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Get on the day-care waiting list
You weren’t going to tell anyone you were expecting until after the first trimester, huh? Well, make an exception when it comes to your local day-care center. Chances are the wait list is long, no matter at what age you’re planning on enrolling your baby-to-be. At the Manhattan Kids Club in Greenwich Village, tots are often 18 months old before they land a spot. “We have people on our list who aren’t even pregnant,” says Educational Director Vicky Novak. At the River School on the Upper West Side, which offers day-care programs for babes as young as two months, most parents register soon after conception. Happily, the payoff for early action is two-fold: Students in the day-care program not only enjoy a place to hang out while their parents work, but they also receive automatic admission to preschool when the time comes.
Scope out early childhood classes
Mom-and-baby classes are offered all over NYC, but to reap benefits later on, think about looking for one that’s held at a nursery school. The Columbus Preschool and Gym offers Tiny Tots Fitness for infants six months to one year old and their caregivers. When they’re ready to apply for the two-year-olds’ nursery program, children from the exercise class are at an advantage, especially for the sought-after morning sessions, says Marcia Levy, director of the preschool.
Find God
You may have already gathered that church and synagogue members often enjoy first dibs at their institutions’ nurseries, but you may not realize that this privilege sometimes kicks in only for (fairly) senior members. According to the website of the Brick Church on the Upper East Side, “active Brick Church members who joined at least two years prior to application to the School” receive admissions preference. Greenwich Village’s First Presbyterian Church is a bit more lenient: Members who joined before January 1 of the year they apply are eligible for early notification after sending an application to the on-site preschool.
