Not a queue
How a waiting list actually works
You have probably been given a position number by somebody. Here is why that number means less than it sounds like it does, and what we tell you instead.
A waiting list does not move at a steady rate. A waiting list is not a queue that advances at a steady rate, and any nursery giving you a position number without a room and a date is giving you a comforting number rather than a useful one. Places come free when one specific child leaves one specific room, and they go to the family who fits that gap in age, in days and in start date. We will tell you which room you are waiting for, roughly how long that room has taken historically, and where you sit today. We do not take a deposit to hold a place on a list, because a position on a list is not a thing we are able to sell you.
Almost every nursery in this borough keeps a waiting list, and almost every one of them will give you a number if you ask. The number feels like information. It is usually closer to a comfort.
The reason is structural rather than dishonest: a nursery is not one queue. It is five rooms, each with a fixed legal capacity, each with its own age band, and places come free one at a time when one specific child leaves one specific room.
What actually happens when a place comes free
A family gives notice. That frees one place in one room — say, a Wednesday-to-Friday place in the twos room from the middle of October.
We then look for the child who fits that gap. Fits means three things at once: the right age for that room, the days that are actually free, and a start date that works. A family at position three who needs five days cannot take a three-day place, and a family at position eleven who needs exactly those three days can.
So the list is not consumed in order, and a family can be passed several times without anything having gone wrong or anybody having been unfair. What they are waiting for is a specific shape of gap rather than a turn.
Why position numbers mislead
A number implies a single ordered queue that advances. What you actually have is a position within one room's list, filtered by the days you need and the month you need them.
It also hides the thing that most determines your wait, which is which room you are waiting for. The infant room turns over roughly once a year per place and has the longest list; the preschool and pre-kindergarten rooms move much more, partly because families leave for 3-K and pre-K places.
And it ages badly. A number given in March describes March. By September, families ahead of you have found places elsewhere, changed their days or had a second child, and none of that reaches you.
What we tell you instead
Which room you are waiting for, and roughly how long that room has historically taken. For the infant room the honest answer is usually between nine and fourteen months, and we would rather say that than a number that sounds nearer.
Whether the days you have asked for make it harder. A family wanting Monday, Wednesday and Friday is waiting for a different and rarer gap than a family wanting five days, and it is better to know that before you plan a return to work around it.
And where you sit today, updated when it changes rather than when you chase us. If you have moved because somebody ahead withdrew, you hear about it.
Why there is no deposit
Because a position on a list is not a thing we are able to sell you. Taking money to hold one creates an obligation we cannot discharge — we would be charging for an outcome that depends entirely on which family leaves which room and when.
It also has a corrosive effect on the list itself. A nursery holding deposits from forty families has forty reasons to keep all of them hopeful, and that is the mechanism by which waiting lists stop being honest.
Registration is $75 a year and it is charged when a child actually starts, not when a name goes on a list. Being on our list costs nothing and always will.
What to do while you wait
Be on several lists. This is sensible and we will not take it personally — we would do the same. Tell us where else you are waiting and roughly what would make you take that place instead; it changes how we read your answer when we ring with a short-notice offer.
If your child is approaching three, apply for 3-K. It is free, it is separate from any nursery waiting list, and for a good number of families it makes the wait irrelevant.
And tell us when your situation changes. A family whose start date has moved by four months is waiting for a different gap, and if we do not know that we will ring you about the wrong one.
In order
How this works in practice
Tell us the room, the days and the month
Those three things are what a place has to match. A request without them cannot be matched against anything.
Expect to be passed over sometimes
A place that does not fit your days will go to somebody it does fit. That is the list working correctly rather than failing.
Keep your details current
A changed start date, a changed day pattern or a new address changes which gaps you fit. We will ask periodically; answering makes the list work.
Stay on other lists
Being on several is the right strategy and we will not hold it against you. We would rather know than not.
Apply for 3-K if the age fits
Free, separate, and for many families it removes the problem entirely. It is the second step of our own enrolment process for a reason.
Questions we are actually asked
How a waiting list actually works — frequently asked
How long is the wait for an infant place?
Usually between nine and fourteen months, and that is the honest range rather than the encouraging end of it. Infant places turn over roughly once a year each, the room is capped at eight children in groups, and the ratio makes it the most expensive room to expand, which is to say we cannot.
Can I pay to hold my place on the list?
No, and nobody should be asking you to. A position on a waiting list is not a product, and taking money for one would give us an incentive to keep families hopeful rather than informed. Registration is charged when a child starts.
Why did somebody behind me get a place?
Almost certainly because the place that came free matched their days and not yours. A three-day gap goes to a family who needs those three days. It is not seniority, and being passed over is not a judgement about you.
Will you tell me my position?
We will tell you which room you are waiting for, roughly how long it has taken historically, and where you currently sit. We will also tell you why the last of those three is the least useful, which is what this page is for.
Should I join several waiting lists?
Yes. It is the sensible thing to do and every director in this borough knows families do it. Tell us about the others so we can read your answer properly when we call with a short-notice offer.
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Tuesday 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.