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Unincorporated King County · Licensed center

Mountainside School

mountainsideschool.com

At a glance

  • Medium play-based center, licensed for 74 children.
  • Hours 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., 5 days a week.

What to know

License: 1 month to 7 years (state). They serve: 6 weeks to 6 years (their website).

The license is the range the state allows. It does not say which ages have openings.

What the state has found

Someone reported a concern to the state, and in March 2025 the state found it valid. The state also cited rules at all 4 of its licensing inspections since July 2023.

See each inspection and complaint

Complaints the state found valid

Of the 207 Seattle-area centers licensed for 71 to 115 children, 139 (67%) have no valid complaint in the last three years; 68 (33%) have one or more, as this center does.

How all 207 similar-size centers compare

Of the 207 Seattle-area centers licensed for 71 to 115 children, how many valid complaints each had in the last three years:

  • None67%
  • One or more33%This center

Licensing inspections

  • Jul 22, 20261 citation
    • Sleep, rest, and equipmentShort Term. Fix within 10 business days. Rechecked within 15.

      • “Some of the mats in the Early Preschool room have tears on them.”

        WAC 110-300-0265(6)(a)

  • Feb 24, 20261 citation
    • Emergency preparation and exitingSerious. Fix within 5 business days. The licensor rechecks within 10.

      • “There is a gate in the infant room that is blocking the exit path and requires special knowledge to open.”

        WAC 110-300-0166(3)(c)

  • Aug 19, 20243 citations
    • Food allergies and special dietary needsSerious. Fix within 5 business days. The licensor rechecks within 10.

      • “No documentation that teachers have been trained on the medication.”

        WAC 110-300-0186(2)

    • Emergency preparation and exitingSerious. Fix within 5 business days. The licensor rechecks within 10.

      • “There is a gate in the infant room that is blocking the exit and needs special knowledge to open.”

        WAC 110-300-0166(3)(c)

    • Training requirementsShort Term. Fix within 10 business days. Rechecked within 15.

      • “There are staff missing their safe sleep training: K.A., K.M. and J.O.”

        WAC 110-300-0106(8)

  • Jul 31, 20232 citations
    • MedicationSerious. Fix within 5 business days. The licensor rechecks within 10.

      • “The child's epi-pen in the preschool room was expired.”

        WAC 110-300-0215(3)(a)(i)

    • Equipment and surfaces in outdoor early learning spaceSerious. Fix within 5 business days. The licensor rechecks within 10.

      • “There is a tramboline in the early preschool classroom.”

        WAC 110-300-0146(4)

The state cited rules at all 4 of this center's inspections. Most Seattle-area centers inspected 4 times had fewer: 71% of 272.

How all 272 Seattle-area centers inspected 4 times compare

Of the 272 Seattle-area centers the state inspected 4 times, how many of those inspections cited a rule:

  • None7%
  • 1 of 415%
  • 2 of 417%
  • 3 of 433%
  • All 429%This center
Read every record and the state’s reports

State record — Washington DCYF

Last visit
July 22, 2026
On file
4 visits since July 2023 — all of them cited findings · 1 complaint investigation
Most serious
Serious — There is a gate in the infant room that is blocking the exit path and requires special knowledge to open. · February 24, 2026

Washington DCYF publishes each citation in the licensor’s own words, with a risk level.

Jul 2026 Licensing visit 1 finding

Licensing visit · July 22, 2026

Sleep, rest, and equipment

WAC 110-300-0265(6)(a) · Short Term

Some of the mats in the Early Preschool room have tears on them.

Report (PDF)

Feb 2026 Licensing visit 1 finding

Licensing visit · February 24, 2026

Emergency preparation and exiting

WAC 110-300-0166(3)(c) · Serious

There is a gate in the infant room that is blocking the exit path and requires special knowledge to open.

Report (PDF)

Jan 2025 Complaint 1 valid issue

Complaint · Received January 17, 2025 · Resolved March 18, 2025

The state’s report (PDF)

Aug 2024 Licensing visit 3 findings

Licensing visit · August 19, 2024

Training requirements

WAC 110-300-0106(8) · Short Term

There are staff missing their safe sleep training: K.A., K.M. and J.O.

Food allergies and special dietary needs

WAC 110-300-0186(2) · Serious

No documentation that teachers have been trained on the medication.

Emergency preparation and exiting

WAC 110-300-0166(3)(c) · Serious

There is a gate in the infant room that is blocking the exit and needs special knowledge to open.

Report (PDF)

Jul 2023 Licensing visit 2 findings

Licensing visit · July 31, 2023

Medication

WAC 110-300-0215(3)(a)(i) · Serious · No longer on the state’s site as of August 21, 2026

The child's epi-pen in the preschool room was expired.

Equipment and surfaces in outdoor early learning space

WAC 110-300-0146(4) · Serious · No longer on the state’s site as of August 21, 2026

There is a tramboline in the early preschool classroom.

Report (PDF)

Shortlist replaces people’s names in the state’s text with initials. This is done by rule, not by hand, so it can miss a name or shorten a word that isn’t one. The state’s report, linked on each row, has the original.

What it costs

We couldn’t find it, so if you know, please share. We’ll publish it and work to confirm it with the provider directly too.

A day here

7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., 5 days a week

Meals
Meals
Center provides a morning snack; parents provide lunch and an afternoon snack (the brand’s policy for all its schools)

How they teach

Play-based

“combining the best of many different learning styles and ideas including the power of play, creativity, hands-on learning and more”

Who cares for your child

Marie Helm (Teacher & Staff) since 1980, Bobbie Green (Owner) since 1980, Margo Roske (teacher and assistant) since 1992, Kay Michel (Teacher & Staff) since 1999, Kimberly Reed (Director) twenty years there and Kathy Ashley (Assistant Director and Pre-K Lead) since 2018.

46 years · Seattle-area median 13, among 77 that publish

Policies

Enrollment
Students placed in classrooms at enrollment; teacher-requested transfers reviewed by parents, director, and teachers

Details

Phone
(425) 392-9366
Address
23912 SE Tiger Mt Rd, Unincorporated King County, 98027
License
PL-595
Established
1980

We couldn’t find some information that may matter to your decision: openings, Working Connections subsidy, cost and who owns it. We can ask the program for you and copy you in.

Run Mountainside School? Correct or add anything here, free.
Sources and dates

Where every fact on this page came from, and when Shortlist last checked it against that source. Anything Shortlist could not source is named here rather than left blank.

How they teach

Who cares for your child

State record

From Washington DCYF’s published reports, last checked November 3, 2026.

Washington’s four risk levels, highest first: Immediate, Serious, Short Term, Long Term. Deadlines from DCYF procedure PRO 10.1.21.

Ages

Age groups as Washington defines them: WAC 110-300-0005 (infant to 11 months, toddler 12 to 29 months, preschool 30 months to 6 years, school age 5 to 12 years).

A day here

Policies

Details

Medium means the middle half of Seattle-area’s 855 licensed centers by state-licensed capacity: 41 to 115 children. Small is 6 to 40; large is 116 to 323.

The ages on the license are what the state licenses it to care for, which can be wider than the ages it takes.

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