Preschool Enrollment

Enrollment Timeline:

The Highlandtown Preschool prefers to receive applications for admission (the form links in the blue section) and a $75 application fee by the following target dates for new families who plan to have students start at the beginning of our upcoming terms:

• For January students, a November 1st target application date (with preference given to students who were three years old by September 1st)
• For June students, a March 1st target application date
• For September students, an April 1st target application date

Applications received by those dates will be processed using our enrollment preferences (see below) and the available slots in our classrooms. When we reach those target enrollment dates, we will contact all interested families to let them know if their students have been admitted or if they have been placed on a wait list.

Applications received by those dates will be processed using our enrollment preferences (see below) and the available slots in our classrooms. When we reach those target enrollment dates, we will contact all interested families to let them know if their students have been admitted or if they have been placed on a wait list. For students who have been admitted, we will send an enrollment information packet (health and emergency forms and a general release agreement) and ask that you return that packet within four weeks, along with a deposit of $500 for half day students or $1000 for full day students to hold your child’s spot. Deposits are applied to the first month’s invoice. As soon as a spot for the next term becomes available, we will contact the next family on the waitlist.

Applications received after those dates will be evaluated on a rolling basis and in consideration of classroom space.

Enrollment Preferences:

The Highlandtown Preschool is a community-focused school and a ministry of Breath of God Lutheran Church. In accordance with the values of the congregation and the vision and mission of our school, when we are at full capacity we use enrollment preferences when evaluating our set of applicants for each term to ensure that the composition of our student body allows us to fulfill that vision and mission. As such, our enrollment preferences are:

• 1) Continuing students and siblings of continuing students.
• 2) Students who do not speak English at home (up to ¼ of the student body)
• 3) Students from families experiencing poverty (up to ¼ of the student body)
• 4) Families who live and/or work in Southeast Baltimore (defined as the 21224, 21231, and 21205 zip codes, within the city limits)
• 5) Members of Breath of God Lutheran Church who do not fall into either of the first three categories
• 6) All other families (those who speak English at home, are not experiencing poverty, do not live or work in Southeast Baltimore, and are not members of the congregation).

Within each of those specific categories, applicants will be considered in the order in which their application and registration fee were received.

What we mean by “up to ¼ of the student body” is not that we won’t go past that ratio. Rather, once we have reached 25% in each of those two categories, preference to those students will no longer be given on the basis of language or poverty, but we will evaluate their applications in accordance with how they fall into categories 4, 5, and 6.

Wait List

We do our best to place each applicant in our classrooms in accordance with the requested start date. If we are unable to do so, we will contact you to offer alternate openings. If we are still unable to enroll your child, we will place him or her on a wait list in accordance with the order in which we received application forms and registration fees. If an opening arises, we will notify you.

Tuition

Older Students (in our main building classrooms): Tuition is $310 a week for full day (8 am to 4 pm) and $175 a week for half day (8am to 12pm). We have reduced tuition for low income families–please contact our director for more information. Tuition for eligible families is $130 for full day and $80 for half day per week.

Younger Students (in our classrooms at 139 S. Clinton): Tuition is $360 a week for full day (8 am to 4 pm) and $200 a week for half day (8am to 12pm). We have reduced tuition for low income families–please contact our director for more information. Tuition for eligible families is $160 for full day and $90 for half day per week.

Other options: After care runs from 4 pm up to 5:30 pm and is an additional $60 a week. Students who desire to stay for “Lunch Bunch” or occasionally for a full day rather than a half day will often be able to do so–but consultation must be made in advance with the preschool director. Lunch Bunch costs $10 per day. An afternoon drop in costs $25 per day.

Withdrawal

By enrolling in The Highlandtown Preschool, a family commits to tuition for the program semester. If your circumstances change and you need to withdraw your child from the preschool, we ask that you provide 30 days' notice. This policy applies whether or not the child has attended the preschool. A refund will be provided only if the child’s tuition was paid in full for the entire semester.