The Wilds Preschool

Our mission at The Wilds is to cultivate a deep and long-lasting connection to wildness. Through immersive story-telling, creative and open play, art using natural materials, nature-based games, and hands-on experience with the rhythms and cycles of the natural world across the seasons, we guide children into their own unique, personal, and expansive connection to the wild world we live in.

Registration Details

Registration is currently open for the 2025/26 school year. Please contact us if you are interested in enrolling.

Financial aid is available! We strive to make Crow’s Path accessible to all families. We accept Act 166 and CCFAP. If you need additional financial assistance, please submit our Financial Aid form along with your registration.

Program Details

Ages: 3–5 years old (age 3 before Oct 31, 2025, see requirements below)
Hours: 8:15 am–3:15 pm
Afterschool option: pick up between 3:15 and 5:15pm (afterschool details)
Location: The New North End of Burlington, VT, with direct access to over 150 acres of forest and shoreline to explore through the Arms Forest and Rock Point.

Enrollment options + Cost

A $200 non-refundable deposit is due with registration to hold your spot with ten monthly payments due on the 15th of the month beginning in August with the following amounts:
  • 1 day per week: TBD
  • 2 days per week: TBD
  • 3 days per week: TBD
  • 4 days per week: TBD
  • 5 days per week: TBD

For a full breakdown of tuition costs, Registration & Payments.

Afterschool option

We offer afterschool from 3:15–5:15pm Monday through Friday
  • 1 day per week: $875 for the school year (35 weeks)
  • 2 days per week: $1,750 for the school year (35 weeks)
  • 3 days per week: $2625 for the school year (35 weeks)
  • 4 days per week: $3,500 for the school year (35 weeks)
  • 5 days per week: $4,375 for the school year (35 weeks)

Act 166, CCFAP, and Financial assistance

We are now 4 STAR, UPK approved program and able to receive 166 state funding
  • This funding program covers tuition for 10 hours each week during the school year for students age 3–5 (must be 3 by Sept 1 of that school year)
  • To enroll in 166, please contact your local school district and follow their instructions for registration

We also accept CCFAP payments. We also offer financial aid. Please contact us if you have any questions about financial assistance and other subsidies.

Enrollment requirements

Read our readiness questionnaire below to see if your child is ready:

Due to the outdoor-nature of the preschool, it is imperative that children are able to clearly communicate their needs (e.g. bathroom use, thirst, hunger, pain, etc). While we remind children to address their needs early and often, if we are outside and a child needs to go to the bathroom, they need to be able to share that with us, so we can get them to a location where they can go in a timely manner.

Your child should be able to do everything necessary to go to the bathroom independently (i.e. manipulate clothing, wiping, etc.). If a child needs assistance, they need to be able to ask for help. It is presumed that children are fully potty trained and proficient in toileting. No diapers or pull-ups allowed.

We are always working with children to encourage independence and develop self help skills. Your child should be able to change his/her clothes or be willing to attempt to change them on their own, as well as be able to ask for help if he or she is having difficulty.

In our program, it is required that children are able to follow directions given to them by our educators in order to keep them safe. Your child will be required to stay with the group, as that is one of our main agreements that every child must follow.

Preschool Calendar

You can add this to your Google Calendar: add calendar.

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