Redmond School Fall Update
Hello Redmond Parents!
Hope everyone is enjoyed their Halloween. Watching all of the kids coming to school in costume for our Trunk-or-Treat events is an overload of cuteness. We’re already thinking about how to have one next year in Redmond! On that note, we have lots of exciting updates for your new school! Construction has been going very smoothly. While we started a little later than hoped, everything has been on schedule since then. We expect to get our certificate of occupancy from the city of Redmond in late November and once that is in place, our staff can begin setting up the school. We have posted pictures of the progress on the Redmond school page of our website.
A classroom under construction at the Redmond school
Enrollment
The question everyone always wants answered: When will enrollment start and how will it work? We are happy you asked! The first step in the enrollment process will be to attend open house or take a tour. We will be hosting an open house on January 11th and tours will begin as soon as we have the school setup. Booking tours will happen on our tour booking page and we will let you know as soon as they are available. We are looking forward to meeting the amazing families and kiddos that will be joining our community!
If you are interested in potentially enrolling for the Redmond school, make sure you have signed up for updates. We will send out emails with dates for open house and when tours begin. You can sign up here: Sign Up Form.
When Will We Open?
We should be opening for half-day care in the middle of January and full-time care in February assuming the Dept of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) licensing process goes smoothly. To provide full time care for all ages, we need a license from the WA State DCYF. From the moment we submit our application (late November) for that license, they have 90 days to process it before issuing the license. Historically, it has taken them between 30 and 60 days. In the meantime, we are allowed to have children between 2.5 and 5 for four hours a day (half day). This is a great time for children starting in care to have a smooth transition into the classroom, as well as meet their teachers and friends. During the enrollment process, we will ask if you are interested in this option as we wait for full time care to be available.
Redmond Lights
Come see us at the Redmond Lights celebration on December 6th (Kick-Off Event Schedule | Redmond, WA). We’ll have a booth with some fun activities and the school's directors Natalia and Madison will be there if you’d like to meet them.
In future emails, we will keep you updated on construction progress, provide more details on open house and tours, and go through the details of the enrollment process so that you know what to expect.
Questions? Send them to info@birchtreeacademy.com
Best,
Natalie
Owner