A: Enrollment for next school year begins in mid-March with our current families, and it is opened to the general public (on our website) by mid-April. See below for more information.

A: Every Spring, we begin the enrollment period by inviting our current families to register. Next, we send registration invitations to all eligible Interest List families. Lastly, registration is opened to the public for everyone to access on our website. Please click this link to learn more about our enrollment process and click here to sign up for our Interest List.

A: To be eligible for the upcoming school year, students should be at least 3 years old by August 31st and have not yet turned 6. All students should be comfortable using a portable potty with minimal teacher assistance prior to the start of class.

We follow King County Public Health COVID Recommendations for Child Care, outlined in the the “Guidance for Child Care Administrators” (updated 12/30/21) to guide our COVID Responses. Guidance is updated regularly. Until further notice, we plan to maintain our COVID 2021-22 school year health and safety measures; all students will need to wear a cloth mask or a face shield when in close contact with others/when physical distancing isn’t possible. All students should be potty independent and comfortable using a porta-potty with minimal teacher assistance.

Unlike indoor programs, children will need to frequently negotiate layers of clothing on their way to and from the bathroom. Therefore, the ability to regulate toileting is an important skill for an outdoor preschooler to develop with the support of our educators and their families. We make accommodations to include children with known or suspected disabilities or developmental delays in our program. However, we do not have diapering facilities on site. Please contact us at admissions@tinytrees.org to discuss any accommodations needed for your child.

A: We cannot make exceptions to our enrollment eligibility at this time.

During the school year, we can occasionally make exceptions to our age requirement/enrollment eligibility on a case-by-case basis. This is done in partnership with families and the teaching team, and based on a number of factors, including student readiness (especially potty independence, comfort using a portapotty), classroom dynamics and capacity. Unfortunately, this can’t be assessed before the school year has started.

A: Every Spring, we begin the enrollment period for the upcoming school year. Please click this link to learn more about our enrollment process. As programs fill up/reach student capacity, we start a waitlist for that class. When openings become available in a previously closed class (this can happen at any time), we notify families on the waitlist -whether it’s the spring or summer before classes begin or during the school year for a mid-year enrollment.

A: Tiny Trees Preschool’s tuition information can be found here. We conduct annual market research to set tuition rates that are comparable to preschool and childcare costs in each location.

A: Each year we collaborate with parks and community partners to identify the need for childcare and preschool in a community, and then determine where there are safe spaces to offer outdoor preschool. When deciding which classrooms to operate, we consider a number of different factors identify a number of considerations, including access to emergency shelter, bathrooms, parking, water and storage, as well as additional risk factors including tree health and features of each park.

A: In the 2020-21 school year, we implemented some changes in response to the pandemic, including cancelling part-week programs to maintain closed classroom cohorts. For the 2022-23 school year, we will continue to follow King County Public Health guidelines for safe in-person early learning. We know that outdoor classrooms are one of the safest environments for children to attend preschool, and we will continue to practice physical distancing and wear masks during class.

A: Information about each classroom location can be found on the Locations section of our website. Our teaching teams may shift from year to year and are not finalized until the summer, and the same is true for the group of students in a class. Prior to the start of school, all families receive information about their teaching team, who else is in their classroom community, and other relevant information about their classroom and location. All students and caregivers have the chance to meet their teaching team before class begins so they can get to know each other and prepare for the start of class.

A: Tiny Trees has a financial assistance program and also helps families connect with other/external funding opportunities (see below questions). Our financial assistance application opens (becomes available online) during preschool enrollment in the spring. At the time of application, applicants will need to provide household size, annual income, and supporting documentation. We offer a sliding scale financial assistance structure to more broadly serve our families. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee that all financial assistance applicants will receive aid as we receive more requests than we are able to support. Our financial assistance pool is funded through grants and donations from individuals, foundations, corporations, and partnerships with organizations and entities that believe in our program.

A: Yes. We accept this subsidy in our licensed classrooms (list of eligible classrooms for SY 22-23 to be announced)

To be eligible for this State funded program, families must meet the following requirements:

• The child who needs subsidized care must be a U.S. citizen or legal resident.
• The family must live in Washington state.
• The family's income must be at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL) when applying, or 220 percent of FPL when reapplying. Learn more about eligibility and income guidelines here.
• The parent must be employed or self-employed in legal, income-generating, taxable activities; or the parent must meet all TANF/WorkFirst requirements if participating in that program. Families experiencing homelessness may be approved for up to four months to resolve issues surrounding homelessness.
• The parent must complete the WCCC application and verification process.
• Parents of children with special needs may qualify for higher rates to help pay for additional supports needed.

To apply for the Working Connections Subsidy, contact the Child Care Subsidy Contact Center at 1-844-626-8687, or Apply online through Washington Connection. If you already have a subsidy, you can contact your child care specialist and let them know that Tiny Tree’s provider number is 277852.

Our school year is September to June. We have locations throughout King County, and we generally follow the school district schedules (whichever one the classroom is located within). Our School calendar will be sent to families with other school year materials before students begin.

Once enrollment for the 2022-23 school year opens, next we begin planning for summer programming. We anticipate summer information to be finalized and posted on our website by late spring. We will update our Summer page and share announcements via email and on our social media once that information is available.