FAQ
About Enrollment & Tuition
Is enrollment school year based or monthly based?
Each enrollment is for a school year. School year starts from July and ends in June of the following year.
I only want to enroll my child for a few months and transfer to another school. May I do that?
Due to the limited capacity and strong demand for school year enrollment, RCA currently doesn’t provide such short term enrollment.
Now is March, but I want my child to start from a few months later, say September. May I reserve a spot now for a few months later? How?
You can reserve a spot by finishing enrollment, which requires you to put down security deposit and annual fee. When you do the enrollment, you need to call out the beginning date. After you finish the enrollment, the School will not give the spot to another family even if that family wants to start the school earlier than your family.
Would putting my child's name on waiting list reserve a spot for my child?
No.
How much is security deposit and annual fee?
Security deposit is one month tuition, which will be credited towards June tuition. Annual fee is $500 each year. See Tuition page for details.
What's annual fee? Will it be charged each year?
The annual fee is registration fee and activity fees, such as egg hunt, summer performance. It is charged once a year.
Will I lose my deposit if my child withdraw before June?
The unallocated security deposit will be become school credit. The school credit could be credited towards the first month tuition of the future enrollment of the Student who enrolls in this enrollment agreement, or the child from the same family, or the child referred by this family. The school credit could also be credited towards summer camp or backup care at RCA. The school credit never expires. The security deposit is non-refundable.
I enrolled for May. After that I change my mind and want to postpone the first day of school to September. May I do this? Is there any penalty or fee for doing that?
Yes, you can change the beginning date after enrollment. No. There is no penalty or fee. If you need to postpone the first day of school, just let us know via email. We will help you to arrange a new starting date.
I enrolled for September. After that I change my mind and want to move the first day of school earlier to May. If there is a spot available in May, is it O.K?
Yes, as long as there is a spot available in May, it is totally fine to move the first day of school earlier in May and there is no fee on doing that.
I'm not sure if my child is going to like your school. Can my child try it out before I put down security deposit?
Yes. Our school offers pre-enrollment experience. You can let your child try out our school without putting down security deposit or signing any agreement. The try-out is free. See Admission Process for more details.
When do you charge security deposit, annual fee and how?
They will be charged when doing the enrollment. It is done through ACH (Automatic Clearing House). Parents will need to provide ACH authorization during the enrollment.
How do you charge tuition, monthly or yearly?
It will be charged monthly on the first day of each month. For example, March tuition will be charged on March 1st. It is charged through ACH (Automatic Clearing House). Parents will need to provide ACH authorization during the enrollment.
What's your monthly tuition?
See Tuition page for details
Our family needs to do international travel for a month. Will school give any tuition discount?
Yes, 50% discount. For example, if you are absent from Jan 1st to Jan 31st, our school will offer discount for Jan tuition. Our school will reserve the spot for the Student.
The first day of school is May 15th, not May 1st. How do you charge for the first month of tuition?
It is pro-rata. Say there are 11 business days from first day of school to the end of month, and 22 business days for May. You will be charged for 50% of monthly tuition.
Is there any discount on sibling?
Yes, 10% sibling discount is applied on lesser tuition
How to do enrollment signing? Is that online or on-site?
It is done through DocuSign online.
Before I sign the enrollment agreement, I want to review it. When and how could I do it?
During the on-site tour, you will review the printed copy of enrollment agreement in the office of School Director. You can use your cell phone to take a photo of the enrollment agreement and continue reviewing it after your tour. The DocuSign is not for enrollment agreement review, but for enrollment agreement signing.
About Flu
When shall I do a flu test for my child?
If your child is sick and you bring your child to see a doctor for that, RCA suggest you to do a flu test for your child.
About Chinese Teaching
What's your teaching strategy for Chinese and English?
In general 50-50. There is a Chinese teacher and an English teacher in each classroom. From the perspective of the communication of daily life, such as snacks, lunch, recess, center time, nap, bathroom using, circle etc., the chance of Chinese practice and English practice is 50-50. When a child just joins the school from home environment in which parents only speak in Chinese, at the beginning s/he will interact with Chinese teacher more than English teacher. However after a period of time s/he will pick up the English communication skill and interact with both Chinese teacher and English teacher in 50-50 way. This is true for a child from home environment in which parents only speak in English. Whichever language environment is a child from, s/he will eventually pick up the second language in about three to six months.
When do you begin to teach Chinese officially?
Preschool. Toddler Chinese teacher will teach theme class in Chinese. However toddler focuses more on life skill training than academic training. Children will have official Chinese class from preschool program, half an hour each day. Pre-K children will have a Chinese class, one hour each day. Preschool focuses on 听、说，while Pre-K students will learn all 听、说、读、写。Our school teaches 拼音 in Pre-K. See Programs for more details.
About Parent Teacher Communication
Is there a daily report for my child?
Yes, parents will receive a daily report by email after the child is picked up. Here is an sample report.
How do I communicate with classroom teacher?
By classroom email. The lead teacher will check emails every morning and respond your email within 24 hours in general. You can also briefly chat with the classroom teachers during morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up time.
Is there any parent-teacher conference?
Yes. Preschool and Pre-K will have two parent-teacher conferences, one for each trimester.
About Teacher Qualification
What are teacher qualification?
All our teachers have passed DCYP background check, taken the Washington State’s STARS training, along with First Aid and CPR training.
About Food
Do I need to prepare food for my child?
No. School will provide one lunch and two snacks. Parents do not need to prepare food for children.
Do I need to pay for lunch and snacks separately?
No. They are included in monthly tuition fee.
How is the food prepared?
All food are prepared by RCA cook in RCA kitchen on-site. We do not use any catering service. The food is in Chinese style. See Food Menus for details.