FAQs

In your child's backpack, you should include extra diapers or pull-ups, 2 changes of properly sized, seasonally appropriate clothing (including socks), and a stuffy or blanket if they are napping and need that comfort. In transitional seasons, a jacket, hate and mittens or gloves should be in their bag or on their hook.

In the winter time, please keep a coat, snowpants, waterproof mittens or gloves, a hat, and waterproof winter boots in a separate bag can come to school each day. Each item should be labeled with your child's name. You should check the bag at pickup to see if items need taken home to wash/dry, and if it was unused you are welcome to leave the bag on their hook. 

If your child is not potty-trained, and is a part of our Young Preschool Program, you will need to provide diapers or pull-ups for them, but not wipes. If your child is a part of our Baby and Toddler Program, you will need to provide diapers or pull-ups and wipes. We recommend bringing a sleeve of diapers, as we will store them and notify you when you need to bring more supplies.

Any child who is a part of our Baby and Toddler Program or our Young Preschool Program does not need to be fully potty trained. 

In order for a child to be enrolled in our Preschool Program or Extended Day Preschool Program, they must be fully potty-trained. For a child to be considered fully potty trained, they must have the following skills mastered: 

• Ability to undress and dress independently, such as unzipping, unbuttoning, pulling down pants and underwear, pulling up pants and underwear, zipping, and buttoning. 

• Ability to wipe their bottom independently. 

• Ability to not soil their clothing or the surrounding bathroom area while using the toilet. 

While we expect for occasional accidents or for a child to need assistance with the above skills occasionally at this age, if we have regular occurrences of accidents or inability to perform these skills, the child’s participation in the Preschool Program or Extended Day Preschool Program may be re-evaluated. 

All snacks and lunches are included in your tuition and will be provided to your child at school. Some supplementing may occur in the Baby and Toddler Program as determined on a case by case basis. 

Morning snack and Lunch are provided to all children enrolled while afternoon snack is provided to children enrolled in our Afternoon Wrap Around Care Program or Extended Day Preschool Program. The snack menu is determined by our ServSafe certified staff member and those items are shopped for and purchased by that staff member, as well. Hot lunch is catered each day by Hy-Vee and served by our ServSafe Food Handler certified staff member.

At the beginning of the school year, you will fill out a form asking if your child has any food allergies, dietary preferences such as being vegetarian, or if they cannot eat specific foods. If your child cannot eat certain foods, an alternative snack or lunch item will be provided for them whenever those foods are served. Each Friday, a menu listing all snacks and lunches fpr the next week will be sent out to families so you can see what your child will be eating while at school. 

If your child naps here at school, they may bring a stuffed animal or blanket in their backpacks. That item will remain in your child's backpack until nap time. Stuffed animals will be sent home every day but we do allow the blankets to stay at school on your child's nap cot throughout the week as long as they go home on Fridays to be laundered for the next week. Otherwise, we ask that limited items are brought from home and we do expect them to stay in backpacks during the day.

At Montessori, nap time depends on whether your child is in the Baby and Toddler Program or the Young Preschool and Preschool Programs: 

Baby and Toddler Program: Nap time takes place in the morning and in the afternoon and your child may nap at both or just in the afternoon depending on what their normal nap schedule is. Some children sleep in a crib while others sleep on mats with blankets. We welcome binkies, bottles, sleep sacs, or any other items your child needs to sleep. We play soft music and white noise to help these kiddos fall asleep.

Young Preschool or Preschool Programs: These children have potty-time or have their diapers changed before heading to our nap room to sleep on their cots. Nap time is from 12:30-2:20, and afternoon snack follows. We play quiet music to assist with falling asleep as well as sit by your child if they need more support to rest quietly or go to sleep. We use language such as "we need to rest our bodies quietly", "our bodies need to stay calm and still on our cots", and "it's time for our bodies to sleep on our cots" to help them stay on their cot.

We currently have space to enroll students in our Preschool Program and Extended Day Preschool Program beginning in January 2024. 

You always have unlimited access to your child at our school. We do ask that if you are picking your child up early, to please let us know and pick them up either by 1 pm or after 2:30 as to not disrupt the rest of the children who are napping in our nap room. 

Here at Montessori System School, we try to limit the number of "goodbyes" that occur during the day, so once a child is picked up for any reason, they cannot return later in the day since it is disruptive to other student's learning and is a second "good-bye" transition for your child. 

If you are interested in applying, please email us at Montessoricf@gmail.com! We ask that you include your child's birthdate, whether or not they are potty-trained, and whether or not they nap to get started!

We are not currently accepting infants under the age of 12 months.

Since Montessori System Preschool is a curriculum-based school, we need time to refresh the school and for our teachers to prepare materials for the next school year. This means we are closed during the summer to create the best school-year environment.