On our admissions form parents fill out 1st, 2nd and 3rd choice, meaning 3 hour or 5 or full day. We try very hard to give as many as we can their first choice. Juggling so many children, some end up in the 2nd or 3rd choice. Some parents only fill out a 1st choice, assuming that means it's the only thing they'll take. Once parents fill out their preferences we sometimes ask current teachers to weigh in as well.

For the private preschools that offer both morning-only or full day programs, any insight into how the admissions team determines which program to slot the applicant into? We marked interest in both (so as not to restrict our options) but were only offered mornings. Which is totally fine— we’ll take what we got, but in retrospect, I’m wondering if there was a strategy that we missed.