Giddens School

2120 21st Avenue South

Seattle, WA 98144

32 Reviews

School District
Grade

PK-5
Type

private

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Reviews

Submitted by parent on November 14, 2024

I believe Giddens School is a vibrant, innovative, and dynamic learning environment that prioritizes a community of care and celebrates diversity. I think the current climate of the school is invigorating with all areas of the curriculum thriving including the new DREAM and SPARK collaborative program nurturing students' passion for STEM projects. I feel that the faculty and staff are phenomenal and care deeply for their students and families. The school is dedicated to social justice; teachers infuse and enrich their lessons with the values of kindness, acceptance, and advocacy for self and others. I believe Giddens students learn and grow with open hearts and minds and graduate from the school with a positive and inclusive social-emotional outlook prepared to make the world a better place. I highly recommend this school.
Submitted by parent on November 14, 2024

We’ve been so happy and impressed with Giddens! Our son has been attending school there since preschool and is now in 1st grade. He’s got so many good buddies and the smaller class sizes are great for his learning style. All the staff and teachers are amazing and we’ve met so many parents who have become good friends. Could not be happier with this school.
Submitted by parent on November 12, 2024

Giddens is a wonderful school for early education and beyond. I have been beyond happy to have both my children attend Giddens through their early education years. The teachers are caring and supportive. The education is rich and varied: From Social Emotional learning, Music, PE, Art, Library, Spanish to the rest of the core curriculum, there are many ways for your student to grow as a learner and thrive. The school also hosts All School Sings and there are many opportunities to get to know other parents/caregivers. I can’t speak to Special Education support but Giddens is a wonderful community for you and your learner to be a part of. Giddens Students are kind and caring.
Submitted by parent on March 22, 2024

We have been very happy at giddens. Great academics, teachers, and commitment to social emotional learning. Awesome enrichment classes and community involvement!
Submitted by parent on February 07, 2024

We have had a great experience at Giddens! Have been here for two years. Yes, there has been some turnover this year but a lot of that is due to poor performance and a new administration who's trying to professionalize the school. We are here for it- as are most other families. I have seen my kiddo grow so much since starting at Giddens- academically and socially. I wouldn't get too absorbed in the noise from a few parents- the school is an amazing place and we are so happy to be a part of this community.Things we really love- the teachers, the teacher to student ratio, focus on social emotional learning, play based learning and experiential learning. They do a lot to bring the community into the school through all school sings, concerts, and other fun activities. There are a lot of traditions that we love to take part in. They also offer extended day for free (as part of tuition) which goes a long way to enabling affordability and also allowing families to work.
Submitted by parent on February 01, 2024

Giddens is undergoing a period of significant change that parents need to consider carefully when making a decision on enrollment. When we first found the school several years ago, it was the exact place we were looking for - high academic rigor, high social emotional support, a diverse student body (actually diverse racially, economically, and family structure - not just one or two kids of color in a class), and while the teacher staff wasn't as diverse, there was intentionality around improvement. Our child thrived in the school and has loved every teacher.When the Head of School (HoS) left in 2022, the Board brought in an interim before hiring the new HoS, who started towards the end of the 22-23 year. Since the departure of the prior HoS, Giddens has experienced significant staff turnover (both voluntary and involuntary). Around 50% of the teachers, extended day staff and administrative staff have left the school in the last 7-9 months, causing significant disruption to classrooms and school operations. The Board has tried to frame this massive disruption as normal for a leadership transition. It's not normal. Nor is it acceptable for so many teachers to have left within the first 4 months of the current school year with no explanation for families.Despite all the staff turnover, there appears to be no clear plan for recruitment of new teachers or for retention of the existing staff - leaving families unsure of who their children will learn from next year and worried that the amazing teacher they and their children love will suddenly be gone. When pressed for a plan of action, the Board has pushed the problem onto families - telling them they need to be more engaged in the school. While parent involvement is critical to student development, it should not be the replacement for a staff retention plan.With enrollment contracts soon due, parents have made specific asks and demands to the Board and the HoS for clearer communications, an investigation into why turnover is so high, and concrete plans for teacher recruitment and retention. While the Board and HoS have attempted to provide more communications, concrete plans and answers are still few and far between and requests to identify reasons behind turnover have been completely ignored.Our child's day-to-day experience has not been impacted since her particular teacher is still there; but our trust in the school has been broken and the instability leaves us unsure we will return next year.
Submitted by parent on January 20, 2024

Due to recent financial difficulties Giddens has enrolled many children with learning differences and emotional challenges that it claims to have resources to serve but cannot. This has resulted in teachers and staff being forced to work out of ratio and with little support with adequately serving children with high needs. Programs such as the Summer Blast Camp claim to provide students with a supportive and engaging experience, yet inexperienced summer staff and overcrowded classes make it unsafe both physically and emotionally for children. Sadly numerous long tern teachers have left this year, leaving positions unfilled for months and ultimately eliminating programs such as PE and Library. Lead classroom teaching roles filled by administrators. Not a first choice school.
Submitted by parent on January 27, 2020

Both my kids have had a great experience at Giddens, I highly recommend it! My daughter is in middle school now but frequently comes back to visit. We've found Giddens teachers and staff to be caring, dedicated and committed to ensuring each individual students needs are being met, both academically and on a social/emotional level. We especially love the social justice focus. My son who is there now is happy and engaged in this diverse learning community and looks forward to going to school each day.
Submitted by other on December 20, 2019

I am so glad we found Giddens. Everyone knows my child at the school - staff and families, and it really is a community that helps guide his development. The curriculum, including the social justice framework, is exceptional and I feel confident in his socio emotional development as well as his academic success.
Submitted by parent on December 11, 2019

