enroll far in advance. If you are looking for a great preschool or pre/​k program call the center and see about availability as sometimes slots do open.

I both called and emailed this care center looking to set up a tour and ask a few questions. It’s been over two weeks and no one has responded to me. But as my friends say, it’s probably a sure sign that this is NOT where I would want my children to be if they can’t return a call.

I echo Maura’s comments. SIDC has been a wonderful place for my two children.

My now 5-​year-​old son and 2 year-​old daughter have each been enrolled at SIDC since they were six months and three months old, respectively. We are extremely grateful for and satisfied with the care and early childhood education they are receiving at SIDC.
There are so many important criteria in selecting a daycare and preschool for your child. Here are some of the highlights from my perspective that make SIDC stand out:
— Long-​tenured staff and teachers, who truly understand early childhood development and nurture the children at a developmentally appropriate level.
— A stimulating and safe educational environment. My kids leap into the activities the teachers have set up for them each day when I drop them off. They are so stimulated and excited to get involved.
— Teachers who have gently nudged us parents when we didn’t realize it was time to switch to an open cup from a sippy cup, for example. They also taught us key sign language we could use with our baby, and lots of encouraging positive discipline, such as using the phrase «all done» instead of saying «no» all the time. I have learned so much from these wonderful teachers. They are my go-​to people when I have any questions about what is developmentally appropriate and how to tackle any behavioral challenges that crop up.
— Very convenient features are an added bonus for SIDC families. All meals and snacks are provided for the kids, which means no packing lunches for us! We are also able to use the parking garage of the Plymouth Church free for quick drop-​offs and pickups.
— Opportunities are provided for downtown field trips, music, Spanish, and physical education enrichment programs within the school day.
— SIDC places an emphasis on spending time outdoors every day, rain or shine. They have a great protected playground/​courtyard where they kids can ride tricycles, scooters, and play ball sports or play on a climber.
— Other kids that I am happy my kids have become friends with. The community of parents is great, too.
I could go on and on.
The waiting list is very long for infant enrollment, as a result of SIDC’s wonderful word-​of-​mouth reputation. If you are looking to enroll an older toddler or preschool-​age child, you should definitely inquire, as vacancies pop up from time to time.