Enrollment, Tuition, Payment and Fees
Mission Viejo Montessori requires the following items to complete enrollment and secure your child’s reservation within a given program:
Upon enrollment, the registration fee, payment of the LMTD and all necessary paperwork is needed to ensure your children’s placement. Failure to satisfy all of the above items may result in the loss of your child’s reservation in his or her program.
When first enrolling at Mission Viejo Montessori, your LMTD will be held as a Placement Reservation Deposit (PRD), which is fully earned by Mission Viejo Montessori and non-refundable at time of payment and guarantees your student a place within the program selected until such time as your student begins school with us. After starting school with us, the PRD will automatically convert to a Last Month’s Tuition Deposit. At such time as we receive a written 30-day notice of withdrawal for your student, your LMTD will be applied to your account at the end of the month and any monies due back to you will be refunded.
If Parent pre-enrolls a current student with us for the next school year, the LMTD on account with Mission Viejo Montessori will convert to a PRD, which is fully earned by Mission Viejo Montessori and non-refundable at the time of the pre-enrollment election and guarantees your child a place within the program selected until such time as the new semester is complete. Once the first semester of the school year is complete, your PRD will revert to a normal LMTD.
It is agreed, understood and acknowledged that space is limited within the various programs offered at Mission Viejo Montessori and a student who either fails to begin the school year, or complete the first semester of the school year after pre-enrolling will result in losses, costs and expenses to Mission Viejo Montessori that would be difficult if not impossible to ascertain. Therefore the parties agree that in the event either a Parent enrolls a student and the student fails to start school, or a Parent pre-enrolls a student and the student fails to complete the first semester of the new school year, Mission Viejo Montessori shall retain the PRD as liquidated damages for student’s failure to start school or complete the first semester of the new school year. Nothing contained herein shall be construed to limit the right of Mission Viejo Montessori to bill and collect from Parent any other outstanding charges owed Mission Viejo Montessori pursuant to the Tuition Agreement or any other provision of this Policies and Procedures Handbook.
Tuition is based on an annual fee which reserves your child’s place in a class during regular school hours on an ongoing, year round basis. Tuition may be paid annually in September or in monthly installments. Monthly installments are due on or before the first of the month for the coming month. Please note that some months such as December are shorter due to holidays or vacations, however, monthly tuition installments remain the same. We have already factored these holidays and vacations into the annual tuition. When leaving the program due to an extended vacation, full tuition must be paid for the coming month before leaving to reserve the child’s place in their classroom. Otherwise, they may be withdrawn from the program and their place given to a child from the waiting list.
We prorate the tuition of children entering the program after the beginning of the school term once only according to their start date thus placing them on the regular payments schedule. Mission Viejo Montessori School is open 7:00 am until 6:00 pm Monday through Friday. The Montessori Curriculum and other classroom activities are scheduled from 8:30 am - 3:30 pm with childcare available for extended hours. This gives you maximum scheduling flexibility.
Monthly tuition payments are due by first day of each month. If payment is not received by 9:00 AM on the 5th of every month, (unless the 5th falls on a weekend, then tuition is due the Friday before), there will be a $25.00 charge every 4 days until payment is received. Non-payment of tuition by the 5th may result in the withdrawal of your child from our program. Children cannot remain in the program if the previous month’s tuition is uncollected.
We offer a 10% discount for siblings. A $25.00 service fee will be charged for all returned checks.
Parents who wish to change their child’s schedule may do so only if an opening for that program is available. Please complete the Student Change Request Form found in the front foyer and return the completed form to the front desk.
A 30-day notice is needed to request a program change.
Tuition credits are not given for individual days your child is absent for vacations, holidays, school breaks, teacher in-services, or withdrawals from the program for the months of June, August and December.
Children may be withdrawn from the program with 30 days written notice prior to the withdrawal date of the child. You are responsible for charges up to one month of tuition following the withdrawal date if we are not given a written notice.
We work in partnership with you to provide the best environment for your child, however, should the school staff determine that extenuating circumstances prevent the school from meeting a child’s needs, the school has the option of requesting the withdrawal of the child and waiving the 30-day notice.
Mission Viejo Montessori is a year round school. During the months of July and August we will only offer the summer off to those students who are on a 10-month payment schedule. Once you have enrolled in the summer program, tuition credits and/or tuition pro-rations will not be given for any reason for any program withdrawal.
Charitable contributions by parents, grandparents, alumni, faculty, staff, and friends play an essential role in the daily operation of our school. Independent schools are distinct from other schools in that they are supported by tuition, charitable contributions, and endowment income, rather than by taxpayer funds.