Cascade started in 1993 and has had over 20,000 students and 20,000 exams since that program started in 2013. We are locally owned, not a franchise. Our staff averages 10+ years of education experience. We strive for a relaxed but disciplined classroom environment where all can learn. We have highly trained and certified examiners for the DOL skill and knowledge exams who are fair to all. As all schools are we are governed by the rules of DOL and must operate within those. We do everything we can to make our clients successful and safe. Read Less

stay away from the yelm location. They will come back to the classroom to meet family members for lunch while in middle of taking your kids on driving lessons, they use a route for their exam that purposely tries to fail people so they can burn and churn the 45 dollars like a money making scheme, then when you ask them about it they get defensive like its our fault they are ripping off the community. Here is a hint: 1) Make your employees dress professionally, Tube tops and a tight flannel, or your drivers with untied shoes, baggy pants hanging off their butts, and hats on backwards with tank tops.. this is a business, not a beach. 2) Quit using a route that has unposted signs yet EVERYONE else who ISN'T taking the test is going 45 then expect the driver to IMPEDE traffic so you don't insta fail him... 3) The phone conversations you are having with your friends are NOT more important than the damn customers. I have never walked away from a place as furious as I left this place. I took my son here to have a drivers test given, not to be treated to a bad rendition of High school High. Congrats, you stole 45 bucks. You might even keep getting away with it, but you still have to live with the reality you are ripping off fellow Washington residence. /shrug. Read Less

DO NOT GO TO THIS LOCATION.They use "Gotcha" techniques with unposted roads to fail drivers so they get their 45 bucks and make you re-take the tests.  This happened to my Son, and we were warned by families in the neighborhood about this place as we recently just moved to the area but ignored it like dummies.Upon walking in, Woman on phone chatting with her friend about how she told on her, and they preceded to play argue while we stood there for 10 minutes waiting until she finally decided to stop...While we waited for him to start, which the total test was under 10 minutes before she claimed he "failed", another driver that was training kids left with 2 kids.  This guy looked like a meth head.  untied shoes, baggy shorts hanging off his ass, hat on backwards and unwashed to boot... "let's rock" he said to the kids as he scampered to the car.Normal looking tow-truck guy comes in, nice enough guy, looking for his wife that works there.  The manager who is supposed to be taking my son on a driving test, is now on the phone with her instead, letting her know that her boyfriend/husband is here to eat lunch with her.. they have what I can only imagine is a funny conversation by the boisterous laughing going on while my son sat outside waiting in the car for her to get ready...Here is my favorite part, the wife of the guy who came in decided in the MIDDLE of a driving lesson that lunch was more important then the money and time these kids parents spent to send them here, and came back to the office, ate for 5 minutes, then said to the kids who were now sitting in the "classroom" ok we can continue now, and they left.So finally everyone is fed, and my son is ready for the test.  They spend 10 minutes in the parking lot while she stands outside the window checking lights, and then literally spend less then 5 minutes in the car before she comes back claiming he was "speeding".Problem is she took him on an unposted road, that EVERYONE HERE drives 45 on, and wanted him to IMPEDED traffic and go 25.  He didn't, he did what I tought him and went the same speed as everyone around him.  The amazement on my face when I came home to actually read reviews on google about this place only to find they mirror my experience and the experiences of those who warned me about this place...Lesson learned.  Cascade Driving school, congrats you got my 45 bucks and fucked up my kids confidence so you can burn and churn 45 bucks like a rotisserie chicken.. you are a real class act. Read Less

Worst ever! I give this place a 0. They have a policy that if you do not show up you pay. On two occasions they did not show for a drive and I am still trying to get the drives scheduled. The staff is rude and when you go in they do not even offer to help, to busy chatting with friends. I will be driving the extra 15 mins to go somewhere else. I suggest you do too. Read Less

This is the cheapest location that offers Drivers Ed in the Lacey/Olympia area(that I know of at least). They had this buddy program that if and someone else you knew signed up tomorrow, it would only be around $300 for the each of you but unfortunately I knew nobody at the time in need of starting drivers ed so I ended up paying $400 for mine instead. The Olympia location has really limited parking and the place is quite small. But the fact that I'm saving a couple hundred dollars going here rather than 911 or through my school, I really don't have much to complain about.Their classes are quite boring and it is really easy to fall asleep after a long day at school. So, I really recommend signing up for classes a little later towards the night rather than right after school if that's possible. It's really just a self study thing where we read out of textbooks and answer questions and then the instructor repeats what the textbook has to say. The employees there aren't the nicest, but then again, they're not really there to please you. So what's the big deal? I really enjoyed having Steven as my driving instructor. He made me feel comfortable behind the wheel and talking to him wasn't awkward at all(like it wasn't forced). He's patient as well, so I never felt bad if I can't get it the first time (: Read Less

