The Child Study Center is a laboratory nursery school for the Wellesley College Psychology Department and is open during Wellesley's academic year, September through the third week in May. It offers morning programs, (8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.) with a Tuesday/Thursday extended day option (until 2:30PM) for three- and four-year olds. There are three classes, one for two year olds, one for three year olds and one for four year olds. The age cut-off date is September 1st. Two-year-olds may come for two, three or five mornings a week. Three and four year olds come five mornings a week with the option of adding 2 extended days. Preference is given to the children of Wellesley's faculty and staff, to siblings of children already attending, and remaining spaces are open to the general community. The children are observed and participate in simple research projects, which are carefully monitored. Because of this research, an even number of boys and girls are enrolled in the morning program and a range of birth months within each class is preferred.

Applications are accepted between October 1st and January 15th. Applications are not considered complete until an application fee is submitted and at least one parent or guardian visits the school while it is in session. The deadline for applications, visits, and submitting application fees is January 16th. Decisions are made in February for admission the following September. Notifications of decisions are mailed after February 15th.

An application that can be submitted online or printed and mailed is available from October 1st through January 15th.

Application: Online form | Paper form (pdf)

SYSTEM DOWN - Please note that our online application system was not working between October 1-October 7. If you submitted an online application during this time period, you will need to resubmit your child's information. We apologize for the inconvenience. Please contact Annie Cohen with questions.

The tuition rates for the 2010-2011 academic year are listed below.
Please note that our tuition usually increases each year by a small percentage.

Tuition 2010-2011		Community	Faculty/Staff
Youngest Class	5 days	$6622	$4780
	3 days	$4076	$2942
	2 days	$2750	$1985
Middle & Oldest Class	5 mornings	$5764	$4161
Middle & Oldest Class Extended day option	2 extended days (Tues. & Thurs.)	$2306	$1664

Birth Date Cut-offs for Admission for 2010-11

• Youngest: 9/1/2008
• Middle: 9/1/2007
• Oldest: 9/1/2006

Birth Date Cut-offs for Admission for 2011-12

• Youngest: 9/1/2009
• Middle: 9/1/2008
• Oldest: 9/1/2007