Question about preschool applications/waitlists
Hi there!
I did my best to search the archive but was coming up with mostly very old posts. I want to make sure I'm not going off of outdated information!
I live in Oakland and have a 10.5 month old who will be in daycare until she is 3 (36 months). She has a June 2024 birthday.
My question is: what is the preschool application timeline? I read here that most preschools begin accepting applications in January for the following Fall school year. However, I'm assuming wait-lists start before then? Is this just a school-by-school situation? Like some preschools will have waitlists, others won't? If that's the case, when do folks start calling preschools to check? When do people start to get on these waitlists? Is there even a singular answer to this? I want to make sure I don't miss something and we're left with limited options when 3 rolls around. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Parent Replies
I'm not sure where in Oakland you live. Our experience has been that preschools do not keep waitlists. For some schools, you can ask to be added to their contact list so that you know when they open the application season and learn about their open houses, tours, etc. The application deadline is in Feb. for most places.
We chose to enroll our kid in preschool at age 3. Everything worked out in the end, and we were very happy with our preschool choice. But, we did learn that many preschools start at age 2, and there wasn't a lot of opening for kids entering at age 3 for those schools. We did enroll in a school that starts at age 3. Something to consider.
If you have certain schools in mind, you can join their contact list.