Six hundred and eleven names.

We do not like the waitlist. We publish it anyway because a family deciding where to spend their afternoon deserves to know the real number. At the start of 2026 it was 611 children across six sites, with the longest list at Hawthorne and the shortest at St. Johns.

How it moves

About 140 kids came off the list last year. Kids move, age out, change schools, or change schedules, and seats open mid-term more often than people expect. The list is not first-come-first-served, and we want to be transparent about that because 'the list is a list' is a lie that nonprofits tell.

Who gets priority

1. Siblings of currently enrolled kids, at the same site.
2. Kids within walking distance of the site, measured by address, because transportation is the main reason kids stop attending.
3. Kids referred by a partner school's counselor, which we cap at 20% of seats so it does not become a separate pipeline.
4. Everyone else, by date of application.

Donors, staff, board members, and press do not get priority. We have said no to all four. It is the least popular policy we have and the one we are most committed to.

What to do while you wait

• Come to Saturday labs, which need no enrollment at all.
• Come to Family Night on the second Friday and Nothing Day in August.
• Ask about another site. St. Johns and Lents usually have seats, and the van may make it possible.
• Tell us if your situation changes: a move, a new school, a transportation problem. It moves you on the list and it helps us plan.
• Do not call every week. We will call you. Truly.