I am so happy to have found Giddens School. I have twins at the school who are currently in K/1; they started as Pre-K students last year. It's been wonderful to see their world's open up as they learn new things. Because of Giddens' focus on social/emotional development, social justice, and academics, they are learning how to manage themselves and their emotions, seeing how they fit into the world and how they can help neighbors in it, and gaining all of the foundational academic skills they'll need to be successful in life. In particular, I value the SPARK program which is a multidisciplinary program where kids learn how to apply what they are learning in science, engineering, math, and social science to create thoughtful art projects. Topics for the projects range from learning about good nutrition, to understanding ancestry through family trees, to learning about what 'home' means around the world and in our own city. This program gives them the ability to synthesize what they are learning from all of their classes and produce a thoughtful project from that knowledge--which is a valuable skill they'll need to be successful in life. The teachers and staff of Giddens are amazing. They are dedicated, effective professionals. My children know them all and feel comfortable, safe, and cared for at school. Again, I'm so very happy to have found Giddens.
Submitted by parent on November 26, 2019

Really good. We've been here since pre-k and my son loves it. The administrators, staff, and teachers are flexible, kind, professional and seem to really love their jobs. The kids pick up on that and my son has told us that we can't move to Hawaii, even if we win the lottery, until he has graduated from Giddens.
Submitted by parent on November 21, 2019

Giddens has been an amazing place for our son and for our family. Their teachers identified his dyslexia in Kindergarten which gave us a chance to help him very early. They have been there for him all along both academically and emotionally. He absolutely loves the school and all his teachers. He has grown to become a caring, socially conscious and confident boy who clearly knows who he is and is not afraid to advocate for himself or others.
Submitted by parent on November 20, 2019

Giddens is a hidden gem of a school. It's not just that my kids LOVE this school (which they do) it's that I as a parent love this school, too. I have been so impressed by the quality of the teachers and by the thoughtful, deliberate way the administration works. It's hard to narrow down the list, but here are three of my favorite things about Giddens: 1) They really get kids and what is developmentally appropriate at different ages. For the younger grades, homework is totally optional so kids have time to play after school! 2) Before and after school care are included in tuition and do not require you to sign up in advance. What a gift to working parents. 3) This school has built an incredible, close-knit community that I'm so glad my family gets to be a part of. There are so many other things I could mention--the commitment to providing robust financial aid, the creative ways they build a deep love of learning in kids, the commitment to kid's social and emotional learning as well as academics...I feel so good about this school and feel so lucky my kids get to spend their days here.
Submitted by parent on November 18, 2019

Giddens has been fantastic for our family. It has a great program for students and amazing support for working parents.
Submitted by parent on October 22, 2019

Having had 3 kids at Giddens we have so many wonderful things to say. Academically it is rigorous focussing on problem solving and teamwork interweaved with social-emotional development and a sense of being a true citizen of the world. Giddens also provides a great sense of warmth and community. We give Giddens our STRONGEST recommendation and now that our kids are in their last few years there we almost wish they could do it all over again!
Submitted by parent on October 03, 2019

My son is off to middle school after being at Giddens since preschool. He is not only academically prepared, but he also is a strong advocate for himself and others. I would HIGHLY recommend Giddens School.
Submitted by parent on September 17, 2019

We love Giddens - absolutely would and do recommend this school.
Submitted by parent on September 19, 2018

Making the decision to leave our neighborhood public school wasn't an easy one for us. We've found, however, a thriving community for our family within our school, and feel a true sense of partnership with Giddens teachers, leaders, staff, students and other parents. My second grader is taking academic and social risks, safely, and discovering areas she's passionate about (math) while getting to know herself as a learner and a person.
Submitted by parent on April 20, 2016

What attracted us to Giddens is their commitment to cultivating the love of learning and becoming a socially responsible part of the community.We started our daughter, Maya, here in preschool when I could no longer keep up with her growth and curiosity at age 3, she is now in second grade. Each year my husband and I say, "Wow, we are so lucky, we have the best teacher!" In actuality, Giddens has done an amazing job finding and keeping the best teachers. We have loved them all, and have been amazed how well they know our daughter and how skilled they are in helping her navigate the struggles of childhood. I am so thankful that social and emotional growth are a priority here, as well as academics and have learned a lot from them that has significantly impacted my parenting.We had an unfortunate experience when we transitioned to our public neighborhood school in kindergarten. After a long list of unfortunate events, our daughter started to pretend to be sick to get out of going to school. Thankfully Giddens had a spot for her and we were able to transition back, and lo and behold she couldn't wait to go to school again, each day.This school is stock full of wonderful staff who really are experts in learning and development of the whole child. From the amazing teachers, specialist and administrative staff to the principle, everyone is on the same page and intentionally reaches out to each child and teaches sense of self, love, and how to be an important part of a community.
Submitted by parent on October 23, 2014

I'm a high-school teacher, and for years I've been intrigued and impressed by the students I met who graduated from Giddens. Its program truly prepares young people for the complex (and often confusing) modern world. Giddens is unique for its upbeat, connective, diverse atmosphere, student and parent body, teachers and staff. As a teacher, I know the results of any school's program must concrete and noticeable: at Giddens, our kids are growing intellectually, and more importantly, they are learning so much about how to communicate and empathize with each other, their peers, and adults. Even when things are difficult at home or at school, our kids have a way (and the vocabulary) to talk through things to help them consider solutions. As a result, we can talk with our kids about almost any subject-- joyful or painful. Finally, Giddens shows that childhood should be fun, warm, interactive . . . while preparing kids to be skillful in writing, observation, math, art, presenting, science, and so on. The teachers and administration are incredibly caring, skilled, and organized people. Mark my words: years from now people will be asking, "why don't all schools do it this way?"