Once you’ve narrowed down your top early learning program options, it’s time to apply! Apply as soon as you can for competitive programs to increase your child’s chances of receiving an offer letter.
You can start by creating an online account, fill out the required family information, and rank your top choices. Follow step three below to verify their placement after accepting your offer letter.
Need help with completing your child’s early learning application? From start to finish, our application walkthrough video gives a step-by-step guide to secure your child’s seat in a high-quality program with confidence.
Please rank your top choices on the application according to your top preferences. You will only receive one offer*. You will be waitlisted at any program you ranked higher and will not be considered for any program you ranked lower.
For example, if you receive an offer at your second choice, you will be waitlisted at your first choice, and you will receive a status of “not offered” for your third, fourth, and fifth choice.
If you receive an offer and would prefer to attend a program you have ranked lower, you will need to resubmit your application with a new choice order.
*Due to high demand for popular programs, it is possible that some families will not receive an offer for all of the programs ranked on submitted applications. If your child is on the waitlist for all of your program selections, you will need to call the Family Support Hotline at 312-229-1690 to make any updates to your application after it's already been submitted.
Families can resubmit their application if they would like to change the order of their choices or add additional programs (up to a total of five program choices). However, if you want to hold out for your top-ranked choice and change your backup program options, contact the Family Support Hotline at 312-229-1690.
Important to know before resubmitting your application:
Please remember that you will be resubmitting your applications to ALL programs on your list. If you make changes to your application, you may lose your accepted offer. Additionally, you may receive a new waitlist number when you resubmit your application.
Do you have questions about the waitlist? For more information, read our FAQs under Waitlist or call our Family Support Hotline at 312-229-1690.
After submitting your child's application, you will receive placement notifications at the email used for your guardian login used on your application.
If you have an offer, we strongly recommend that you accept it even if you are waitlisted at a program you ranked higher.
We encourage you to accept your offer as soon as possible, even if you are waitlisted for a site you ranked higher. For example, if you've accepted the offer at your second-choice program, you can decide which offer you would prefer to take when you come off the waitlist at your first-choice program.
