Is attendance at Open House required to apply?

Attending our in-person Open House is not required to apply; however, we encourage prospective parents look around our website and read our important links to get a better understanding of Explorer’s philosophy and how a parent participation school works before submitting an application.

Do children need to be potty-trained?

Explorer does not require children to be potty trained for any of our classes. We understand and respect that children learn, grow, and develop skills at their own pace.

I’m interested in Explorer! What do I do next?

Fantastic! We’re excited to meet you! We strongly encourage all prospective families to look around our website, attend a campus tour or Open House, and/or speak to our Membership team to make sure all your questions are answered before applying. We will begin accepting new family applications for Fall 2024 on February 9, 2024.

How do I submit an application?

For continuing families, please submit your application through your Jovial family portal account.

For new families:

1. Open Explorer's Jovial Hello Portal. Select the REGISTER button to fill-out the application by ranking class(es) in order of preference and completing the remaining fields with your family and student information.

2. Select submit, and you'll be asked to enter a personal email address for verification.

3. Open your personal email and click the link in the Jovial email.

4. You'll be redirected to pay the $50 application fee by selecting Make E-Payment and following the prompts. The $50 application fee must be paid at the time of submission in order for your application to be accepted.

After submitting your application and payment, our Membership Chair will reach out to you shortly via email follow up.

My first choice class is full, is it worth joining the waitlist?

Yes! We often receive the bulk of of our Fall applications at our Open House event in February. If the class roster is full, remaining families are placed on a waitlist. Even if your requested class is full, we encourage you to still apply and join the class waitlist. As we move into summer, plans change, families move out of the area, and life changes inevitably come up that allow for movement on our rosters. Our membership team keeps track of all openings and will reach out to waitlisted families with enrollment offers as spaces become available throughout the spring, summer and at times into the school year as well. Although the waitlist numbers change from year to year, we have many current Explorer families who started out on our waitlist and received enrollment offers.

Who gets to apply during the priority application window?

Currently enrolled families, alumni families, and Lincoln Glen Church families may apply during the priority application window.

What if I’m a priority application family but I did not submit my application during the priority application window?

All applications from eligible families must be received during the priority application window to receive priority. You are welcome to submit your application during our open enrollment period beginning at Open House. All applications received at that time will be enrolled in any available spaces on a first come, first serve basis.

Do you offer age exceptions?

A great deal of thought and consideration goes into deciding on the curriculum and age groupings for each class and we ask that parents please follow our established age cut-offs. We welcome you to read about our philosophy and curriculum to learn more about what each age grouping will be working on at Explorer and how each class meets the developmental needs of their respective developmental stage.

For the 2024-2025 school year, the age cut offs are:

Together Time: 1 year old by September 1, 2024

MW 2s or Friday 2s: 2 years old by September 1, 2024

3’s to 5’s: At least 3 years old by September 1, 2024

Pre-K: 4 years old by September 1, 2024

How do you place families in classes within the priority application window?

The Together Time classes are filled in order of application date and time.

The 2’s classes are first filled by current students entering from Together Time. After these students have been placed, any remaining spaces are filled in order of application date and time.

The 3’s to 5’s class is first filled by current students entering from the MW2’s and Fri2’s classes. After these students have been placed, any remaining spaces are filled in order of application date and time.

The Pre-K class is first filled by current students entering from the 3’s to 5’s Class. After these students have been placed, any remaining spaces are filled in order of application date and time.

Please note that priority application families have received their first choice class preference for the last several years. This information is provided for informational purposes.

How do you place new family applicants in classes?

We begin accepting applications from new families for the upcoming school year starting at our annual Open House event.

In order to ensure fairness between families who are touring the school at different times of the day on Open House, any new family applications received on Open House day will be included in our Open House lottery. If the number of new family applications received on that day exceeds the number of available spaces, a waiting list will be formed according to the results of the lottery. Our membership team will reach out to all families within 1 week to follow up on their application and either confirm placement or position on the waitlist.

All applications received after Open House will be placed on the roster in the order of application date/time received (first come, first served). Applicants will either be placed in their selected class if openings are available or on the class waitlist. We strongly encourage interested families to apply to our program even if a waiting list has formed. Family plans often change between now and September and we tend to see a lot of movement on our waitlists, especially in later spring and early summer.

Who can participate as a “working parent” in the classroom?

At Explorer, the partnership between parent and teacher is deeply valued. Working in the classroom provides an irreplaceable opportunity to practice positive discipline strategies as well as foster connection with your teachers and classmates. At the same time, we understand that committing to being present in the classroom for every shift may pose a hardship for some families. Grandparents, Aunts/Uncles, nannies, babysitters, au pairs, etc. may be arranged to work in the classroom on your behalf.

All non-relative participants are required to be a legally paid member of your household, be covered by your own liability insurance, and must complete LiveScan fingerprinting per our state licensing requirements. Please let our membership team know if you’d like to utilize this option as their participation must first be approved by the classroom teacher as well as the Board of Directors.

All adults participating in the classroom must meet the requirements set out by our Health and Safety Policies with regard to immunizations and other health requirements.

What are your COVID policies?

We take the health and safety of our families and teachers very seriously. Explorer Preschool's full COVID policies can be found here. All eligible adults who participate in any onsite activities (e.g. classroom workshifts, Parent Education Classes, parent maintenance days etc.) must be vaccinated for COVID-19 (inital series, boosters strongly recommended).