TUITION
Families Together Cooperative Nursery School (FTCNS) is committed to offering a high-quality early childhood program while paying a competitive living wage to our staff and being financially accessible to families of different means. Annual tuition is based upon a sliding scale relative to a family’s income level and can be paid on an annual, semi-annual or monthly basis. When/if our sliding scale is not affordable for a family, we may also offer additional financial aid.
The following is the annual (September – May) tuition schedule for 2023-2024. Families applying for future school years can expect a reasonable increase in tuition.
FINANCIAL AID
Financial aid recipients often already qualify for some of our lowest tuition levels. Aid is also sometimes granted to families at higher tuition levels who are facing financial crisis or whose current financial circumstances are very different from that which is reflected on their tax return.
FTCNS strives to be a diverse, integrated, and equitable preschool that brings families from different backgrounds together and makes our programs accessible to a wide range of students. Our work towards this goal may be a factor used in determining financial aid awards as we aim to have our school reflect the diverse demographics of our larger community and lift barriers for students from groups that have been typically under-represented in private schools.
Other factors considered in determining aid awards include: the number of class and auxiliary program days a child is attending; the number of people in a child’s family; the family’s overall assets and debt; any extenuating financial circumstances or crisis; whether a family’s current financial circumstances are significantly different than what is reflected on their tax return; and the number and nature of requests we get in a given year.
Financial aid for Lunch Bunch is available to qualified families and is distributed on a sliding scale based on the family’s tuition level.
See our Financial Aid Application for 2023-2024 HERE. Submitting this application means only that you will be considered for aid, which is awarded at the sole discretion of FTCNS.
DEPOSIT
Once a class placement has been offered for your child, a non-refundable tuition deposit of $500.00 will be due to guarantee placement in the classroom. For families at Levels 1, 2, and 3 with a 2022 Adjusted Gross Income of less than $45,000: if paying the $500 deposit in one lump sum creates financial hardship, please contact Kate Brenner at businessmanager@ftcns.org to discuss payment arrangements.
FAQs
Why does Families Together have sliding scale tuition?
Sliding scale tuition puts our commitment to accessibility and diversity up front, with transparency and clarity. It allows us to maintain a socio-economic diverse student population and has created a school culture that embraces the understanding that some families pay more while others pay less so that EVERYONE can access an exceptional preschool experience.
Even with sliding scale, Families Together tuition is out of reach for my family. Do you offer any additional financial aid?
Yes, additional financial aid is available each year. See our Financial Aid Application for 2023-2024 HERE. Contact our Business Manager, Kate Brenner, at businessmanager@ftcns.org with any questions.
Why does Families Together cost what it costs?
Each year our staff and board work hard to keep overhead low, while ensuring that every child has highly experienced, caring, passionate, and educated teachers. To attract and retain great teachers, Families Together pays salaries that are benchmarked at roughly 70% of public school teaching salaries and offers health benefits to all of our employees. In a world in which early childhood educators are often paid so little that they have to rely on public assistance, we are committed to a different model that values the incredible professionals who devote themselves to our students.