The Gardner School in Battle Ground, Washington

“I have three children here ages 3, 6, and 8. This is the most amazing school I've ever seen. They teach the children 'how to learn' and there is very little regurgitaion. Children are confident and love to go each day. The teachers are beyond excellent, love the children and their jobs and actively communitcate with parents. The only shortfall is that the cost is prohibitive. If you can swing it, though, it's well worth the investment.”
This review was posted by a parent.

“My daughter attends preschool here and loves the teacher, claire. In the beginning of the school year, my daughter could not spell her name or identify most letter of the alphabet. Through claire's patient teachings, my daughter can spell her own name, identify all the letters of the alphabet and correctly name the sound the each letter makes. Claire also has a very unique method of teaching mathematics, sustainability and a general love of outdoors that gets my daughter excited about all of the subjects. If the teaching staff isn't enough, the beautiful setting of the school is enough. Wetlands, views of mt. St. Helens, a vegetable garden, truly a great location. I would highly recommend this preschool to parents who are seeking a teacher who will help children to learn the basic fundamentals of math and english, as well as a love for their environment.”
This review was posted by a parent.

“I've been a Gardner School parent, 'graduate parent', helper and visitor for almost ten years. Every child who attends has the best time of their life there. It is like no other school. Everyone working there loves what they do, the school, the children and the mission. For parents, it's a different story. I've known no fewer than five heads of school. Financial storms come and go. And the tuition limits attendance to those who can afford it. The school is truly magical. The festivals, music nights and plays they produce are fantastic and everyone is deeply committed and involved. My child recounts time and again experiences and friends that will last lifelong.”
This review was posted by a other.

“My daughter graduated from The Gardner School after attending for 5 years. The Gardner School did a great job in transitioning my daughter to a confident successful student and person. She is now a very well adjusted successful public school high school student. The multiple intelligences teaching methodology, thematic integrated curriculum, and experiential learning was key for my daughter s transformation and ongoing success. The small school environment where everyone knows each other gave a wonderful sense of belonging and support when needed. The staff is extremely engaged and talented and knows how to guide the students to ask the hard questions. This was evident in my daughter s civil war project where she just wanted to study fashion. She discovered the complex economics around the textile industry with the factories in the north and the cotton in the south, a very impressive deep dive into that era and a great project.”
This review was posted by a parent.

“We chose the Gardner School for our twins based on the rich integrated curriculum and multiple intelligences teaching methodology. They are now in first grade. We are so proud when they tell to us about the water cycle as we watch the rain pouring down, authors they have read when we are at Barnes & Noble, the latest art style or music they are working on, or when we hear them play adding numbers while sitting in the car. They spend healthy time outdoors actively learning, studying, and playing the games we played as kids. They think they are having fun but they are constantly learning. They have taught us about seeds, butterflies, and how to check a fertile chicken egg to see if the chicken is growing. We consider The Gardner School the best gift we can bestow upon our children.”
This review was posted by a parent.

“This school embodies everything possible in a quality education -- individualized, rigorous, experiential, relevant, with master teachers whose caring and exceptional talent nurture my son's emotional, intellectal, social, and physical growth. I've seen a lot of schools and this is truly exceptional.”
This review was posted by a parent.

“My daughter is currently in fourth grade at The Gardner School. She loves it at Gardner and is learning in a way that is fun, creative and rigorous. For example, as a part of her class study on the local watershed in Earth Science, yesterday her class got a batch of salmon which they will study and later release into a local stream. Gardner is a wonderful place to learn. My husband and I feel we are getting a wonderful independent school education for our daughter. We live in Portland and drive to Vancouver, because The Gardner School is unique.”
This review was posted by a parent.

“My 3 1/2 year old son loves this school! He is excited to go and always comes home with a ton of stories about his teachers, friends and the fun things they read and learn throughout the day. The parents are all involved and everyone is promoting education and MIT (multi-intelligence theory).”
This review was posted by a parent.

“The Gardner school provides an atmosphere where kids can be kids and also in the process learn! Most importantly kids have fun! When we enrolled my 3.5 yr old son into Gardner, I was not sure if he would enjoy it; this being his first time to school. We were more than happy when we saw that our son enjoyed going to school. This can be attributed to the teacher's dedication to children and the unique methodology of learning at Gardner.”
This review was posted by a parent.

“The Gardner School provides a safe, nurturing, creative, educational environment where my two children are flourishing! I think my children benefit enormously from multiple intelligences aspect of Gardner teaching philosophy: each of them is learning to maximize their strengths, and identify their areas for improvement (as well as coping strategies in the meantime.) The emerging curriculum (directed by students and teachers, informed by parental involvement) keeps the kids engaged and enthusiastic. Some key aspects of the school that I really love: dedicated foreign language, art, music, and PE instruction, small class sizes, and fantastic teachers. The school makes a super effort each semester to conduct field trips that are linked to the emergent theme...so there is always something new for the children to look forward to. On top of the field trips, there are frequent community activities to look forward to, and options like chess and music in addition to afterschool care.”
This review was posted by a parent.

“It is a truly a spectacular place for my son to be learning.”
This review was posted by a parent.

“this school has been so great for me. I think that the teachers are great and the atmosphere is wonderful.”
This review was posted by a student.

“This school is excellent! It's built on an old farm with minutes of Portland, Oregon and looks onto the Cascade Mountain Range. Kids can think, breath, and enjoy school in an atmosphere of love and caring. The teachers are top notch and have a very small ratio of students to teachers. They also provide physical education, art, music, and Spanish programs (Even for preschoolers).”
This review was posted by a parent.

“Our kids attend Pre-school settled in happily within the first two days. The teacher ratio to children is great and all the children get group and individual attention in the day. There's PE, music, Spanish and sign language within the cirriculum. We've tried a number of private pre-schools and this would have to be the best we have come across. (Montessori to Church based). The teachers are truely caring and are very attentive to the children. My eldest son (5yo) considers his teachers friends. Parents are encouraged ot be as involved as they can be and sitting in on a class is never a problem. The Principal makes it a practice to greet evryone every morning and knows most of the kids if not all, by name. We are impressed and the kids are learning and HAPPY!”
This review was posted by a parent.

“If I could imagine everything I would want in a school and then create it, I would just have created the Gardner School. It is a place where the the whole child is nurtured while academics reaches new depths. My son is excited everyday for what will happen next. I have never felt such a community sense in a school before. The location is amazing with farm land and a pond surrounding it. The teachers are incredibly educated and you can tell this is their passion as well as their work. It is what education should be!”
This review was posted by a parent.

“we love the school, the teachers try to know all the childern. Most of all her teacher is right in tune with my daughter, and can help her grow in all the areas she needs. The school also offers many extracurricular activities, even for little ones”
This review was posted by a parent.