Policy
 
It is the policy of the LLESA Children’s Center to have practices in place to provide appropriate and timely management of program enrollment and classroom wait lists.  Our goal is to update classroom enrollment regularly, provide prompt, ongoing, transparent communication with families, and to offer resource and referral information.

 
Practice

Since 1986, the LLESA Children’s Center has provided exclusive child-care services for employees of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory as well as long-term laboratory contract employees and Sandia National Laboratory employees upon space availability. The program typically operates at full capacity with wait lists.  The following information defines how enrollment and the wait lists are managed.  This information will be included in the updated Parent Handbook and well as distributed to all families upon inquiry.

Enrollment
  • Enrollment Priority – priority for enrollment and classroom wait lists are as follows:
  1. Siblings of Current Families​
  2. LLNL Employees
  3. LLNL Long Term Contract Employees
  4. SNL Employees
  • When a classroom opening is identified, families from the wait list in the priorities listed above are contacted until the space is filled.
  • Families that accept an opening must secure their space by paying their first month of tuition.  Families will also have an option to pay monthly increments towards their first month of tuition until their child starts care.
  • The Children’s Center does not save spaces if families wish to start at a later date.  Families may choose to pay to guarantee space or decline.
  • Families are asked to respond quickly when space is offered, either to accept or decline. If no response is received within a few days, the program will assume that the family is not interested and will update their status to reflect a decline.  The Children’s Center then moves to the next family on the wait list.
  • Families with one decline are placed at the bottom of the wait list in the appropriate eligibility group.  Families with a second decline are removed from the list. 
  • The program attempts to provide as much notice as possible when openings occur - at least 1 month leeway in order for families to plan and give notice to current providers.
  • For LLNL employees who are temporarily reassigned to another location, families can request to be placed back on the wait list and will be granted sibling priority status.  These families must give the program 90 days notice upon return to the Children’s Center to make sure space can be accommodated at that time.  This only applies to LLNL employees exclusively on work reassignment and not for families wanting to take an extended leave of absence for other reasons.
  •  Once families are enrolled in the program they are guaranteed enrollment throughout the program until they no longer require care or age out.  Children are transitioned through the classrooms according to individual growth & development and space availability.  Transitions typically occur in September, February, and early summer.
​
Wait List
  • Separate wait lists are managed for each of the 6 age groups served:
  • Infant/Toddler (6 weeks to 24 months) – group size of 12 with 1:3 teacher to child ratio
  • 2’s – group size of 15 with 1:5 teacher to child ratio
  • Preschool (3 year olds) – group size of 16 with 1:8 teacher to child ratio
  • Pre K (4 & 5 year olds) – group size of 20 with 1:10 teacher to child ratio
  • School Age (TK – 13 years old) – group size 28(school year) & 60 (summer) with 1:12/14 ratio
  • Infant/Toddler Wait List - The wait list for the Infant/Toddler Classrooms are further defined by primary care groups to maintain small groups for each primary group teacher.  Each primary care group and teacher remains together throughout the Infant/Toddler classroom experience.  This provides continuity with familiar care teachers for children and families during the first 2 years of the program.
  • Families may apply to the wait list when they become pregnant. 
  • Wait list numbers are subject to change when a new sibling is added to the classroom lists, when an entering family has a higher eligibility priority, or when an existing family is moved to the next classroom list as children age, using their original application date to determine placement.
  • Families are also encouraged to contact the Children’s Center anytime for an update
  • The Children’s Center also provides child-care resource and referral information for families needing immediate child care before the Children’s Center anticipated availability:
  • CONCERN: EAP Work/Life Services – this program provides parenting and childcare referrals for LLNL employees www.concern-eap.com  800.344.4222
  • Hively – State funded child-care resource and referral agency for Livermore, Pleasanton, Dublin, and Sunol  www.behively.org  925.417.8733