Need a school place in the middle of the year?
Most schools near us take applications in January and start everyone in September. We do not. Enrollment at Mills is open all year, places are offered in the order they come free, and there is no separate admissions season to wait for.
Four situations we see over and over
None of them are unusual, and none of them are a problem here.
- You missed the application deadlinesMost private schools on the Peninsula closed in January or February for a September start. If you are reading this in April, you have not missed us.
- You are relocating mid-yearFamilies move to the biotech corridor in every month of the year. A child arriving in February is not joining a class that formed in September — Montessori rooms are mixed-age and children join and move on continuously.
- Your childcare arrangement has just endedA nanny gives notice, a home daycare closes, grandparents can no longer do three days a week. This is the most common reason families call us, and it never happens in September.
- You are on a waitlist somewhere and tired of waitingAvailability varies by program and by time of year. If there is a place in the right room we will tell you on the phone; if there is not, we will tell you that too, and roughly when we expect one.
Joining in March is the same as joining in September
Call or book a tour
Come and watch an ordinary morning. If you are moving from out of the area we can talk it through by phone first.
We check the room, honestly
Availability is by program and by age, not by the calendar. Two-year-old places move most often; the kindergarten and elementary rooms are smaller.
Apply and agree a start date
The enrollment application and a one-time $200 new-student fee. Children can start on a date that suits you rather than at a term boundary.
Tuition is the same whenever you join — there is no premium for enrolling out of season. It is billed monthly, from $1,100 to $1,750 depending on the program, the days per week and the length of day, and every rate and fee is published.
A child who joins mid-year is not behind
This is the question parents actually worry about, and it is the one thing a Montessori classroom handles better than a conventional one. There is no single lesson the whole room is doing at once, so there is nothing to have missed. Children work individually and in small groups on material a teacher has shown them, at the point they are ready for it. A child arriving in February is shown the same first materials a child arriving in September was shown — just in February.
The mixed-age rooms help too. Every class already contains children at different stages who joined at different times, so a new face is normal rather than an event.
The principal enrolled our son very quickly, without placing us on a waiting list. She was very flexible and responded to our mid-year enrollment request promptly.
A parentSouth San Francisco, CAFrom the reviews the school publishes on its own siteQuestions about joining mid-year
- Can we really start in the middle of the school year?Yes. Enrollment is open year-round, subject to availability. There is no separate admissions round to wait for and no penalty for joining out of season.
- Is there a waitlist?Availability varies by program and by age, and we would rather answer for the room you need than in general. Call the office on 650-616-9000 and you will get a straight answer about the room you need, including when a place is likely if there is not one today.
- Do we pay for the whole year if we join in February?No. Tuition is billed monthly. The annual figure is based on a 180-day school year, and families who join partway through pay from when their child starts.
- Is the fee different for a mid-year start?No. It is the same one-time $200 new-student registration fee whenever you enroll.
- Will our child be behind the others?There is no whole-class lesson to have missed. Montessori children work individually on material a teacher has shown them, so a child joining in February begins where they are ready to begin.
- We are moving to the area and cannot visit yet. What can we do?Call the office and we will talk it through, and you are welcome to tour the week you arrive. We would rather you saw a working classroom before you commit.
- Which programs have places most often?It varies through the year and we will not guess on a web page. The toddler room turns over most; kindergarten and elementary are smaller. One phone call settles it.
- Can we start with a summer session instead?Many families do. Three optional summer sessions run each year and they are a low-commitment way to see whether the school suits your child before the school year starts. See summer sessions.
Call and ask what is open
The office is open through the school day on 650-616-9000, and tours run year-round by appointment.