We went with the Yelm office but will definitely take our business elsewhere! What a Horrible experience! Their driving "testing" is rigged! First part of their driving portion of the test is to parallel park between two cones in this back ally at the back of the building. This area is SOOO small and SOOO cramped, even my husband with 30 plus years of driving had to go for it 2 times and said it was really difficult to maneuver in our highlander. So they took our $48 for less then 5 minutes because my daughter ended up hitting an AC unit in attempts to try to do a maneuver that is something akin to winning in a rigged carnival game. SOO mad!! My daughter was so upset...and i know she wasn't the only one because this was her 2nd attempt (of paying and failing) her test and everyone that we saw come and go also were failing and walking away in tears...This is so screwed up...they take your money and leave you with a heart broken child. And even angrier parents! DO NOT GO HERE!! They even got upset when we wanted to try it out for ourselves! Its like they are purposefully trying to fail you and the "space" they use is so compact too!!! Read Less

We went with the Yelm office but will definitely take our business elsewhere!  What a Horrible experience!  Their driving "testing" is rigged!  First part of their driving portion of the test is to parallel park between two cones in this back ally at the back of the building.  This area is SOOO small and SOOO cramped, even my husband with 30 plus years of driving had to go for it 2 times and said it was really difficult to maneuver in our highlander.  So they took our $48 for less then 5 minutes because my daughter ended up hitting an AC unit in attempts to try to do a maneuver that is something akin to winning in a rigged carnival game.  SOO mad!!  My daughter was so upset...and i know she wasn't the only one because this was her 2nd attempt (of paying and failing) her test and everyone that we saw come and go also were failing and walking away in tears...This is so screwed up...they take your money and leave you with a heart broken child.  And even angrier parents!  DO NOT GO HERE!!  They even got upset when we wanted to try it out for ourselves!  Its like they are purposefully trying to fail you and the "space" they use is so compact too!!! Read Less

I'm very regretful in placing my daughter in this driving School and regretful that I am even giving them 1 star!! I would rather give them no star! If it was my choice I would not have registered my daughter in this so called Drivers Training school, but my daughter needed to get her drivers license before the next school year due to running start and a 6 month practicing period is needed after she gets her permit before she can get her license, all other schools were booked or doesn't start until the next month so we were stuck! These people are so unorganized and unprofessional and if your in need of reaching someone over the phone Good Luck because they do not answer any phone calls, I tried calling about 6-7 time within an hour span and no one picked up so I decide to drive to the office and Lo and behold there were 2 workers sitting right in the front desk but refused to pick up phone calls.  My daughter's first drive was horrific!! As I picked my daughter up from The Olympia Cascade where my daughter goes she walked out of their office tearing and as a mom my heart sank and asked her what was wrong as I tried my best to comfort her, she told me that one of her driving instructor by the name of James Jackson was belittling her and when she got emotional from his belittling he said to her 'why are black girls always the first to cry? (We're Asian) and when my daughter told him she wasn't black but Asian he said 'oh honey your black'. 'I should take a picture of you and send it to my sister cus she cries ugly like you' Wtf!! I am appalled by this person's action!! Mine you this man is black, but this certainly takes into no account on his racial profiling!! It took me everything not to walk in that office and explode, my daughter begged me not to say anything yet because class was still in session. I took my daughter home and my husband asked my daughter what was wrong and she told him and being that my husband is one of those very protective of his only daughter dad both he and I went back to Cascade hoping to talk to James but instead got one of the receptionist.. Long story short one of the instructors I'm not sure what her name was (long salt n pepper hair color) was very nice and attentive to my daughter and made sure all her drives were with her and made sure my daughter had no contact with James. She also was very proactive in making sure our concerns were heard.  And the good news is He was let go yesterday.. He will not belittle anyone anymore (my daughter wasn't the only one he was racial profiling, belittling and harassing). I think this school can improve if they were more organized and was more professional, they really need to improve in that aspect. I'm glad my daughter almost done with this course. Needless to say I will not be going to them again for my next child unless they really start making some changes.. Read Less

My son enrolled with Cascade Driving School in August 2013. He attended classes at the Yelm location but tested at the Olympia location. Overall I was less than impressed with this business.To start, the information on the website is outdated. I read the website thoroughly before enrolling my son because I wanted to ensure I knew what to expect. Everything the website told me was wrong and out of date. Therefore, we were always confused about what was the next step.The website said that the first drive with the school needed to occur within two weeks or something like that. Well, they didn't even have an opening for two months. This is typical for their scheduling. They never had a day/time that was convenient for us and the next opening was always weeks out. Either they need more staff/cars or fewer students.The instruction was weird as well. According to my son, they worked on worksheets in class at their own pace. They also watched videos. There was no actual instruction.Ronnie, one of the employees at the Yelm location, was really good with the kids though. My son really liked him and trusted him. As my son had report with Ronnie he felt comfortable driving with him. Since he didn't know the other staff members, he was nervous driving with them.The Yelm location is in a convenient location and parking was easy. The Olympia location looks like it should be a bail bond office. Parking is terrible at the Olympia location. Read Less

