Programs

Bella Mente serves children from infants to ready-for-kindergarten 5’s, as well as summer camp and after school care for K-5. We wanted to open a program which caters to working families who are still interested in their child’s education. We are a full day program in order to accommodate both working and non working families. We realize that a 3 hour a day program is unrealistic for some families and want to provide quality preschool in a loving environment.  We strive every day to make our program fit more closely to your child’s needs.

Newcomer

The Infant Classroom is the children’s first stop on their journey at Bella Mente.  Delivering a comfortable, safe, caring environment is the focus of the room’s teachers. Our infant classroom starts at 12 weeks and they transition on to the next classroom at or around 12 months. We keep our classroom at a 1:4 ratio.

There is no set schedule. Our philosophy is such that as children’s fundamental needs are met in a loving, safe environment they will flourish through this time of rapid development. They emerge from the Infant Classroom happy, trusting, and ready for their transition from infant to toddler.

Acclimation

Our acclimation class is a 1-5 ratio with a max of 10 children per day.

Independence

The 2’s classroom bridges the gap between the Toddler classroom and the Preschool classrooms. We have a 1:7 ratio, with a maximum of 14 children each day. In this classroom we focus on potty training, personal relationships, and mastering many of the skills they will need to succeed in our preschool classrooms.

Adventure

Our adventure classroom serves children approximately 3 years old . We have a 1:8 ratio with a max of 16 children per day.  We focus on getting children ready to move up to our older preschool classrooms. On a daily basis we work on letter and number mastery, sensory exploration, fine motor skills, imaginary play, outside large motor, long term project work, and creative expression through art.

Discovery

Our Discovery class is designed for children between the ages of 4 and 5. We have a 1:9 ratio with a max of 18 children per day. We are focusing a lot of our attention on writing our names, learning our letters, communication with each other, and being leaders in the classroom and in our community. On a daily basis we have opportunities for letter mastery, fine motor practice, sensory exploration, imaginary play, building and architecture, scientific experiments, math/logic, and featured artists and mediums.

Maven

Our Maven classroom is for our children who will graduate to kindergarten the following year. We have a 1:10 ratio with a maximum of 20 children per day.  

School Age Program

We have children from elementary schools around West Seattle for after school, SPS closures, and summer camp. We have a 1:15 ratio with a max of 45 children in the program at one time.

In Person Tours

In person groups tours are done by appointment only at this time.