Author: Devon Zuleger
Protected: Newsletters
Registration Information
Our Registration for the 2024-2025 school year is OPEN.
Our current openings include:
- 2 year old: Tuesday/Thursday AM
- 3 year old: All PM programs
- 4 year old: Full Day
All registration is done online. When you submit the online registration, you will receive an email of confirmation. If you do not receive the confirmation email, please reach out to Office@MeetingHouseNurserySchool.org. If you are not yet on our communication list, you will first need to start by submitting your information here.
2024-2025 Schedule Options, Tuition and Fees
General Information
Registration is for the 9.5 month academic year and parents/guardians sign a contract for enrollment.
Children are placed in classes based on chronological age.
Children must be two (2) years of age by September 1st of the enrolling year to be eligible for enrollment.
A non-refundable $110 registration fee is due at the time registration materials are submitted for consideration. Families will receive a confirmation letter when the registration process is completed and a space has been secured for the child.
A non-refundable, one-month tuition deposit is due within 5 days of receipt of the confirmation to secure child’s placement. Tuition installments are paid on the first of the month, September through May, there are nine in total.
Enrollment Priorities
Priority for registration shall be given as follows:
- Children/grandchildren of staff members
- Currently enrolled children and their siblings
- Children of University of Wisconsin employees or students
- Families on the communication list prioritized by date of contact
Waitlists will be composed of children who were not offered a place in the program or their choice of placement in a particular class. The waitlist will follow the priority schedule. Parents of children on the waitlist will be notified if a space becomes available (even if their child is already placed in a different class).
Madison Metropolitan School District 4K
Meeting House Nursery School is a contracted 4K site for the Madison Metro School District (MMSD). Families must register with Meeting House Nursery School (January) and MMSD (March) in order to be registered in 4K. When registering with MMSD you will need to choose Meeting House as your site preference.
Extended programs are available for 4K children and are charged accordingly.
Additional information about MMSD can be found here.
Withdrawal
If a parent or legal guardian wishes to withdraw his/her child after July 1st and the Executive Director is able to find a child to fill the vacancy, the family will be financially responsible for only as much of the school year as has passed until the vacancy is filled. If another child is not found to fill the vacancy, the parent(s) or legal guardian(s) will be financially responsible for the tuition charge for the remainder of the year. The registration fee and tuition deposit is nonrefundable in either case.
If a family withdraws before July 1st, the registration fee and last month’s tuition deposit will be nonrefundable. The family will not, however, be financially responsible for any further school tuition. The tuition deposit for the Extended Programs and/or the Lunch Bunch Program is non-refundable and will not be applied to other tuition fees.
In the event that the school asks to have a child withdrawn, any unused portion of tuition will be reimbursed to the family. The registration fee is nonrefundable.
If a child is withdrawn for medical reasons, physician’s statement provided and board approval granted, the parent or legal guardian will be liable for only the fees already incurred. The registration fee is nonrefundable.
Enrollment To Do
If you have received a confirmation of placement for the upcoming school year, the following items will need to be completed for attendance in the fall. Reminders and any additional needs will be sent throughout the summer.
Enrollment Forms:
Enrollment and Health History_ Emergency Care Plan (This form is only for children who are new to MHNS)
Student Immunization record (or you can get a copy from WIR)
Health Report (signed by Doctor) You can request a health report in one of two ways:
1) By logging into MyChart (or similar app) and requesting an electronic copy. Once the report is emailed to you, you can forward to Office@MeetingHouseNurserySchool.org
2) Call your doctor’s office and request one to be mailed to the school (MHNS does not have a fax line) at 900 University Bay Dr. 53705.
Auto-pay: Signing up for auto-pay means you have one less thing to remember each month! You can sign up for free using a checking or savings account. You can also use a credit card, but there is a 2.7% processing fee for each transaction. You can sign up by completing the form linked above and sending it to Office@MeetingHouseNurserySchool.org or mailing it to the school at 900 University Bay Dr. 53705.
Resources:
COVID-19
Meeting House Nursery School board passed new COVID-19 Policies and Procedures to help keep our children, families, and staff safe this school year.
Here are just a few programmatic changes we implemented to stay safe while learning through play:
- Small class sizes that stay together throughout the day
- Staggered drop off and pick up
- Extra rotation of materials and equipment to be cleaned and sanitized
- Limited interaction with staff and other classrooms
- Masks are required for anyone 5 or older and highly encouraged for the rest of our children. We have had great success with our younger children wearing masks while inside and outside when in close contact with others.
