When March rolls around many moms and dads are anxiously checking the mail daily to see if they got accepted to their first choice preschool for the little ones. Wait, what?! That’s right. Call it like it is – preschool has become one of the most time consuming, worrisome and anxiety-riddled times in a parent’s life. As a new parent, you might not have any idea what this entails so we have put together a new parent’s guide to getting a slot at your favorite preschool and how to cope with the elusive preschool waitlist.
So what is it again? With the working class having the highest number of working parents that ever, it has become imperative that parents get their children into a preschool – and one that they like and trust! That being said, many of the country’s roughly 11,000 nationally accredited child care centers are full to capacity and they have begun to waitlist children and families due to few available openings. We’ve all heard the stories about parents who put their future progeny on waiting lists for daycare even before they are born and that, my friend – remains true! I did it with my twins that are three years old and they are STILL waiting on a school to open in August. Some centers are also in such high demand that they even let parents sign up on a waitlist before conception.
So what should you do to try and beat the waitlist or lessen your time sitting in limbo on the dreaded list? Try some of these tips:
Put your child on more than one waitlist.
Register your child a year before you’ll need child care.
Since siblings of current students get priority, enroll all your children at the same center.
Check in with the center regularly to make sure you’re still on the waitlist.
Since wait-listed families may only have a couple of days to respond to an offer of admission, make sure they have your current contact information (even when you leave town).
Try to enroll in the summer since there are usually more slots available then.
Be flexible – you may have to accept a slot sooner than you had planned or take a part-time slot if it’s all they have available.
It might even pay to stay on the waitlist at your first-choice center even after you enroll your child elsewhere. It’s good to have options.
Do your research and evaluate all the facilities that you are looking at thoroughly and intently. One may seem like the best place with the longest waitlist ever – yet, there might be a better fit preschool elsewhere. Trust your parenting instincts and you’ll find the best preschool or class for your child, waitlist included or not.
