Schedules and hours
Early drop-off and late pick-up
The half hour at each end that turns an impossible commute into a possible one, priced as a standing addition rather than as an emergency.
Most families who need this need it every day, which is why it is priced as a weekly addition rather than as a per-use penalty. A nursery that charges a premium each time you use the early hour has built a fee out of the fact that you have a job.
Booked as a standing arrangement it is $45 a week for either end. Used occasionally it is $12 a session. Neither is the late-collection fee, which is a different thing entirely and starts at 6:16pm.
What the early hour is actually like
Quiet, deliberately. Breakfast, somewhere soft to sit, low light and very little asked of anybody. A child who arrives at seven has eleven hours ahead of them and starting with organised activity uses them up before the morning has begun.
It runs in one room rather than in each, which is the one place we do combine — and only until half past seven, when children go to their own rooms as staff arrive. We say so rather than implying every room opens at seven.
The last hour, which we do not combine
From five, when several nurseries in this borough merge rooms to save an adult, we do not. A child collected at six is in their own room with an adult they know.
That costs us real money and it is the thing we would defend hardest if we ever had to cut something. The end of the day is when a tired child is least able to cope with an unfamiliar room and an unfamiliar adult, and it is precisely when the industry economises.
Late collection, and why the fee is published
A dollar a minute from 6:16pm. It is published so it is not a surprise and not a judgement, and it goes to the two members of staff who stayed rather than to the nursery.
Those two people have their own children and their own collections. The fee is not a moral position about your day, it is compensation for somebody else's.
If you are stuck, ring. A parent who telephones at ten past six to say the train is held is in a completely different conversation from one who simply arrives at half past.
Our permit caps how many children may be here at once. Our permit states the maximum number of children who may be on these premises at any moment the programme is operating, set by the Health Department from the space, the teaching staff and the certificate of occupancy. That number counts children present, not children enrolled — so an hourly child takes up a permitted place in exactly the way a full-time child does. This is the honest reason we cannot always say yes to a drop-in, and the reason to be sceptical of anybody in New York City advertising unlimited same-day availability. It is a legal ceiling, not a scheduling preference.
Included as standard
What is included
Early drop-off from 7:00am
$45 a week as a standing arrangement, or $12 for an occasional session.
Late pick-up until 6:15pm
Same rates. Both ends together is $80 a week.
Breakfast in the early session
Included, until half past eight.
A deliberately quiet early hour
Low light, soft seating and very little asked. Eleven hours is a long day to start at a table.
Own rooms from 7:30am
The early hour runs in one room; children go to their own as staff arrive. We say so rather than implying otherwise.
No room merging in the last hour
From five onwards children are in their own rooms with adults they know, which is where most centres economise.
A published late fee
A dollar a minute from 6:16pm, to the staff who stayed rather than to the nursery.
A telephone call taken seriously
Ring if you are stuck. It changes the conversation entirely.
When to make an appointment
Signs this is worth an assessment
- Your commute needs a seven o'clock drop-off to work at all.
- You finish at six and the 7 train is not a reliable fifteen minutes.
- You would rather pay a flat weekly figure than a fee every time you use it.
- You do not want your child moved into an unfamiliar room at five o'clock.
- You want to know the late fee before you are late rather than after.
- You occasionally need one late night a month and want it priced sensibly.
Early & late — what it costs
- Early drop-off from 7:00am or late pick-up to 6:15pm, booked as a standing addition. Occasional use is $12 a session. After 6:15pm the late fee starts, and it is published rather than improvised.$45 / week
Every rate on this site is published in full on the tuition page, including the ones that make us look expensive. Meals, snacks, nappy changing, settling-in sessions and the whole curriculum are inside the weekly fee — there is no premium tier and no outside provider invoicing you separately for a music class. The two charges that are not in the weekly fee are registration, at $75 a year per family rather than per child, and late collection after 6:15pm at $1 a minute, which goes to the two members of staff who stayed. If your child is three or four, read the 3-K page before you read this one.
Questions we are actually asked
Early & late — frequently asked
How early can I drop off?
7:00am, as a standing arrangement at $45 a week or occasionally at $12 a session. The early hour runs in one room until 7:30am, when children go to their own rooms as staff arrive — we would rather say that than imply every room is open at seven.
How late can I collect?
6:15pm. After that the late fee starts at a dollar a minute from 6:16pm, published rather than improvised, and it goes to the two members of staff who stayed rather than to the nursery.
Do you combine rooms at the end of the day?
No. From five o'clock, when it is common in this borough to merge rooms and save an adult, children here stay in their own rooms with adults they know. It costs us money and it is the last thing we would cut.
What if I am running late?
Ring us. A parent who calls at ten past six to say the train is held is in an entirely different conversation from one who arrives at half past without warning. The fee is about compensating staff, not about judging your day.
Can I use it occasionally rather than every day?
Yes, at $12 a session. If you find yourself using it more than about once a week, the $45 standing rate is cheaper and it also means we have staffed for you rather than absorbed you.
Related programmes
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Full-day care
Seven in the morning to a quarter past six, five days a week. The schedule most families actually need and few nurseries actually keep.
From $345 / week
Hourly & drop-in
Genuinely hourly, genuinely bookable, and genuinely limited — because our permit caps how many children may be in the building at once.
$28 / hour
Before & after school
The two hours at each end of a school day that decide whether a parent can hold a full-time job.
$185 / week
Backup care
For the day your usual arrangement fails. Registered in advance, used when you need it, and honest about how often it is available.
$32 / hourTuesday and Thursday mornings, while the children are here
Come and see the room
A tour here happens during a session, in the room your child would actually be in, at the time of day they would be in it. You meet the person who leads that room rather than only the director, and you see the noise and the mess that are genuinely there. It takes an hour. If your child is three or four we will ask whether you have applied for free 3-K or Pre-K for All before we quote you a rate, because a good many families should not be paying us at all.