The most commonly asked question once you are on the waiting list is “When will my child get in?” Unfortunately, it is not possible to give you a definite answer to this question. We can only estimate. We know this is frustrating. Therefore, we would like to clarify our procedure for enrollment and the many variables that can affect placement of your child in a center.

Openings occur when children leave the center or when they move to the next classroom. We call parents from the waiting list only when the opening is in the infant room; or when a child leaves the center creating an available spot or if we do not have a child ready to move up to an older classroom

The number of children in each classroom, birthdays of the children in each room, and the size of the waiting list for each group play a part in how long it may take to get your child into the program. For example, our longest waiting list is for two-year-old care, but due to DSS group size requirements we can only care for a maximum of 10 two year olds in a classroom.

While you are waiting for a position in our center your child will get older. Therefore, your child’s name will be moved to the waiting list for the appropriate age group. This may change your position on the list. For example, you put your toddler on our waiting list when he is two years and ten months old. Two months pass and you are still waiting to get your child in, and your child is now three years old. Your child will be placed on the waiting list for the three-year-old classroom, in a position that correlated to the day we received your application. (This change effects two waiting lists - the toddlers list and the preschool list).

People’s childcare arrangements change all the time. While on our waiting list, some parents may have found alternate childcare arrangements. When we call these parents to inform them of an opening, they may be happy with their current arrangement and may not want the opening. If this is the case, we ask if they wish to remain on our list in case their current arrangement changes. Then we contact the next family on the list.

Most openings occur one at a time; therefore, parents with twins or siblings on the list may opt to enroll one child at a time since they may have to wait a long time for two positions to become available at the same time for the ages they need. (If they opt to enroll one child at a time, it is with the understanding that they will get the next available opening for their other child.)

In addition please note that we maintain two separate waiting lists, one for students and one for community. Therefore a community family may be contacted to maintain the ratio of community enrollment as decided on by our board of Directors.

We hope this description will help to clarify our procedures regarding the waiting list.