Tillamook offers a play-based, child-led, anti-bias curriculum where children can explore, discover and learn through play. Through a variety of active and quiet activities, children foster positive self-concepts and strong socialization between other children and adults. Through play, children learn about the world outside their own family, have positive separation from their families for a short time, and become excited about school and learning. In a play-based environment, with the support of our teacher and parent helpers, the children build self-esteem, learn to make choices, negotiate conflicts and be respectful of others.

We accept applications for children who are at least 2 years 8 months old to 5 years old on their first day of school. Your child needs to turn 3 on or before December 31st and not turn 6 during the school year.

We enroll up to 19 children in a class.

Each day, in addition to our teacher, there are at least three parent helpers present for the duration of the class day. This results in an approximate ratio of 1:4 adults to children.

Morning classes meet Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. With the multi-age program, families choose between two attendance options: Two-Day (Tuesday, Thursday) or Three-Day (Monday, Wednesday, Friday).

Families in the 2-day class will parent help about 1-2 times per month. Families in the 3-day class will parent help about 2-3 times per month. On parent helping days, you should plan to be at the school to help from 8:30 a.m. - approximately 12:45 p.m.

If you are able to “wear” your baby, you are more than welcome to bring him/her while you parent help. Tillamook is supportive of new moms, but once the baby is mobile it is safer for your focus to be on the preschoolers and we ask that you not bring the younger child. Many families within our community trade childcare during parent helper shifts.

It is paramount for Tillamook Preschool to be a physically and emotionally safe environment for preschoolers and their families. Our behavior policy focuses on peaceful conflict resolution skills as opposed to punitive actions such as time-outs. Our goal is to empower children to be problem solvers, to take responsibility for their actions, and to show empathy towards others.

Snack is currently eaten outside. Because of the pandemic, families pack a snack for theor child. Children may join the snack table anytime they are hungry, up until "last call" for snack, typically around 11:00 a.m. Tillamook takes food allergies seriously and will restrict certain foods based on allergies in the current class.

Children do not need to be potty trained to attend school.

Applications are typically due the week after our annual open house in order to be included in the lottery. Applications received after that date will be added to the end of the wait list in the order received. Please view our enrollment page for additional information and specific deadlines.

If we receive more applications than spots available, we will hold a lottery to determine who will be offered a place in the class.

Notifications will be sent by email within 3 days of the application deadline.

We will not know the number of applicants until the application deadline. Things do change throughout the summer and school year and since we have a multi-age classroom, placement on the wait list is not as critical as meeting the specifics of the position to be filled. If you are waitlisted initially, please keep in mind that not everyone who is offered a spot after the lottery chooses to enroll.

In order to reserve your spot in class, a non-refundable registration/start-up fee will be due one week following an offer of class placement. Current tuition and fees are listed here. Normally there is a slight increase in tuition from year to year, to be finalized by the board in April.

We invite prospective families to view our classroom, outdoor play space and the indoor gym during our annual open house. If you were not able to attend the open house and your child is offered a place at Tillamook, you can coordinate with our membership chair to tour the space.

Our class vaccination rates vary from year to year. Rates for the 2019-20 school year can be viewed here. The vaccination rates for Multnomah County can be viewed here.