Curious Gardeners Preschool

Enrollment Checklist:

Curious Gardeners Preschool is now a Preschool For All (PFA) site! If your child will be 3 or 4 on September 1st, 2025 and you live in Multnomah County, you can apply to attend Curious Gardeners using the PFA application, which opens in April 2025.
At Curious Gardeners Preschool we have a mixed-age classroom and accept students ages 2 to 5.
Students are not required to be able to use the bathroom independently. We ask that families provide diapers for children who need them.
In accordance with Oregon State Law, all students attending Curious Gardeners Preschool must be fully immunized.
Curious Gardeners does accept DHS Child Care Assistance payments.
Curious Gardeners believes in outside play everyday! We ask that families provide appropriate clothing for the weather, including rain coats/suits and boots.
Curious Gardeners aims to be an inclusive and supportive environment for all families. Our enrollment process prioritizes LGBTQ families and families of color.

Curious Gardeners’ PFA school day runs from 8:30am to 2:30pm, Monday through Friday, with the option to pay for after care from 2:30 to 4:00pm.
Our 2025-2026 PFA school year will being on September 8, 2025 and end on June 5th, 2026.
During the school year, Curious Gardeners generally follows the Portland Public Schools (PPS) calendar, including all holidays, approximately one “teacher work day” per month, school breaks, and decisions about school cancellations due to inclement weather.
In the summer months, Curious Gardeners operates weekly, private-pay “camps.” Enrolled families can opt in or out by the week. We are closed for summer break the week of July 4th and the week following. We may open camps up to outside families if summer enrollment is low.

Browse through our website. Take the time to read about our philosophy, food-education focus, and play-based approach. Decide if our program might be a good fit for your family’s values and beliefs.
Use the “Contact Us” page on this website to inquire about current openings. We host at least one open house each spring, during which families can see our space, meet our teachers, hear more about our program, and ask any questions you may have. You are welcome to bring you kiddo and any other family members along.
***We have already hosted our 2025 Open Houses. If you are interested in future enrollment, contact us to be put on our contact list and notified of the next opportunity to see our space.
After you’ve had a chance to visit, we would be happy to help you decide if our program is a good fit for your child and family, helping you decide how to rank us on your Preschool For All application. As part of the Preschool For All program, we have no control over which families are actually enrolled in our program.
For children younger than 3, your child’s enrollment at Curious Gardeners will be guaranteed after we have received completed enrollment forms and payment of first and final month’s tuition, and we have met for an enrollment meeting.

For private pay families, tuition is charged monthly and is the same rate each month throughout the year regardless of school breaks or student absence due to illness or family vacations. We ask that your first and final month’s tuition be paid upon enrollment.

Monthly Tuition:

Two healthy, vegetarian snacks and lunch each day, in which we will make every effort to include as many organic options and as many things from the garden as possible
All art and educational materials
All classroom supplies
Baby wipes for those who need them

We do not charge holding fees, enrollment fees, activity fees, or materials fees.

At Curious Gardeners, we highly value our teaching staff and pay hourly wages that are significantly above industry standards.

Curious Gardeners reserves the right to raise tuition each September in keeping with industry standards and inflation.