Bulletin Board
Events, opportunities and resources for our Garden community.
Saturday, September 6
9am-12pm
We ask one adult from each household join us at the school and help get our campus ready for the new year. This is an adult only event with tools and heavy equipment. We’ll top the day off with a beer and hot dog lunch.
Tuition and Materials Fee
Look for September tuition and our one time materials fees to be added to your students Brightwheel account next week.
Start of School
~ Teacher Recap ~
Garden Staff Summer Recap
The staff kicked off the summer with a few days of retreat and planning in the classroom, that ended with an amazing staff appreciation dinner! What a way to wind up the school year! We were spoiled silly and enjoyed every moment of it. Thank you to the Wain family for hosting, Mary and Yuri for helping Marissa and Tyler with the prep of the meal and everyone in our community who contributed. It was delicious!
Each of the staff contributed fabulous and fun auction items that occurred over the summer – we had Fairy Day, Pirate Day, Cooking with Belleamie, Staff hosted Moroccan dinner, Fly fishing night, and Paint and Sip. It is so fun to reconnect with our students and families over the summer at these events, as well as at grocery store trips, sightings at restaurants, Concerts on the Green and the Chalk Art Festival, and what a huge gathering we had at the Fourth of July Kids and Pets Parade! The parade announcer said that The Children’s Garden was the largest participant this year, and we counted our marchers and bikers to be 68 or 70! Way to be, Garden family!
We’ve seen on social media that lots of families have been having fun together over the summer and we know that our room parents have organized fun play dates and ‘field trips’ to help keep everyone in touch and to get to know the new families and students. Nothing makes us happier! Can’t wait to see you all in September at our first days of school, all school work party and Ladybug meet the teacher day!
The staff has been having an amazing summer full of family and friends and fabulous activities! Read on to find out what we have all been up to!
Donna
Donna had fun taking a lot of day trips to Portland to see her daughter and son-in-law’s first home. It’s a real ‘fixer upper’ and they are doing all the work themselves. With Donna’s background in carpentry, it’s so fun for her to watch their progress. Donna and her husband, John, had some wonderful gatherings of family and friends, including a July 4th barbecue, when they had 41 humans and 13 dogs at a combined Canada Day/ Independence Day celebration! There was a family wedding in Oregon, and Donna took a trip back east to New York State to visit her brother and sister, and to Toronto, to visit her son and daughter-in-law. The last week of August has a camping trip in store for Donna at one of her favorite spots, Kalaloch. With fun days with her dogs and her 9-month-old grandson, as well as cleaning out the garage and taking on the goal of cleaning one closet, drawer, or cabinet a day, it feels like the summer has been fun, full, and productive! Can’t wait to see all of you in September!
Cara
Wow! Summer days seem to go by so slowly – but summer weeks and months pass by in a blink. Cara was very busy this summer but was able to stay around Issaquah for at least half of the summer days. Every summer Cara takes on many house projects which include a lot of painting – both inside and outside the house. She was able to make it out to a few friend’s cabins for the 4th of July and a few other weekends as well. Cara and Chris hosted a 5-day high school mini reunion at their home which was incredible! They even got to see a large orca pod crossing the Sound on their way back from Bainbridge Island. The Kovac family has a tiny 400 square foot cabin in the Sierra Mountains near Truckee. They were able to spend 2 weeks down there relaxing by the lack, taking long hikes and catching up with more friends. Once again, the days at the cabin go by slowly but the 2 weeks passed by in a blink. Cara ended her summer with hosting more family and touring them around the beautiful Pacific Northwest. Now Cara is looking forward to seeing all of her kiddos back at school and reconnecting with all of their parents. She feels so blessed to have such a wonderful job where her bucket is filled with love, joy and gratitude.
