The NIST Child Care Center accepts children from 6 weeks of age through completion of fifth grade age (i.e., Summer Camp and Before/After School Care) as spaces become available year round. The majority of class vacancies become available at the beginning of a new school year, which typically begins on a Monday in late August or early September.
Currently enrolled children have the first opportunity for filling class vacancies. Children registered on the wait list fill class vacancies not filled by currently enrolled children. The decision to move a child from classroom to classroom follows the CCC’s progression policy outlined below.
For class vacancies that become available at the start or during the school year, the Center Director has the option of setting an end date for responses from parents on whether their currently enrolled child will be filling the available class vacancy. If an end date is specified, the preferential treatment towards currently enrolled children is not guaranteed once the end date has passed.
It is the policy of the NIST CCC to progress children through the Center’s classrooms using the child’s date of birth as the main criterion with special considerations for special needs, except for transitions between the infant rooms, which is based on mobility. The Center Director will issue a survey in the spring of each year to determine enrollment and class assignments for the upcoming school year with the most readily available information, which is subject to change depending on individual circumstances. Parents should understand that enrollment at the Center is fluid and that we do not take requests for specific classrooms. However, the Center’s curriculum and space is flexible enough to accommodate the age ranges that may be placed in any one classroom, depending on enrollment.
The majority of children will progress to the next age appropriate class as the “new school year” begins on the Monday in late August or early September, which coincides with the first week of school for Montgomery County Public Schools.
Transitions can happen at other times of the year when space becomes available. We strive to keep primary care groups together in our infant, toddler and two’s rooms for 9 months, but cannot guarantee that all children will stay together throughout the years due to space availability. We also cannot guarantee a space as soon as your child is chronologically ready to move to the next older program. Fees are associated to the room your child is assigned, and not for the chronological age.
Each classroom is able to meet the needs of the oldest and the youngest members of the group because our program works with the children as individuals. The ratio in the classroom is based on the youngest child.
If a currently enrolled child does not fill a class vacancy, then the vacancy is offered to a registered, age-eligible child that is next on the waiting list. Except for the “Special Lottery Case” noted below, the vacancy is offered based on the following hierarchy.
A child from priority category “A”; if more than one age-eligible child from category “A” is on the waiting list, the child with the earliest registration date is offered the vacancy.
A child from priority category “B”; if more than one age-eligible child from Category “B” is on the waiting list, the child with the earliest registration date is offered the vacancy.
A child from priority category “C”; if more than one age-eligible child from Category “C” is on the waiting list, the child with the earliest registration date is offered the vacancy.
A child from priority category “D”; if more than one age-eligible child from Category “D” is on the waiting list, the child with the earliest registration date is offered the vacancy.
If the vacancy is a full-time position but the child having the highest priority ranking seeks a part-time position, the part-time vacancy is offered only if the child can be paired with a second child from the same or next lower priority category to create an equivalent full-time position. Otherwise, priority shifts to having the vacancy filled by a child that seeks a full-time position. In the event that there are no age-eligible children on the waiting list who seek the available full-time position, the Center Director may choose to break the full-time vacancy into two part-time positions while immediately filling only one of the newly formed part-time slots.
The Center Director has the option of setting an end date for responses from parents whose child is offered enrollment. If an end date is invoked, the vacancy shall be offered to the next age-eligible child on the waiting list once the end date is surpassed.