What families ask us

Birch is for children ages 3 to 5, in two mixed-age groups. The morning programs run from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and the full day ends at 3:00 p.m. Afternoon care is available for families who need it.

Tours run on weekday mornings from October to April, while the room is at work. A tour takes about an hour. You see the room and the yard, meet a teacher, and ask anything you like. Children are welcome to come along.

It is a description of how we work, and nothing more. Our days follow a steady rhythm, the room is made of wood, wool and cotton, and the year turns with the seasons. The approach page shows what that looks like in a week.

Each weekday has its own work: painting, handwork, baking, the garden and a long story. Children can tell what comes next by the smell of the room and the song we sing, and that makes the mornings calm. Circle time, snack and outdoor time keep their place every day.

There are no screens in the rooms, and we ask families to keep phones away at drop-off and pickup. We would rather the children's mornings be filled with their own hands, voices and play.

The schedule you pick and the days a week. We do not print tuition on this site; the figures are on our enrollment page, and we go through them on a tour. How tuition works has the detail.

A completed enrollment form and a deposit hold a place. When a group is full, families join a waitlist by schedule, and we offer places in the order families joined.

Yes. The school is licensed by FSSA, Office of Early Childhood, and the license line is at the bottom of every page. The adults-to-children numbers for each age are on the safety board.

A child with a fever or a contagious illness stays home. If a child becomes ill at school, we call you right away, and a teacher stays with the child until you arrive.

We ask your written permission before we share any photo of your child, on this site, in newsletters or on social media, and you can change your answer at any time. We never put a child's name with a photo, and the photos on this site are examples until we replace them with our own.

The children use the toilet on their own, and we help each child get there calmly and at their own pace. If your child is still learning, tell us at the tour and we will talk through what works.

A teacher stays close, gives the child time and words, and calls you if it helps. We tell you what happened at pickup and ask what you see at home, so we can work out the next day together.