Waitlist FAQs

Is your waitlist open?
- As of September 2024, our waitlist is open for all age groups.
- If we receive too much interest in a short time, we may close it for children over a specific age / due date. This is so we can properly set expectations with parents as we have seen limited openings.
How early should I get on your waitlist?
- As soon as possible! Being on the waitlist does not guarantee a spot. We will have to have an opening at the time you would like to begin attending. It comes down to timing, your spot #, and what openings we have available for your child’s age.
- We are one of the only infant childcare centers (under 18 months) in Durango. Our infant waitlist can fill quickly as our infant room is very limited in capacity. As soon as you know you will need childcare, we recommend that you get on the waitlist. If you are offered a spot, at that time you can tour the center and decide if you would like to accept it. Many infant parents find it challenging or are unable to find childcare for when they are returning to work and when they need it, simply based on availability and timing factors.
When do you bring new kids into the center?
- We typically bring new children in when we do classroom shifts and this creates an opening. Our biggest classroom shift is in late August / September and this aligns with Durango’s 9R school district’s school year when our oldest Eagles classroom moves to start Kindergarten. Classroom shifts also occur in our Chickadee and Hummingbird classrooms as children age out of infancy based on their birthdays.
- We also bring new children in when another child leaves Riverhouse during the school year.
- Children generally stay at Riverhouse throughout their childhood, many starting as Part Time and moving to Full Time as there becomes space. Based on this, we recently have seen limited openings.
Can you predict what future openings you'll have?
- Predicting future openings is actually quite hard! On paper, it seems easy enough, but there are lots of factors at play - state licensing restrictions around birth dates and classroom numbers, schedules and if any current kids decide to adjust schedules, and potty-training in older classrooms, which is tied to state licensing. For the latter ones, we don't know exactly until it is time to change classrooms, so we don't know what openings we might have until closer to those times.
- Openings may be based on birthdate to align with existing classroom changes.
Can we do a tour?
- We only offer tours when we have an opening and are offering spots to families to fill them. It would be then you would see the specific classroom your child would be going into and meet their current teachers. We aren't able to offer tours outside of that for multiple reasons, including bandwidth and reducing the risk of outside germs coming into the center. We may occasionally host an Open House, which is a great opportunity for those on our waitlist to tour the center.
What is your pricing?
- The rates below are effective for families joining the center as of November 25,2024. Please note that tuition increases of at least 5% per school year will be assessed to account for increased costs.
  - Classroom | Ages | Full Time: 5 days/wk M-F
  - Chickadees | 6weeks-10months | $2,000
  - Hummingbirds | 10-18months | $1,843
  - Sparrows | 18mo-2.5yrs | $1,631
  - Blue Jays | 2-3yrs | $1,560
  - Falcons | 3-5yrs | $1,418
  - Eagles | 4-5yrs | $1,418
- There are state Tuition Assistance programs designed to financially help families who are in need of child care assistance such as: Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (CCCAP), Colorado Preschool Program (CPP), Employee Assistance Program (EAP), or Universal Pre-K (UPK).
What are your childcare hours?
- We are currently open Monday - Friday from 7:30a-5p. Early drop-offs and late pick-ups are not offered due to bandwidth. Parents who arrive late for pickup will incur a fee by the minute.
What schedules do you offer?
- Monday - Friday (Full Time)
- As of October 2023, Riverhouse has decided to move to only offering Full Time spots and no longer offers Part Time schedules.
  - We continuously strive to enhance our services and better meet the needs of our families, by moving to full time, we aim to provide greater stability for children. This will result in more consistent group dynamics, fostering stronger connections and relationships with children and teachers. As a non-profit, it helps us in planning and allocating resources more effectively. We also believe it will help to minimize germ exposure and contribute to a more secure environment. For those who may need it, Riverhouse offers subsidies to help with the cost of childcare.
- Riverhouse does not offer ½ days or odd schedules.
Do I have to pay a waitlist fee if I am CCCAP?
- Yes. We are unable to verify you are CCCAP until you are accepted into the center. At this point, we would work with social services to verify. For those that qualify for CCCAP, our Registration fee will be waived. We may limit our number of CCCAP families at any time.
