University of Minnesota Child Care Center

Application letter

Dear Parent(s)

Thank you for your interest in the University of Minnesota Child Care Center (UMCCC). Our waiting list is lengthy for all areas. Most children enter our program at the infant or toddler age, but the wait to enroll has been taking at least 16 months from your date of application. Most enrollment openings occur in the summer months. Openings occurring during the academic year (September to May) are few and usually are for infants because we give priority to internal movement. Openings in our preschool program are usually filled by children moving up from our toddler program. If there are preschool openings to be filled from the waiting list, they almost always occur in the late summer. Very few of our enrollment slots are part time and the wait for part time care may be considerably longer than the wait for full time care.

To have your child’s name added to the waiting list, complete the application [.pdf] and return it with the $15 application fee to:

You will be contacted by telephone when your child’s name reaches the top of the waiting list and an opening occurs within a 30 day period prior to or anytime after your preferred start date. You should indicate a preferred start date (day, month, year) which is 30 days after the earliest date you would be willing to accept an opening. (For example: You indicate September 3 as your preferred start date. An opening occurs on August 5 and your child’s name is at the top of the list. You would be offered this opening and be expected to start your child on August 5 or decline the offer and go to the bottom of the waiting list. If September 3 is the earliest you would be willing to enroll your child, you should indicate a preferred start date of October 3. The August 5 opening would not be offered to you.)

You are strongly encouraged to visit the program prior to being offered an opportunity to enroll. Call 612-627-4014 to make an appointment to join one of our regularly scheduled tours, on the first Tuesday of the month at 3:30 p.m. or the third Wednesday of the month at 10:00 a.m.

If you are offered an opening, you will need to accept or decline the opening within 24 hours of the enrollment offer. We require a two-week written departure notice from families leaving our program and you will be given the same amount of time to give your present provider notice if necessary. If you accept the opening, we require payment of a non-refundable $100 registration fee and a non-refundable deposit of $100 toward the first week’s fee, or the first week’s fee, whichever is less. You will meet with the enrollment coordinator to go over the enrollment materials and meet with the head teacher of the area in which your child is enrolling.

It is your responsibility to notify us of any changes in your address, telephone numbers (work and home), preferred start date, enrollment options and affiliation with the University of Minnesota. We will ask you to formally update your application in the fall and in the spring by mailing you a waiting list update form and asking that you return it to us by a specific date.

If you have any questions, please call UMCCC at 612-627-4014.