Thank you for your interest in The Little School at Duke. The Little School at Duke is managed by The Little School of Hillsborough. It is highly recommended (although not required) that you tour the center before submitting the registration form and fees. Please contact the center to make arrangements for a tour.

Registration Instructions

To register, please complete the Pre-Enrollment Registration Form and return to The Little School at Duke, with an application fee of $35.00 per child. The application fee is non-refundable. This fee helps defray the costs of wait pool management, updates and correspondence.

Providing the center with an accurate desired start date is very important and will allow us to efficiently manage the wait pool. Please indicate the desired start date for your child on the Pre-Enrollment Registration Form. Expectant parents should give an approximate date of when they expect to return to work and the desired start date for their child(ren) to start at the center. Contact the center's wait pool manager as soon as possible if you need to change your desired start date.

Upon receipt of the registration form and application fee, your child will be placed in a wait pool for The Little School at Duke. The center's wait pool manager will contact you to verify your child's placement in the wait pool. Please contact the center director if you do not hear from the wait pool manager within five business days. While your child is in the wait pool, do not change your existing childcare arrangements until an official offer of enrollment is made and you have accepted the space by completing the enrollment process.

Wait Pool Placement/Status

A child's place in the wait pool is generally determined by several different priorities.

• First priority is given to children currently enrolled in the center. Children who are developmentally ready to transition to the next age group will be moved into vacancies as they become available.
• Second priority is for children who already have siblings enrolled in the center. This policy allows families to be together in the same center.
• Third priority is determined by the date your child was placed in the wait pool.

It is very difficult to pinpoint a child's exact placement in the wait pool because their position may fluctuate based on priorities and aging up of children. However, the center's wait pool manager sends quarterly updates of the overall wait pool to each age group. These quarterly updates inform you of the total number of children in the wait pool, the total number of children per age group, as well as your percentile in the wait pool. Please keep in mind that these numbers do not guarantee or imply an offer of enrollment.

Quarterly updates are emailed to the address listed on your Pre-Enrollment Registration Form. Offers of enrollment arrive via email. If you do not have access to email, you must notify the wait pool manager of an alternative way to contact you, You are responsible for ensuring that your contact information is always correct. If any of your contact information changes, please immediately notify the wait pool manager. 

If at any time you no longer wish to remain on our wait pool, kindly notify the wait pool manager by email as soon as possible. Also, please notify us if you leave employment at Duke so that your child(ren) can be removed from the wait pool. Children who have reached the age of 5 by August 25th of each year will be removed from the wait pool.

Enrollment Offers

Offers will be made based on wait pool position and number of slots available. Once enrollment has been confirmed, you will need to secure enrollment by paying a tuition deposit of $200, onetime materials fee of $300 and completing forms for payroll deduction. This tuition deposit applies to the first month's tuition. If a family delays enrollment past the confirmed start date, the deposit applies to the tuition beginning at the confirmed start date. If a family does not take the space, the deposit and materials fee are forfeited. You will have at least 30 days to give your current childcare provider notice.

Once your child has been enrolled, the center director will schedule a time for you to meet your child's primary caregivers to learn more about the Little School at Duke's  program and develop a visitation schedule for your and your child(ren). The center director will review the parent/guardian polices/procedures and enrollment forms at that time, as well.

Additional Information

We encourage prospective parents to concurrently investigate alternative childcare arrangements in the event The Little School at Duke is not able to meet your needs. Additional resources or child care centers offering priority placement to Duke University staff, faculty and graduate students can be found on the Duke Human Resources website. Families may also contact the Triangle's non profit child care resource and referral agency, CCSA (Child Care Services Association) at info@childcareservices.org or by calling 919-403-6950.

For further information, families may contact Duke Human Resources Staff & Family Programs at 919.684.9040 

Please contact the center if you have any questions or wish to arrange for a tour.

Thank you and we look forward to serving your needs!