admissions

Note: We are no longer accepting applications for the 2009-2010 school year. Please check back with us in September 2009 if you are interested in applying for September 2010.

									ADMISSIONS Downing Street Playgroup Cooperative is a non-profit cooperative playgroup, licensed by the New York City Department of Health. DSPC is a member of The Parents League, and has been in existence for nearly 40 years. We believe that education should be a partnership between families and educators and we are looking for families who would like to be involved. As a parent cooperative, parents serve as parent-teachers once a month. We also manage the administrative and financial duties. To keep us all involved in the progress and challenges of the school, we have monthly meetings for one hour in the evening. Beyond seeking families who want to be involved, we seek a diverse population in our school community. We actively encourage applications from families of all backgrounds. Every kind of family constellation is welcomed and treated with respect. As the parent body runs the school, we all take part in creating our goal of offering high-quality, low-tuition preschool education to the children of the community. To begin the admissions process we ask parents to submit a completed application form with a $30 fee. They will then receive a phone call or email from the parent registrar to arrange a class visit. This is a parent/child visit. Parents who wish to visit the school prior to submitting an application are invited to attend our Open House. Our Open House for the 2010 school year will take place in December. Applications may be obtained anytime after Labor Day by downloading them from this website or by contacting the school. Class visits are scheduled in the fall and take place in October through February. We offer a combined 2- to 4-year-old class. A child must be 2 on September 1st. Children who are old enough to attend New York City public school kindergarten are not eligible. All admissions are at the discretion of the classroom teachers and co-op board. We will begin accepting applications after Labor Day with an estimated deadline of December 15th. The application is available by clicking here

ADMISSIONS GUIDELINES

Applications will be accepted for the 2010-2011 school year in September 2009 after Labor Day.

Applications received after our estimated deadline will be waitlisted; these applicants will be offered a tour and potential admission to Downing Street if we run through our current application pool (which has happened in prior years).

Acceptance to the program will be based on the following criteria: gender balance, age & readiness, willingness and ability of families to meet all requirements of a co-operative school.

Placement is given first to returning students, then siblings of students or former students, then applicants who have been on the wait list since 2008, depending on readiness.

Readiness is judged primarily by our two teachers, Gabriella and Makkeda. Acceptance to the program will be determined by a committee consisting of the Registrars, the Co-Chairs, and the Teachers. Acceptance letters will be sent our via email the first week of March, 2010.

Spots in the programs must be confirmed with a deposit of 2 months tuition (first and last month of the academic year).

We must receive verbal or written confirmation of your acceptance within 5 business days of receiving an acceptance email; the deposit must be received within 10 days of the date the acceptance letters are sent out.

ALL DEPOSITS ARE NON-REFUNDABLE.