Enrollment for the 2024-2025 school year opens to new families on February 29th!
Read below for more information
Current and alumni families have been given priority enrollment starting on February 8th. We are then opening up enrollment to the general public on February 29th! If you are interested in enrolling, click the button below.
Eligibility Requirements
To be eligible for our program, students must be between the ages of 3-5 by September 1st of that school year, and must be “potty confident.”
“Potty confident” means that your child wears regular underwear during the day, is able to recognize when they need to use the bathroom, takes their layers on and off, etc. The outdoor preschool learning environment can be challenging for developing potty skills. Added variables include: managing multiple layers, being distracted by playing with peers, a new environment and composting toilet, etc. The added stress of bathroom related needs and frequent accidents at school can be a significant barrier to other learning for little ones. That is why we require that students are consistently demonstrating “potty confidence” at home so that there is a strong foundation to build these new (outdoor preschool specific) potty skills upon.
Some things to ask yourself might be: Does my child pull down their layers on their own? Does my child know when they need to go to the bathroom or do I need to give them frequent reminders? Does my child wipe themselves independently? Is my child no longer having frequent accidents (multiple times a week)?
Since kiddos this age are changing a lot from month to month, parents are often working on these skills at home leading up to the school year, letting us know if their kiddo is not quite ready and they need to withdraw before the school year starts.
Financial Assistance
Families enrolled in our program will be eligible to apply for tuition subsidies from the state (restrictions apply- click here for more details), or financial assistance directly from us. Indicate on your enrollment form that you are in need of financial assistance, and once we have a more clear picture of how much we can offer we will reach out!
We are also excited to announce that we are piloting a “Tuition +” system this year, in which families can opt into adding a $10/$20/$30 monthly donation to their tuition to support our financial assistance program. In the past, we have relied upon grants and donations to increase the small amount of financial assistance we can allocate in our budget; but due to the inconsistency of grants and the limitations of a small school budget, we need to diversify our avenues for financial equity. We are hopeful that the Tuition + program will help increase our capacity to provide equitable options for more families!
Tuition Rates for the 2024-2025 School Year
The 2024-2025 school year will be September 4th-June 27th (we generally follow Bellingham school district breaks & holidays). All classes will take place from 8:30 AM-1:30 PM and will have a student to teacher ratio of 4:1 (12 students and 3 teachers).
Tuition is used to cover insurance costs, classroom supplies and maintenance, planning time for curriculum development and family communication/support, and paying teachers a living wage.
| Days | Total Monthly Cost | Total Yearly Cost |
| 5 days/week Mon-Fri | $1,000 | $10,000 |
| 4 days/week Mon-Thu | $800 | $8,000 |
| 3 days/week Mon/Wed/Fri | $600 | $6,000 |
| 3 days/week Tue/Thu/Fri | $600 | $6,000 |
| 2 days/week Mon/Wed | $400 | $4,000 |
| 2 days/week Tue/Thu | $400 | $4,000 |
Additional Costs & Required Gear
We acknowledge that providing gear for your child to be safe and comfortable outdoors year round can be a significant added cost. This gear includes rain pants, rain jacket, waterproof boots, warm layers, hats and gloves, etc. If finding or providing gear for your child is a barrier for your family to participate in our program, please reach out to us. We can provide more information/recommendations, and we also have a limited amount of outdoor clothing that we can loan out on an as-needed basis. We are also now selling wholesale, discounted rain shell mittens and have partnerships with kids outdoor gear companies for other discounts!
Join our waitlist for the 2023-2024 school year!
Read below for more information
We are currently fully enrolled for the 2023-2024 school year. In our experience, enrollment fluctuates throughout the school year, so even if you are not currently enrolled, there is still a chance of getting in! If you are interested in our program, we strongly encourage you to follow the link below to get on our waitlist.
Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions at admin@lichenearlylearning.org or (360) 386-5256!