Finding childcare is a 40-hour research project that most parents do with a spreadsheet and a prayer. Shortlist does the research for you: we pull every licensed provider from state registries, verify inspection records, interview directors, and distill it all into the signal that actually matters.
The result is a searchable database you can filter by neighborhood, type, age range, and price. No sponsored listings. No paid placements. Just the information you need to make a decision.
Shortlist exists to make childcare transparent: the same data, the same scoring, the same standards, applied equally.
The story behind Shortlist.
Essay
Everyone said the best daycare in our neighborhood was a Spanish immersion program. We don’t speak Spanish. This is the story of how I stopped chasing the consensus pick and built something instead.
Read the full essayShortlist was built by Diana Clemons. She grew up in Kansas City and lives in Seattle now with her family. When she moved across the country for her husband's job, she built her own spreadsheet to figure out childcare in a city where she knew no one. She thought there had to be a better way — so she built Shortlist to help parents navigate it more easily, applying lessons gained through 15 years of work in data and analytics organizations and stats classes at Chicago Booth.
Every provider on Shortlist is independently researched using licensing records, inspection reports, accreditation data, staff qualifications, and parent feedback. No outside funding, no sponsored content, no provider advertising. The scores reflect the data — nothing else.
Every provider is scored on a consistent framework: licensing status, inspection history, staff qualifications, pricing transparency, and editorial review. No pay-to-play. Read the full methodology.