Brook
I figured that this summer would be rather mellow due to lack of big travel plans, but as life goes with a four and a seven year old, it was anything but that! Highlights of the summer were going to a family arts camp for a week with my kids, husband Mick and my parents out on the Key Peninsula, going to the Vancouver Arts and Music festival to see Mick preform, Visiting my aunt Debby, (who is not an aunt by blood, but rather my mom’s coworker here at the Children’s Garden for 35 years) down in Silverton Oregon, hosting Up Up UP circus show in the parking lot, Camping up at Mount Baker, and watching my kiddos grow increasingly independent, so much so that I could sand and paint the office deck with minimal snack making and redirection of sibling squabbles! I am excited for the return of my teaching friends and am eagerly gearing up for the start of the school year! Excited to see everyone!
Cari
Summer has been so much fun and has gone by way too fast! A few things to share about my summer…Took a road trip with my best girlfriends from H.S. to Montana. Spent a week in San Diego watching our daughter, Cate, play in her last Surf Cup soccer tournament. Then we spent time together in Oahu where our first day there we had serious tsunami warnings and everything shut down. It ended up missing us and we had a great time! Thank goodness!! It’s August now and we are catching up at home and enjoying the Seattle weather while it lasts. Looking forward to catching up with my favorite teacher friends, seeing all of the kids and meeting the new Ladybugs!!
Emily
Brin
I knew going into this summer it would be August before life slowed down and indeed it was busy but I was able to catch my breath these past couple of weeks. I’ve had an epic summer of traveling to see family and friends, lots of behind the camera action capturing the fun of our vintage race car and as a cherry on this lavish sundae of a summer, I got to hold and owl and the Ren Faire. I missed my amazing Garden family and I’m so excited to be back at school.
Gratitude Corner
We are so very grateful for
Office Notes
News and reminders from the office.
Get your enrollment forms in by March 31
We are finalizing our enrollment for the 2025-2026 school year. Please complete your enrollment forms by March 31.
Visit our Priority In-house Enrollment page for:
- 2025-2026 Tuition Rates
- Direct link to our 2025-2026 Enrollment Form
- All the details of enrollment
Venue Change!
Due to a conflicting event at Issaquah Middle School, the Issaquah School District was generous in working with us to move our Art Show to Grand Ridge Elementary School in the Issaquah Highlands.
Join us
Friday, April 25, 2025
6:30-7:30
at Grand Ridge Elementary School
See more details and a map to our updated venue on our Art Show page.
Check out our
Parent Portal
We’re excited to offer you a one stop page for all things Garden!
Current Garden Families can visit our private password protected Parent Portal page on our Children’s Garden website using password MyGarden24-25!
Handy?
From playground toys to classroom chairs, the wear and tear on our items can always use the help of a handy parent or grandparent.
Whether you have a few minutes or a few hours, we have jobs both big and small for take home or work on campus.
Let us know if you can help out.
Calendar
Please mark your calendar with these important dates.
September
- Thursday, September 4: New Family Luncheon at the school
- Saturday, September 6: All School Work Party
- Monday, September 8: Honeybee First Day of School
- Tuesday, September 9: Ladybug Meet the Teacher
- Wednesday, September 10: Cricket First Day of School
- Thursday, September 11: Ladybug First Day of School
- Monday, September 15 Cricket and Honeybee Pictures
- Tuesday, September 16: Ladybug Pictures
- Friday, September 19, 6pm: Apple Fest (all school gathering of families)
- Friday, September 26: Homecoming
Daily Class Schedule
Ladybugs
Tuesday and Thursday 8:15 – 11:15 am
Crickets
Monday, Wednesday and Friday 8:15 – 11:15 am
Honeybees
Monday-Thursday 12:15 – 3:15 pm
~ Poems~
School Poems
Part of our daily routine at The Garden is singing or saying a few of our traditional poems.
Find a printable version to our Closing Circle Song, and the poem “We Light This Candle” at the following links.
Start of School Guide
The start of school is a big adventure—for your child and for you! Whether you’re feeling excited, nervous, or a little bit of both, this
Health and Wellness
Your child’s health is of major importance to us all. Our Health and Wellness page offers a guide to help you know when to keep