This is the worst driving school ever!! The instructors can not control the class. They watch videos that do not pertain to driving IE: 911 videos and sports videos the instructor is more wanting to be cool with the kids than teaching them that driving is serious and not a game. On my childs first day he told the whole class that it did not matter if they were late because he was always going to put down that class started at 5 they have out of 4 classes got out before 7 and on the 3rd day were released at 6:30. i dont know what other parents expect but i do not need a babysitter for a 16yr old i am paying for driver trainingRead Less

Cascade Driving school is so terrible that going to them literally impedes ones ability to learn how to drive. When you sign up with them for lessons it grants you a learners permit. They told me to just sign up, schedule an appointment and show up and I would be good to go. They did not make it clear that it's necessary to go to the DMV and pick up a hard copy of the permit before scheduling a lesson. After taking the time off from work I had to cancel, go get the permit, and come back the following week. Their only appointments were before noon, which it said nothing about on their website and they failed to mention over the phone. I signed up for a block of two hour lessons and they would never let any of my lessons go on over an hour; some were just 45 minutes and they charged me the whole hour. The driving instructor is bitter, grumpy, and rude. He verged on snapping at me every time I made a mistake while providing no clear instructions, even upon request. He was just there to gripe and make me feel uncomfortable. Then again he's a middle aged wanna be Bill O'Reilly named Michael Jackson. I can kinda see why he's bitter. He was so bad I opted to only show up for half my lessons and practice without an instructor, which was far more productive. Upon actually taking the exam the lady conducting it was nothing but cold stink eye and cheap, tacky perfume stinking up the car. The negativity put me on edge and I bombed the test. A week later I went to PSS driving school in Lacey, where they aren't trashy disorganized creeps, and passed on my first try. It was completely worth paying $45 to take a test elsewhere after I gave these jerks almost $400 to wipe their butts with. Do not repeat my mistake, go somewhere else! I recommend PSS Driving School in Lacey. Read Less

Signed my daughter up a month in advance, letting them know that she would miss the first day of class, due to vacation. Returned from vacation, showed up, told she could not start class because she missed first day. We were clear that she was going to miss, the said no problem, can miss up to 3 days...Well, they offered no solution, no apology, I asked for a refund, they did so and said "Good Luck"Rude, unprofessional and certainly no concern for a very excited 15 year old who was thrilled to be starting driver's ed.Additionally, Dirty, tacky office and "classroom" and difficult parking lot.My recommendation: Seek other options... Read Less

My son is currently enrolled at this school and thought he instruction seems fine, I think they are utterly overwhelmed when it comes to scheduling for drives and exams.   The drive appoints are kept in a receipt book and it appears as it is not updated unless you are standing right in front of them -- appointments made over the phone never get written down.  As for the driving test, it is supposedly covered in the training, but they still charge $45 as a "gas fee" and the appointments for that are even more fluid than training drives.  His appointment as been canceled 3 times so far and even when you can nail down a date, they are unable to give an appointment time for the test.  If there was any other place besides 911, he got the run around on the phone with them when he tried to inquire about their classes, he would have gone. Read Less

So the Lacey DMV is currently outsourcing all DMV type activities. Weirdest set up I have seen thus far... Visited the DMV last Saturday around noon to take the written test as part of the process of getting a WA driver's license. Got through the introductory line where you wait to tell someone why you're there and get a number, and went to wait my turn to actually receive service. My number is called fairly quickly, but after telling the person at the counter why I'm there, I get a request to show my identifying documents and a piece of paper with addresses for driving schools. The DMV doesn't do any kind of testing (written or driving), nor do they do vehicle licensing, as my friend found out when he rec'd a different paper with different addresses on it. A little befuddled, I call the places on the list and the only one still testing that day is Cascade Driving School, so on my way I went. Upon reaching Cascade, I was greeted by a friendly person who charged me $25 to take the written test and later $45 to take the driving test. Keep in mind that does in no way reduce the $80 I had to pay back at the DMV in order to get the actual card. I would say the stress level is definitely lower in this place than testing at the DMV, which is a plus. It is kind of divey, and the test is xeroxed which makes seeing the picture related questions near impossible. I heard them discussing prices for driver's training while I was there- they will match any competitor's prices apparently. Don't expect privacy or quiet while taking the test, but these folks do behave professionally, have great hours, and they will even rent you a car to use for your driving test if you need it (for $50 more). The best thing about this whole experience was that I was able to complete both the written and driving test in one day; if you want to do the same I recommend starting early- this was about a 4 hour process.*Note: The location is up 4th street right past Twister Donuts- get a celebratory donut after completing your test(s)! Read Less