**Now enrolling for School Year 2025-2026.**
Click here for information about our curriculum.
Are you looking for a play-based
child care center in Seattle?
At Seattle Learning Center (SLC), we’re known for small class sizes and low student-to-teacher ratios—a widely recognized indicator of high-quality child care. If that sounds like what you value, you’ve come to the right place. We are much more than a daycare. SLC is a licensed child care and preschool provider with a highly educated teaching staff. Your child will be in a safe, nurturing environment that encourages them to:
- Experience a variety of active and stimulating play opportunities
- Build early academic skills through curiosity and play
- Develop cognitive, physical, and social-emotional skills
- Interact and form friendships with peers their own age
- Grow a love of learning, develop independence, and have fun
We are proud of what we’ve built over the past 17 years as a trusted, long-standing child care community in Seattle.
What makes SLC different:
- Play-based learning: We value play as a meaningful and essential part of how children learn and grow.
- Low ratios for individualized support: We keep class sizes small and ratios low so teachers can provide responsive, individualized care.
- A stable, positive teaching team: Our size supports a healthy work environment where teachers can focus on teaching, caregiving, and relationships. Many of our educators stay long term, and we’re proud of our low staff turnover.
- Small, home-like settings: Our centers are intentionally small, with simple, cozy classrooms designed to feel calm, warm, and home-like.
- Community-centered care: We invest in quality by prioritizing relationships. Children, educators, parents, and extended families are involved and always welcome.
- Family-owned and actively led: We are not a corporate child care center. SLC is family-owned and operated, allowing us to focus on what matters most—relationships and high-quality care. Our owners are present in daily operations, supporting staff, children, and families, so you have direct access to leadership and resources.
- People over polish: We may not have a fancy new building, but our community is what makes us exceptional—confident learners, supportive families, and experienced, committed educators.
COME JOIN OUR COMMUNITY!
Whatever your hopes for your child may be—whether that’s attending Harvard University or becoming an artist—Seattle Learning Center helps lay a strong foundation for reaching their goals and dreams.
We build that foundation by emphasizing the benefits of learning through play and the importance of social-emotional development. As children strengthen skills like self-awareness, self-management, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making, they gain tools that support confidence, resilience, and long-term success as learners and community members. Research published in the peer-reviewed journal Child Development has found that students who participate in social and emotional learning (SEL) programs demonstrate stronger academic outcomes—including higher grades—than peers who do not.
Social and emotional school readiness is critical for young children’s early school success-and may even set the stage for success later in life. Those children who enter school without these basic social and emotional competencies are not ready to learn, are less likely to be successful in the early years of school and may face a cascade of behavioral, emotional and academic problems throughout their young lives.
Queen Anne Location
A full-day preschool and childcare program for children ages 3 months to 5 years old.
Our school is open from 7:30am to 5:30pm, Monday to Friday. Our program operates yearly and follows the school year calendar (September to August). The pre-k program prepares children for kindergarten by strengthening their social-emotional skills in a play-based environment. The center is licensed for 37 children.
Montlake Location
A full-day program for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers ages 3 months to 5 years old.
Our school is open from 7:30am to 5:30pm, Monday to Friday. Our program operates yearly and follows the school year calendar (September to August). The center is licensed for 26 children.