How do I know what spot # I am?
- When you are added to our waitlist, you will receive an email verifying your spot #. Your spot # will change over time, hopefully always going up. Your spot # may go down if Riverhouse siblings or alumni are added to the same classroom waitlist after you. We aim to verify child information and continued interest at a minimum semi-annually. A response is required to stay on our waitlist. Once verified, we will reach back to everyone with updated spot #s. This way you always know your place and you don’t have to reach out regularly.
- The main reason that spot #s change is due to sibling, alumni, or teacher priority. For example, a teacher finds out she is pregnant - she moves to the top of the list. An older sibling gets an open spot, their baby moves to the top of the list. We see the most change in our Kinder-year for unborn babies, which is for those born or due Oct 1, 2023 - Sept 30, 2024. Since that spans a whole 12 months, there are a lot of variables within that. Someone could find out they are pregnant tomorrow and that would move them to the top of the list. However, if we have an opening tomorrow, we wouldn't be able to offer it to them since their baby isn't due for another 8-9ish months, so we would move to the child next on the list we are able to offer it to (which is non-dependent on start date). Our structure is organized by Kinder-year for consistency's sake, but spots and openings largely come down to birth dates.
How do you organize your waitlist?
- We organize our waitlist by Kinder-year, which means the year they would start Kindergarten. For example, for babies born between October 1, 2025 and September 31, 2026, in Colorado, the kinder-year is 2031, when they are 5 years old. This helps us to keep organized and have consistency in spot #s over time. This is for organizational purposes only and not dependent on when you may choose to have your child start Kindergarten.
- Classroom ages are licensed by the state, and as such, our needs and openings may not correlate with waitlist spot numbers.
How long do I stay on the waitlist?
- You can stay on our waitlist for as long as you would like and until your child reaches Kindergarten age (age 5). We will verify continued interest at a minimum semi-annually. A response is required to stay on our waitlist. If non-responsive, you will be removed so our waitlist is accurate for everyone.
- If we also contact you to offer an open spot and you do not respond, you will be removed. If you are offered a spot, you are welcome to stay on our waitlist, as long as you respond, even if you decline a spot at that time, however you will move to the bottom of our current list. Future availability is also not guaranteed.
How easy is it to switch from Part Time to Full Time?
- As of October 2023, Riverhouse has decided to move to only offering Full Time spots and no longer offers Part Time schedules.
- For current families on Part Time schedules, if you would like to switch to Full Time, please let us know as soon as possible to work the request into our classroom changes. We will fulfill these schedule changes first, prior to having an external opening.
When will my child get in?
- There are many factors that go into when you might be offered a spot! First, it comes down to timing and when we have openings. We will typically have openings when there are classroom shifts or when another child leaves Riverhouse. Openings will be based on available schedules to align with our state licensing capacity. Regardless of your desired start date, you will be offered a spot based on our availability. (You can decide if that will work for you or if you’d like to remain on our waitlist.)
- Second, it comes down to your spot # and if those in front of you accept or decline an available opening or if they have a preferred start date later than you. For example, if we have 1 opening and you are spot #2, if the person in front of you accepts, you will not be offered a spot, but will then move to spot #1 for when we have our next opening. Also, if you are spot #30 and if the 29 spots in front of you decline, do not correlate with our classroom needs, would like to start later, or do not respond timely to us, we will reach out to you to offer the opening.
Waitlists can be long. Should I even bother getting on a waitlist?
- Yes! Getting into a childcare center quickly might not be realistic based on availability and timing factors, but there may be an opening for you in the future. It comes down to if those in front of you correlate with our classroom needs and accept or decline an available opening. Don’t be discouraged being spot #45: if those in front of you decline, don't correlate with our classroom needs, would prefer to start later, or do not respond timely to us, you would be offered that next opening. We have had to call down our list for openings before, as sometimes those on the list have either moved away, are no longer interested, have other childcare, or simply don’t respond timely.
How likely is it that my multiple children will get in at the same time?
- If your children are all the same age (twins, triplets, etc) and they were all registered at the same time (meaning they are in immediate order on our waitlist), we will have to have that number of spots available at the same time and be offering them to you.
