Cook County/City of Chicago Child Development Center
Registration Processing and Wait List Policy
Upon receipt of the completed Pre-Enrollment Registration Form and registration fee, your child will
be placed on the wait list. You will then receive a confirmation letter by e-mail reviewing the wait
list policy.
Your child will be placed on the wait list according to the age group and the date of the registration.
As your child ages up, he or she will be moved to the appropriate age group, according to the original
date of the registration. The aging up process will not affect the child’s place on the wait list.
Registrations for unborn children will be accepted with a due date noted and a paid registration fee.
Families who are adopting a child should request a date based on the anticipated date care will be
needed. Adopting families will only be placed on the wait list after a registration fee is paid.
Registration Process
The registration fee allows your family to be registered at up to three Bright Horizons centers; the
originating center, where you have paid the fee and two others. If you choose to take advantage of
this, you should list the other two centers where you would like to register on the Pre-Enrollment
Registration Form. The originating center will fax a copy of the form to each of the other centers
listed for their records.
The registration date honored will be the original date your family first got on the wait list for
any Bright Horizons center regardless of the number of centers you are on lists for.
When a space becomes available, the Center will notify the family using the information
provided on the Pre-Enrollment Registration Form . Please remember to notify the Center of
any pertinent information changes, i.e., address change, phone/e-mail addresses, early birth,
etc.).
If you decline a space at one center of the three, it will have no impact on their position on the
wait list at the other centers where you are registered.
Your initial registration fee keeps you on the wait list for the duration of the time you remain on the
list. You do not need to pay the registration fee each year to remain on the wait list: it is a one time
only fee. Once you accept a space and have started at the center, you would then be responsible for
any applicable annual re-registration fee at the time it is normally due.
Offer Process
Enrollment: Wait List page 1 of 3
Updated 1/2010
An offer of a space will typically be made anywhere from 30 to 90 days prior to the space
being available.
Offers will be made via e-mail. You are required to accept the space by responding to the e-
mail within 48 hours. If we do not hear from you after 48 business hours, two (2) courtesy
calls ( work and home) will be made to make certain you received the e-mail (and
subsequently the phone calls) both of which will happen within 48 business hours of the
original deadline being missed. If you are unable to be reached as a result of the email and
phone calls, this will automatically count as a decline. A letter will be sent notifying you of
the decline.
When a space is accepted, the space is secured by paying the security deposit, which is due
within 5 business days of the offer date. The tuition collected to secure the space is one half of
the first month’s tuition. The security deposit is non-refundable if you choose not to
proceed with enrollment.
You can decline a space up to two (2) times before being automatically removed from the list.
After the second decline, if you would like to get back/remain on the wait list for the center(s),
a new registration fee would need to be paid. The registration date would be the new date we
receive the registration fee.
If you decline a space, the child remains on the list with the same registration date, but their
requested date of care should be changed to reflect the new date they would like enrollment to
begin. To remain on the list, you need to indicate a new start date.
If you do not respond to either the e-mail or the calls, this will be regarded as a decline and the
child will remain on the wait list with the same registration date and requested date of care.
When the next space becomes available in the child’s age group, it will be offered to your
family.
If a space becomes available prior to you needing care, the center will offer the space to start
sooner than the requested start date. If the space is declined, it will not count as one of the 2
declines.
Enrollment: Wait List page 2 of 3
Updated 1/2010