
The Children’s Garden is a school specializing in early childhood education. It serves developmentally ready 2 ½ to 6 year old children in a wonderful natural setting. Our thoughtful program provides children with a rich curriculum and nurturing atmosphere that celebrates uniqueness, promotes self-esteem, and encourages cooperation based on mutual respect. We offer parent education and encourage parents to actively participate in the school.
We are committed to helping all members of our community grow in their ability to communicate and respect one another. Garden relationships between children, teachers and parents last a lifetime. Our elementary school alums often return to be “big kid helpers”, secondary school alums help us to staff our annual auction and our high school grads are recognized each year. Our college aged alums often reconnect with each other at schools across the country and adults that were once little sprouts at our preschool are now bringing their children to begin a new journey through the Children’s Garden.
In action our philosophy is expressed through warm affection, personal interest, focused attention and thoughtful positive responses for each child. Our learning environment is designed to provide the following:
- Materials and curriculum designed to allow opportunities to discuss, evaluate and expand on experiences individually and within a group context
- Inclusion of the child’s family and home life as well as his or her inner world of imagination, dreams and feelings as important learning resources
- Opportunities for the child to develop large and small muscle coordination through activities integrated across our curriculum.
The Children’s Garden School is the oldest preschool in Issaquah. Established in 1977 by master level educators, Bonnie Steussy and David Edfeldt. In 1983 the school became a qualified 501(C)(3) non-profit organization.
Bonnie and David founded The Children’s Garden School creating a unique and intentional program to serve children from 2.5-6 years old and their families by selecting the best methodologies for early childhood education with a focus on community building.
We are committed to helping all members of our community grow in their ability to communicate and respect one another. Garden relationships between children, teachers and parents last a lifetime. Our elementary school alums often return to be “big kid helpers”, secondary school alums help us to staff our annual auction and our high school grads are recognized each year. Our college aged alums often reconnect with each other at schools across the country and adults that were once little sprouts at our preschool are now bringing their children to begin a new journey through the Children’s Garden.
We provide children with a rich curriculum and nurturing atmosphere that celebrates uniqueness, promotes self-esteem, and encourages cooperation based on mutual respect. We offer parent education and encourage parents to actively participate in the school.
Through our rich emergent, play-based curriculum, children explore and integrate communication skills, social skills, reading readiness, language experience, math readiness, science and nature, cultural enrichment, personal safety and the creative arts including visual, music, movement, literacy and drama.
We provide a warm and nurturing learning environment, focusing on the personal needs of each child. The Children’s Garden school believes the following is essential to the personal and academic development of our students:
- •A curriculum designed to encourage each child to experience the world in a very personal, hands-on fashion, through the creative use of art and natural objects
- Frequent opportunities to discuss, evaluate and learn from personal experiences in a group setting
- Inclusion of family and home life as an integrated part of the learning experience
- Encouragement of fantasy, imagination and feelings as rich, important learning resources
- Physical activities designed to develop large and small muscle coordination, through both structured and free play in our large indoor movement room and spacious outdoor play area




















Nestled at the base of Tiger Mountain in Issaquah, Washington., The Children’s Garden is situated in a park-like setting of six acres of natural woodlands, gardens, and hiking trails. A charming wooden bridge spans a bubbling brook to a creatively designed storybook play yard.
Contact Us
The Children’s Garden School
12706 Issaquah Hobart Rd. SE, Issaquah, WA 98027
Email: info@childrensgarden.org Phone: (425) 392-1563 ext. 10