- If your children are of different ages, they will be on different classroom waitlists. This means that their spot # won’t be the same for each child. We would have to have spots available for both classrooms and be offering them to you at the same time. While certainly possible!, it is unlikely both would be offered a spot at the same time. If you accept a spot for one child, your other child(ren) immediately becomes a Riverhouse sibling and will receive priority on our waitlist, moving their spot # higher. All siblings/alumni will receive waitlist priority when we have a future opening in your other child’s classroom.
How will I be notified of an opening?
- We will call the cell phone number of Guardian 1 that was provided. If we don’t catch you, we will leave a voicemail. If you do not respond in a timely manner (within 24 hours or 1 business day), we will offer the opening to the next waitlist spot.
What if I am offered a spot in September, but would like to start in January?
- If you are offered a spot, we cannot guarantee that a spot will still be available for you in the future in January. We are unable to hold or reserve spots, unless monthly tuition is paid. If you decline a spot, you will also move to the bottom of the current waitlist to give other families an opportunity. Based on this and the length of our waitlist, it is unlikely you will be offered a spot at the time you need it.
- With childcare being difficult to find in Durango, we would recommend you accept the spot if you are in need of care, even if it does not align with your timeframe. Future openings are not guaranteed. You may take a risk of not finding care when the time comes that you need it.
I need childcare ASAP! Help!
- We hope we can help you! Be sure to get on our waitlist and we will reach out as soon as we have a spot for you. Finding childcare quickly in Durango can be challenging. We recommend applying for more than one waitlist to help ensure a spot becomes available sooner. One resource to find care is Colorado Shines. There are local Facebook groups that may be helpful in finding nanny childcare as well.
I won’t need childcare for over a year. Should I get on your waitlist now?
- Yes! It may seem like a long time away, but it will fly by. You will not be removed from our waitlist (unless non-responsive), so your waitlist spot will be there for you when we have availability. Sometimes, it can take many, many months, and possibly over a year to get in.
Why should I apply to Riverhouse Children’s Center?
- So many amazing reasons! Check out the rest of our website for highlights.
- Our mission is to build the foundation for a lifetime of success through quality early childhood education.
- We have a food program where we provide a healthy morning snack and lunch. We have diversified programs on rotation for our classrooms, offering yoga, music lessons, and more.
How does Riverhouse work with Universal Pre-K (UPK)?
- Universal Pre-K (UPK) began in Colorado in the fall of 2023 and offers 15 hours of childcare covered by the state for 4-year-olds from August through May. They perform mutual matching over 3 application rounds, and continue year-round to account for those who may move. Parents and providers will accept or reject their matches individually. To be accepted somewhere, both the parent and provider must accept each other.
- Riverhouse is participating in UPK. Children already at Riverhouse who choose to stay for UPK will be confirmed and we will be able to see the number of openings we will have. We will begin to reach out to those on our waitlist to offer open spots.
- In order to ensure you receive a spot if potentially offered one, you must request Riverhouse in your UPK application. If you are on our waitlist and offered a spot, but have not requested Riverhouse in UPK, you will not receive a spot. This will be out of our control as filling our UPK spots has to be coordinated with the state. Each matching round allows families to match and re-select programs, so it may take multiple rounds until our pre-K classroom is finalized.
- Please sign up or edit your application for UPK to request Riverhouse as one of your providers here (https://upk.colorado.gov/). You can match and accept another provider in the 1st round to ensure you have UPK. Then, if Riverhouse is your ideal provider, and we have openings after 1st round matches, we will contact you to help you re-match to our program and help secure an opening.
We'd love to share with you some benefits of Riverhouse vs 9R
- We do not have early-release Mondays and are open currently from 7:30a-5p, so you do not have to worry about after-school care.
- We offer summer care until you move to Kindergarten, however, summer care is not covered by UPK, so you would be guaranteed a spot but need to pay full tuition.
- We provide morning snacks and lunch.
- We also focus on a Kindergarten curriculum for our Pre-K kids to prepare them for Kindergarten!
  
  This info may change as we work to make Riverhouse even better! We will aim to keep this page updated (last updated November 2024 by Waitlist Committee Chair), but please check with us for any changes or if you think something might be out-of-date.