School Year Hours and Dates of Operation
Wild Pear is comprised of two neighboring houses that together offer childcare for children ages 1-5 years old during the school year. The Preschool House (9411 SE Wichita Ave) serves 16 children ages three to five years, and the Sprouts House (9433 SE Wichita Ave) serves 13 children ages one to three years. Both houses are open Monday through Friday from 7:30am to 5:30pm. Our school year begins in early September on the Thursday after Labor Day and runs until Mid June. During this time we are closed for two weeks of winter break, one week of spring break, along with two family conference days, two inservice days, and all major holidays. A calendar of specific closure dates are given to families when they enroll and can be found in our family handbook.
We do not offer childcare for children ages 1-4 during the summer. Instead, we offer weekly summer camp programing for school age children age 5-10 years that typically run from mid-June through August. More information about summer camp enrollment can be found under the summer camp tab.
School Year Tuition
During the school year, tuition is paid for 9.5 months and is always due on the first of the month. Families pay to reserve their slot for that month and tuition remains the same regardless of attendance changes due to illness, vacations, holidays or school closures. We encourage everyone to pay online through Zelle by tagging our email address. (It may show up as Wild Primrose Preschool, that’s still us!) We also accept personal checks and cashier checks which can be placed in the check box at Sprouts.
Tuition rates include meals, snacks, and sunscreen for all children along with diapers, wipes, and diaper cream for Sprouts children.
We know childcare is expensive and we gladly welcome families enrolled in the ERDC program or who plan to pay for childcare using another government subsidy. If your family does not qualify for ERDC but you still struggle to afford tuition, we may be able to help you with a partial scholarship, please look here for more information.
2023-2024 Tuition rates for the Preschool Cohorts* (Children ages 3-5)
Five days: $1475
Four days: $1325
Three days: $1175
Two days: $1025
2023-2024 Tuition rates for the Sprouts Cohorts Tuition* (Children ages 1-3)
Five days: $1975
Four days: $1825
Three days: $1675
Two days: $1525
*We raise our rates annually in September to account for cost of living increases and inflation.
Enrollment process
Waitlist
Families wishing to enroll their child at Wild Pear Preschool can be placed on the waitlist. In order to be waitlisted, families need to submit a completed Waitlist Form and a non-refundable $20 fee*. Being placed on the waitlist does not guarantee enrollment at a later date. It does, however, guarantee that the child will be invited for a tour and be considered for enrollment in open slots as they become available.
Our waitlist does not operate on a first-come first-served basis. Instead, we have a goal to create well balanced and diverse cohorts of children while striving to coordinate each family’s preferred schedule. For this reason, we do ask that parents give us as much information as possible on their waitlist form and notify us of any changes that come up. Since we can’t possibly weigh and balance all the potential cohort variations until after we hold tours, we are unable to tell families the “odds” of them being accepted. Some families are on the waitlist for a few weeks, others may be on the waitlist for more than a year.
Tour
WP does not enroll families without a tour. We want to show you round and be able to chat and answer any questions you may have. It’s also very important for us to meet the child/children you are hoping to enroll in our program (with an exception of course for children yet to be born). All families on the waitlist will be invited to come out and join one of multiple group tours offered in early Spring (generally in the first few weekends of April). Typically, this is where we meet all the families that we end up enrolling for the upcoming school year. Should a slot become available mid-school year, we will consider which family on the waitlist would be the best fit, and reach out to them directly to schedule a tour. Because tours take significant time and energy, we are often unable to coordinate individual tours for families who are unable to make it to the group tours in Spring.
Enrollment
We enroll children into cohorts based on how old they will be by September first. They will move through Wild Pear together with this cohort and eventually graduate and move to kindergarten at the same time. Our infant cohort will have four or five children who will all be 1 by September and turn 2 during the school year. Our toddler cohort will have between seven and nine children who will all be 2 by September and turn 3 during the school year. Our younger preschool cohort will have between seven and nine children who will all be 3 by September and turn 4 during the school year, and the older preschool cohort will have between seven and nine children who will all be 4 turning 5.
Typically families are notified of their enrollment status by mid May. Once offered a slot, families will need to make a choice to either enroll or pass. If they choose to pass, the slot will be offered to another family. In most cases families will have up to one week to decide if they want the available slot. If they decided to enroll, they will need to pay the $500 non-refundable deposit* which will hold their slot until September 1st. $300 of the deposit will cover the annual enrollment fee, while $200 will be applied to September’s tuition.
Anyone who does not get an offer to enroll can choose to remain on the waitlist. These families will be considered for any unexpected mid-year openings that arise, and will be invited to attend a group tour again the following Spring.
**Fees and Deposits
We encourage everyone to pay online through Zelle by tagging our email address. (It may show up as Wild Primrose Preschool, that’s still us!) We also accept personal checks and cashier checks which can be placed in the check box inside the front screen door at Sprouts or mailed to either school address.
Changing Schedules & Adding Siblings
We know that sometimes families may be willing to accept a slot that isn’t totally ideal, or may need to change their enrollment schedule mid-school year. Anytime a family wants to decrease the number of days they are enrolled, they will need to give 30 days written notice and can shift to their new schedule after the 30 days is up. If a family wants to swap days or increase their enrollment, they need to send us an email right away and their schedule request will be put on top of a list for consideration should anything shift mid-school year.
When enrolling new students, priority is given to families with siblings who are currently enrolled at Wild Pear and/or alumni families. If you’d like to enroll a sibling, please fill out a Waitlist Form and turn it in right away, but no fee is required! If the sibling you’d like to enroll will be under 12 months in September, please know we may be able to make an exception for your family, so please ask.
Wild Pear Preschool 