​Our Founding Values:

• Learning through play
• Creating an educational community
• Giving individualized care
• Seeing children as full people
• Providing a student-led educational environment
• Engaging with and teaching about nature
• Supporting diversity and compassion
• Maintaining a low teacher to student ratio (1:5)
• Keeping costs low through parent cooperation

Our School:

• WPCS offers all aged circles (ages 2-6) on community days, "Mentor Mondays"  (4-6 with 2's) and then an "oldest" and "youngest" circle for 3 days per week.
• School hours are from 8:30am – 2pm.
• Two through five day enrollment options are available.
• After school program goes from 2 pm – 5:30 pm, for an additional fee (approximately $25/day).
• Tuition (approximately $37/day) is paid monthly. We charge per day rather than a flat monthly fee- so tuition varies slightly month to month.
• Children play outside daily and take frequent walking trips around the neighborhood.
• ​The school provides a healthy (sometimes kid-made) snack and parents provide a packed lunch.

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Diversity:

WPCS strives to create a community of families that reflects the diversity of broader Philadelphia. We aim to create a learning environment that is inclusive and welcoming of difference  as it relates to race, ethnicity, gender, family structure, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic class and physical ability. We encourage students and families to share their whole selves, so we can celebrate and learn from each other. We see this as an important part of social development for each child, but also important for the development of an inclusive and compassionate community. As our greater Philadelphia community struggles with issues of gentrification, bigotry and inequality, we recognize that the foundation for social justice lies with building compassion and respect for difference in our youngest members.

Our commitment to diversity is reflected in our emergent curriculum, outreach and admissions policies.

Co-oping Responsibilities:

• Fulfill a parent job.  This job may include participation in a committee (Administrative, Finance, Personnel, Membership, or Development).
• Attend school wide Town Meetings (bi-monthly).
• Complete 3 hours of in-school time per month (exemptions and a buy-out option are available).
• Participate in all-school workdays (approximately 4 hours per semester).
• Attend and participate in Fundraisers.
• Attend and participate in Open Houses
• School communication is done online; members are expected to check and respond to email regularly.

Enrollment/Wait-list Process:

• Contact the membership coordinator or come to an Open House.
• A $25 non-refundable application fee will be charged to process the application.
• After completed application is received, the membership coordinator will contact you to schedule an initial play-date and school tour.
• If the school feels like a good fit for all parties, membership or a spot on the waiting list may be offered.
• WPCS retains the right to give enrollment priority to siblings of current students or families and students that meet our current membership needs before drawing from the wait-list

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