Frequently Asked Questions

1) Wild Lilac has been described as both a Waldorf and Reggio "inspired" preschool. What does this mean?

Directors Helene and Katie attended Waldorf schools as children and try and bring the magic and beauty they remember from their own childhoods into the program. Both have a deep reverence and regard for the natural world and its inherent beauty. Our space is designed to inspire creativity and to awaken the children's imaginations. The children are offered natural and wooden toys with open ended uses so the play possibilities are endless! Our art and project curriculum strays from the Waldorf tradition and touch on emergent and constructive curriculum sensibilities of open ended, child-influenced projects and art pieces. Katie and Helene's teaching philosophy is deeply rooted in the theories and teachings of Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky, Rudolf Steiner, Paulo Freire, Bev Bos, Vivian Gussin Paley and Magda Gerber. For an in depth look at our philosophy, please read Receiving a Wild Lilac Education and our Classroom Management Policy.

2) Do you accept children in diapers? How do you address potty training? Do you begin potty training at a specific age or do you wait until a child is ready?

We do accept children in diapers. We do not begin potty training at a specific age because each child comes to this developmental stage differently. Using the toilet is very easy and natural for some children and some children have a hard time letting go of diapering. We honor each child's individual process and we do not push potty training at any age. We do find children often become interested in using the toilet as they experience their peers using the toilet and will ask them if they are interested in trying it periodically. Eventually every child will use the toilet and we believe that pushing a child into something s/he is not ready for, only creates an environment of resentment and shame. For more information, please review our policy on Transitioning from Diapers to Toilet Use.

3) Do you prepare meals and snacks for the children or do we bring our own? If you make the food, can you accommodate a vegetarian diet?

Wild Lilac Preschool has a Seriously Organic Kitchen. We provide the children organic vegetarian food to honor their growing bodies. Mealtimes are special and ritualized. We sing a blessing thanking the earth for her bounty and we often talk about where our food comes from and acknowledge the journey is has taken to arrive at our table. The children help make a lot of the food they eat. We find the experience of helping with the cooking creates enthusiasm about food that may otherwise be met with the old hairy eyeball. We try our very best to buy locally grown food to support local growers and reduce environmental impact. We also eat seasonally to honor the relationship between the rhythm of our bodies and the rhythm of the natural world.

4) What is the application process?

We accept new families on a rolling basis as we have openings. If you are interested in Wild Lilac please call or email the school directly to set up a time to visit. Once you feel like Wild Lilac would be a good fit for your family please fill out an application and we will add you to our wait list. There is no waitlist fee. When an enrollment spot becomes available for your child, we will call and offer you a spot. We require a $200 Registration/Materials fee that is not refundable upon your verbal acceptance of the enrollment spot. For more information, download the Information Packet and Application.

5) How does the waitlist work? How long is it?

We maintain a list of families who have submitted an application. When an opening occurs, we go to the list and pull applications of children whose birthdays fall within the appropriate range for that opening. When reviewing the applications, we also consider each family’s scheduling needs. After we identify the families who the enrollment spot will work for, we contact families for openings in the order in which they have been waiting. If the timing of the opening is a good fit for the family, we begin the enrollment process. If not, and the family asks us to do so, we keep them on our list for future openings.

Currently enrolled children and siblings of currently enrolled children have priority status when it comes to enrollment openings. Before we look at the waitlist for candidates for our openings, we offer days to our current families to ensure all of our currently enrolled families are satisfied with their schedules.

We have a hard time speaking to the length of the waitlist, because our current enrollments all have different schedules. If, for example, a 4 full day enrollment spot opens, it may only work for a few waitlist families, and we would be looking to fill the spot with a child of comparable age to the child who was previously filling the spot. This is a typical scenario for us, we never have a spot open up and have stacks and stacks of applications who all want the same schedule because the needs of the waitlist families are all different and the spot that opens up is always for a specific schedule.

6) How old does my child have to be before s/he can join Wild Lilac?

At Iris House children must be 3.5 years old. However, Daffodil House accepts children who are 2-3.5 years old.

7) If I start my child part-time, would I be able to add more days as s/he gets older?

We try and accommodate our families as spots open. If you are interested in adding a day or two, please let us know and we will certainly give you more days as they become available. We have several families with flexible schedules so we are usually able to accommodate schedule changes.

8) Are children required to arrive at school at 8:00 am at Iris House and 8:30 am at Daffodil House?

Children arrive between 8:00 am and 9:00 am at Iris House and 8:30 am and 9:00 am at Daffodil House. At 9:00am we have a good morning circle and our tea and breakfast. So if you want your child to participate in circle and tea you should arrive by 9am. That said, we do value sleep and hope that children are allowed to sleep until their bodies are ready to wake. We also value easy, not-rushed mornings so if you have the luxury of not needing to race out the door, by all means, take it!! and we'll see you when you arrive.

9) Do you offer aftercare later than 4:00 pm?

No, we do not offer aftercare after 4:00 pm.

10) Wild Lilac is in two old Portland homes, is their lead paint? Is this a concern?

There is almost always lead paint in houses built before 1970s. We are careful to keep our space scraped, sealed, and free of chipping paint. The Child Care Licensing Department and the Health Department both inspect our space periodically to ensure that we maintain a safe environment for the children (which we do!)

11) Would it be okay to stay with my child for a while as s/he transitions to staying at school alone? What do you recommend/allow in the way of helping children feel comfortable in this new environment?

Parents are always welcome to come spend time with their child at school whenever they want. Each child transitions differently and you know your child so we trust you to lead us in integrating him into our environment. Sometimes it can be confusing for a child to have his/her parents stay for a longer time than the rest of the parents, and if we are noticing that the approach is not helpful for the child we will communicate concerns with you.

12) Does Wild Lilac Preschool have any pets?

Yes, Wild Lilac Preschool has a cat, Marley, who enjoys visiting the children at both Iris House and Daffodil House. She is very very friendly and LOVES children! Wild Lilac also has a bunny named Carrot who loves all of the children and visits both Iris House and Daffodil House! Two dogs (Moishie and Savannah) live at Iris House. Moishie is a Shih Tzu mix and Savannah is a Golden Retriever/Australian Shepherd mix. One dog (Blueberry) lives at Daffodil House. Blueberry is a lab/Golden Retriever mix. All three dogs are loving and sweet, however, they have their own space away from all of the noise and movement of the preschool!