Registration, Education, and Tuition Fees

Fee Policies

Choosing a childcare center is an important decision.  If you are interested in our program we ask that you set up a time to come in and meet our teachers, see our classrooms in action, and get more information regarding our philosophy, goals, program, and fee structure.  If you feel like Blue Lake Preschool is a good fit for your family we will begin the enrollment process.

In our effort to continue to provide the kind of care and education you want for your child, we are constantly improving our facilities and resources.  For this reason, tuition fees are reviewed annually and are usually increased in the fall.  Our fees and applicable rules are as follows:

Registration Fee

A $100.00 registration fee is collected prior to enrollment.  If you choose not to attend Blue Lake or Little Blue Preschools we cannot refund the fee, as this money has been used to hold a space in a classroom.

Tuition Fees

Tuition is due in advance, by the month.  Monthly statements are emailed or mailed at the end of the previous month and tuition is due by the 1st of each month.  If you would like to pay bi-monthly arrangements must be made in advance with the director.  Bi-monthly tuition is paid by the 1st and the 15th of each month.  If payment is not made by the close of business day on the 20th of each month a late payment fee of $25.00 will be added to your account.  If payment is not received by the last day of the month your child will not be able to return to school until your account is paid in full.

Education Fees

A $100 annual education fee is required upon enrollment and each September thereafter (infants excluded).  This fee helps us cover costs for art supplies, learning materials, paper products, and snacks.  This fee will be prorated as follows if you enroll during the school year:

  • September to November – $100
  • December to February – $75
  • March to May – $50
  • June to August – $25 

Vacations, Sick Days, and Absences

If your child is out for any reason your normal tuition will still be charged.  We do ask that you notify us by 8:00am if your child will not be at school for the day.

After School Bus Transport

Blue Lake Preschool is happy to offer transportation from many of the schools in our area to BLPS for our after school program. We do this as a convenience for our families. However, it creates a major safety issue if we are expecting to pick up your child and we cannot find them. Due to searching for this child we also end up being late to pick up the children who are scheduled for pickup after your child’s stop. For this reason please do inform us that your child will not be on the bus for their scheduled day if something has come up that will keep them from being present at their scheduled pickup. If we are not notified, there will be a $10 fee charged per occurrence.

Summer Schedule

Because Blue Lake and Little Blue Preschools takes advantage of the amazing area in which we live, there is an additional summer activity fee.  This fee covers the additional cost of activities we provide at the school as well as the activity fees for the teachers, the additional gas for the buses or RFTA bus passes.  We do our best to keep the cost of extra activities down while still offering a fun and exciting summer for the kids with a variety of activities. Kids that attend 5 days per week can expect to have an additional charge of about $75 per month in field trip and activity fees.  Of course if your child attends less days these fees will be cheaper.  If this additional cost will be difficult for you please speak with our director about how to apply for tuition assistance as we do not want any child left out due to financial reasons.  All additional fees will be added to your invoice, please do not send cash with your child.

Your child is expected to participate in the scheduled activity for that day.  We do not have enough teachers to have somebody stay behind with a child who may not want to participate in a certain activity.  There are several things like biking, swimming, and rock climbing where we are able to split into groups based upon desire or ability.  Our hope is that each child will be eager and excited to try new things!

Tuition Assistance

Tuition aid is available for residents through your local county as well as through the Town of Basalt for qualified applicants.  Blue Lake and Little Blue Preschools, with assistance from the Aspen Valley Community Foundation, also offers a tuition assistance program.  Please contact the director for information.

Holiday Schedule

The following holidays are the days we are officially closed.  If a holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday, it will be observed on Friday or Monday.  However you spend these days, we wish your family the best and safest of times:  New Year’s Day, President’s Day, Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and the Friday after, Christmas Eve through New Year’s Day (families are not charged for this week), 3 Teacher In-Service Days to be announced.

Late Pick-up Charge

Our hours are Monday through Friday, from 7:30am to 5:30pm. Please make arrangements for your child to be picked up if you are unable to get to school in time. Any parent arriving after 5:30pm will be charged a late fee of $1.00 for every minute after 5:30pm. We request you pay the teacher who cared for your child directly at the time of pick-up.

Snow Days and Unexpected Closures

If the decision is made to cancel school due to weather local television stations will be asked to announce Blue Lake and Little Blue Preschools closure. Notification of these conditions will be reported by 6:00am the morning of the closure. Channel 9 news station will display our information on the bottom of their screen during the morning news.  We follow decisions made by the Roaring Fork School District for snow day closures. You can find immediate information on their closures by calling their Snow Line, 384-6075, at any time to hear a message in both English and Spanish. Due to the unexpected nature of these days and the need to pay our teachers – there will be no credit given for snow days.

There are times as well that the board of directors may, for the safety of the children and staff, choose to close the school due to various reasons that are safety related. We will do our best to provide adequate notice and avoid these situations, but due to the unexpected nature of various threats to the safety of the school – there will be no credit given for these days.

Maintaining a Positive Environment for all Children

Because we provide care and education in a group setting, we must be concerned for the welfare and safety of all our children and staff.  When a particular child’s or parent’s behavior threatens the safety of or becomes abusive towards other children, we may disenroll the child immediately.  Our priority is to provide a positive, cohesive group environment for all children.

Withdrawing Your Child From Our Center 

We understand that various situations may arise where you need to dis-enroll your child from our program.  Because we are a non-profit organization and rely on tuition to pay our teachers, we do ask for a two-week notice.  This time will allow us to fill that space and also gives the teachers ample time to gather your child’s belongings, finish their portfolio, and say goodbye to their friends.  We do ask for a written letter or email which includes your child’s last day with us.

Reporting Personal Issues

Most problems are resolved by consensus through discussions with the director and any concerned parties.  If you have a concern about your child and/or anything related to the operations of the school, please talk immediately with the director.  If this does not provide satisfactory results, then we encourage you to contact an individual board member, and he/she will set up a meeting with you and the director.  Finally, if you still are not able to resolve your concern, write a description of the grievance and request to present it to the board.  The board will make every effort to resolve the issue, and reserves the right to arrange a meeting with a mediator chosen by the board.  In this event, both parties will agree to abide by the decision of the mediator.

Filing a Formal Complaint (or Compliment!)

Blue Lake and Little Blue Preschools are licensed by the State of Colorado.  In order to maintain our license we are inspected by the health, fire, and licensing agencies.  The certificates of inspection are on file.  You can ask the director if you wish to view these files.  If for any reason you feel you need to make a formal complaint, or compliment, about this childcare facility, or need to report suspected child abuse, you may do so by contacting the Division of Childcare at (303) 866-5948.