- HEPA air filtration units in every classroom (December 2020)
- Health checks for our staff and children
- Contactless sign in and out
- Outdoor classrooms that provide play based learning for fine and gross motor development, social and emotional growth, sensory, art, language, literature, adventure, exploration , science and math.
- Our programs are spending at least half of our time outside exploring over 4 acres of trails, orchards and play space on the First Unitarian Society (FUS) site.
To learn more, please read our complete COVID-19 policies and procedures here.
Accreditation
Licensing
Meeting House Nursery School is licensed by the State Department of Children and Families. Periodic visits are made by a State Licensing Specialist, which includes an inspection of the school’s records and facility. The school is re-licensed every two years. The purpose of licensing is to protect and promote the health, safety, and welfare of children in child care centers.
City Accreditation
Meeting House Nursery School is accredited by the City of Madison through the Child Care Unit of the Office of Community Services. Accreditation specialists make annual visits to the school, focusing on program content and staff/child interactions.
Young Star
Meeting House Nursery School has received the highest rating for a program (5-stars) in the Young Star Quality Rating Scale. You can find out more about YoungStar at www.youngstar.wi.gov
UW-Madison Child Care Network
Meeting House Nursery School is a member of the UW-Madison Child Care Network.
Families with connection to UW-Madison (students and employees) can receive discounts/reimbursements on tuition from the UW-Madison upon qualification.
Board of Directors
The Meeting House Board of Directors is the corporate policy-making body. In accordance with the Bylaws of Meeting House Nursery School, Inc., Board members hold a two-year term with five positions voted for each year by the Annual Membership Meeting in May.
Duties of the Board include:
– establishing the corporate and legal existence of the school
– setting the governing policies for the school’s program,
– annual review of Executive Director’s implementation of these policies an program operation.
Board of Directors membership is open to:
– parents
– interested community persons
– includes one teacher representative from the staff.
The executive officers of the Board are: Chairperson, Vice Chair, Officer at Large and Treasurer. The Executive Director is a nonvoting member of the Board.
Board meetings scheduled monthly on Mondays, and are open to interested parents. Board meeting minutes and agenda are posted on the “Board News” bulletin board in the hallway and online. Please notify the Board Chair or Executive Director at least two weeks prior to the meeting if you’d like to add an item to the agenda.
If you wish to get in contact with the Board, please email mhnsboard@gmail.com
Learning Environment
The nursery school wing, added in 1963, has five classrooms—Rooms 1, 2, and 3 on the main level, Room 4 downstairs, and Room 5 upstairs. Two fenced playgrounds are located adjacent to the classrooms. The “Whale Yard” and “Tree House Yard” offer a variety of large motor equipment and outdoor activities. All of these spaces encourage our children to “be children”– to act, choose, explore, test, investigate, react, and experiment.
We strive to provide a setting that recognizes each child’s uniqueness and inherent curiosity, as well as a love of learning. Our beautiful, light-filled classrooms, innovative play-based curriculum, and nurturing teachers enhance children’s natural curiosity and love of learning.
You can take a virtual peak at our outdoor play spaces and classrooms here.
History
Meeting House Nursery School, Inc. leases the west wing of the First Unitarian Society. The Landmark Auditorium was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, notable for his prairie style homes and organic architecture. It is a national landmark visited by architects, students, and tourists from around the world. The nursery school wing, added in 1963, was designed by the Taliesin Foundation to meet the special needs of the nursery and church school programs
The curriculum at Meeting House Nursery School has always been based upon the importance of free play, a respect for children and their ideas, and the freedom for children to explore and develop relationships. The current staff at Meeting House Nursery School boasts a combined tenure of over 65 years at the school.
Over the past 70+ years Meeting House Nursery School has added events to our school year that children and families look forward to every year. These have become Meeting House traditions; events like family night, Child of the week, Parents’ Night Out and the list goes on and on.
Play-Based Learning
Play-based learning fosters life skills such as:
- Learning to exercise problem solving skills
- Showing an ability to think flexibly
- Practicing processing their emotions
- Facing their fears
- Trying new things without fear of mistake
Your child will apply these skills to K-12 academic learning and social-emotional learning after they leave Meeting House.
Play is more than you think; it is a way for your child to familiarize themselves with the world while exploring and testing their own limits. At the same time, they are engaged in an activity across varying curricular areas that provides them enjoyment or amusement.
Older children also gain something additional while they play—they discover their own interests and passions. Your child may find they have a love for a specific activity such as art or acting, or possibly for an animal or character. Playtime encourages them to continue exploring their own interests and build skills they will use in the future.
Check out this video from Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction promoting play-based learning.