Enrollment
Our program is designed for parents who spend at least 30 hours a week at work, in school, or in training. As our primary source of income, we charge a monthly tuition fee for each child enrolled in Fruit & Flower. Fruit & Flower is Oregon’s first child care center. It is a non-profit 501(c)3 and relies on donations to meet its annual budget and provide scholarship funding to its families.
The cost of receiving the high quality early childhood education at Fruit & Flower is greater than the monthly fees. We ask parents, grandparents, alumni, friends, and businesses to help us make up the difference. There are many ways to help Fruit & Flower. Please call (503) 228-8349 or RECEPTIONIST@FRUITANDFLOWER.ORG with suggestions, contributions or questions.
Wait List
We maintain a list of families who have submitted a waiting list application and paid the $100 wait list fee. Families give us basic information including the age of the child, the date they would like to enroll, and phone numbers to contact them. When an opening occurs, we bring up a list of children whose birthdays fall within the appropriate range for that opening. Families are contacted for openings in the order that they have been waiting. If the timing of the opening is a good fit for the family, we begin the enrollment process. If the family asks us to do so, we keep them on our list for future openings.
Siblings of currently enrolled children have priority status when it comes to an opening in a given room. Before we look at the wait list for candidates for our openings, we look to our current families and the group of children in the younger room.
The length of the list varies with the age group. In most cases, our longest list is for infants. But the list for infants moves more quickly than other lists, since it is the only one which does not compete with currently enrolled children.
A wait list fee of $100 is required to join the wait list. This fee is not refundable and does not guarantee a reserved space within the program.
Monthly Tuition
Beginning in September 2023, the monthly fees are as follows:
- Infant Center (Rosebud) : $2,289
- Toddlers (Sweet Pea) : $2,238
- Transitional (Pineapple) : $2,091
- Preschool (Clover, Coconut, Peach) : $1,759
- PreK-K (Snapdragon, Sunflower) : $1,759
A registration fee of $100 is required once Fruit & Flower staff and parents have agreed upon a specific starting date for enrollment. Tuition is due on the first of each month, unless special arrangements have been made with our office manager. If tuition is not paid by the 10th of the month the account will be considered delinquent and a $25 fee will be assessed. Failure to pay tuition may cause termination of care.
Payments can be made by check or cash at the front desk, your online banking program or TUITION EXPRESS. This service offers the convenience of automatic tuition payments. To learn more about utilizing Tuition Express you can visit WWW.TUITIONEXPRESS.COM.
Fruit & Flower is unable to discount monthly tuition fees due to minor illnesses or vacations. If your child is absent due to a serious medical condition but will be returning to our care, please talk with our executive director.
Scholarship
Fruit & Flower has a long tradition of providing scholarship opportunities to families in need. Based on income and family size, these scholarships help working families who couldn’t otherwise afford high quality child care. These scholarships provide access value of bringing children together from different backgrounds to ensure social and economic diversity in our classrooms. To find out if you qualify, please contact us at 503-228-8349.
Scholarships are funded by multiple sources including (but not limited to):
- The Fruit & Flower Board of Directors has established a scholarship assistance endowment. Annually our board reviews a draw from this fund to be applied to scholarships.
- Grant requests to foundations.
- Individual contributions from our parents, alumni, and through fundraising.
If families are not eligible for Department of Human Services (DHS) funding, Fruit & Flower will offer up to a 30% discount to qualified families. Because of limited funding, we are unable to fund all requests for assistance.
Applicants are first expected to apply for DHS child care funding. If approved, DHS will determine the state funding, and the amount that the family is required to pay. Fruit & Flower will honor DHS decisions.
Scholarships are granted in compliance with the Fruit & Flower scholarship policy. Scholarships are granted at the beginning of January and July of each year. The scholarship committee will review and approve applications for scholarships. Interested parties are required to apply by completing a FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FORM.