Admissions, Enrollment & Staff

Staff

The Director of the Bennington Early Childhood Center is responsible for the daily educational and financial operations of the BECC.  Additionally, the Director supervises the teachers and support staff. The staff consists of supervising teachers, assistant teachers, college interns, substitutes, and volunteers.  All operations are overseen by a Board of Directors.

Non-discriminatory policy

The Bennington Early Childhood Center, Inc. admits students of any race, color, and national or ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at our school and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, and national or ethnic origin in administration of our educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.

Admissions Policy

The Bennington Early Childhood Center reviews applications for new and returning children during the spring of the previous school year. Parents are then notified of the admissions decision. To hold the child's place a non-refundable deposit, to be deducted from the annual tuition bill, is required.  Parents may not enroll a child or save a slot for a subsequent year unless all previous year’s bills have been paid in full.

Siblings of children currently or previously enrolled at the Bennington Early Childhood Center have enrollment priority. Children who applied previously and were not admitted because of lack of space have priority over new applicants. After these children have been placed, new applications are considered in the order in which they are received. Each family is asked to visit the Bennington Early Childhood Center before making a decision about enrolling children.  The Director will give interested parents a tour of the Bennington Early Childhood Center and answer questions. 

Group placement will be decided in the summer, after enrollment is finished. Placement is dependent on an assessment of many factors, including: the child’s age, the child's development, past group experience and the judgment of the teacher(s) who meet(s) the child, the composition of the particular group, and the number of children enrolled at the Bennington Early Childhood Center.  If there is a question about the appropriate age group for a particular child, a decision is made by the Director and the staff after meeting the child and conferring with parents. An effort is made to keep siblings in separate groups.

Applications received after the spring deadlines are accepted as they are received and as space allows.  If there are no openings, a waiting list is established, and parents are informed if a place becomes available.  Placement on the waiting list follows the same steps outlined above; preference is given to siblings, and date of application.

Parents who wish to increase their child's schedule after September 1st must submit a written request to the Center.  If space is available and staffing patterns permit, the Director will discuss the proposed changes with the staff to evaluate the impact of the change on the program.  The Director will make the final decision regarding the request and respond to the parent in writing, including any adjustments in tuition.