The Muse: A Children’s Center

The Muse: A Children’s Center

High quality, licensed child care at the Museum

The Muse

Important Enrollment Information

We are currently at full capacity and are not accepting applications. 

About The Muse

The Muse: A Children’s Center offers high quality, licensed child care that emphasizes a child-centered approach to early learning. The Muse is a program of the Greentrike. At The Muse children are seen as capable, contributing, and compassionate citizens of our community who partner with teachers to discover exploration and learning opportunities within their environment. We promote school readiness by developing critical thinking and social-emotional skills through play based learning that includes math, science, and the arts.

The Muse : A Children’s Center is inspired by the schools of Reggio Emila, Italy, where the image of the child is seen as capable, competent, and with high potential. At the heart of this approach to early childhood education are the relationships between families, children, and teachers. We believe children are valuable citizens and contributors to the community and that teacher’s partner with children in the learning process.

The Details

Classes:

Nest: 1 – 2 years old

Journey: 2 – 3 years old

Bridge: 3 – 4 years old

Forest: 4 – up to 6 years old

Location:

The Muse: a children’s center

1501 Pacific Avenue, Lower Level

Tacoma, WA 98402

Hours:

Monday – Friday from 7 a.m. – 6 p.m.*

*The Muse will be closed select holidays.

Ages and Tuition Rates:

The Muse is available for full time child care for children ages 12 months – 5 years old. All tuition rates are based on days up to 10 hours.

Toddlers (Nest and Journey Classrooms): $1100 per month

Preschoolers (Bridges and Forest Classrooms): $1050 per month

Muse Relief Fund

Your donation to The Muse Emergency Scholarship Fund will provide emergency tuition assistance for families enrolled at the Muse who are experiencing a significant life event.

Muse Emergency Relief Fund

FAQ | The Muse

We recommend applying to the waitlist at least 18 months before your desired start date. Being added to the wait list does not guarantee a spot. Enrollment is based on a first come first served basis, with priority enrollment for those associated with the University of Washington Tacoma and for siblings of current students.

Currently our wait time for toddlers (1–3 yrs) is around 24–30 months and our wait time for preschoolers (3–5 yrs) is around 30–36 months. Please note that there is a waitlist for each classroom and children are moved to the appropriate classroom waitlist as they age, this can increase or decrease wait times.

To be added to our waitlist, please fill out our pre-application form. Once the pre-application is submitted, your child will be placed on the age-appropriate classroom wait list according to the date the application was received. Because of the high volume of inquiries, please allow up to 14 days for a confirmation response.

Most children are enrolled at The Muse during the late spring and summer months. Vacancies during the school year are rare, but can occur. When a spot becomes available, we will make contact as soon as possible. Please note that enrollment offers may be made with as little as two weeks notice.

Because of our extensive waitlist, we ask that you respond to our enrollment offer within 72 hours of being received. If no response is given within that time frame, we will assume care for your child is no longer needed and you will be removed from our waitlist. Upon acceptance, an annual registration fee will be due and paperwork will need to be completed in full before your child’s start date.

No. The Muse is a full time, year round program and our tuition is based on ten hour days, five days a week. The Museum offers two part time preschool programs through Preschool Powered by Play.

The Muse is a full time, year round center. Our center is open from 7:00am–6:00pm, Monday–Friday. We are closed for all major holidays and several professional development days throughout the year.

-Must be able to walk with little to no assistance
-Must be comfortable using a sippy cup and eating solid food
-Must be comfortable sleeping on their own, and used to one 1-2.5 hour nap

If you’re child does not meet all or most of these requirements, your start date may be delayed. These expectations are set for the safety and comfort of all new students joining our classroom.

We offer 20–25 minute tours of our center Monday-Thursday, 9:30–11a.m. OR  3–5 p.m. To schedule a tour please email museinfo@greentrike.org with ‘Muse Tour’ in the subject line. Please note that because of high volumes of inquiries, tour requests must be made at least two weeks in advance.

Tuition rates are based on 10 hour days, 5 days a week and are subject to change annually. As of July 2019, tuition is $1100/month for toddlers (1–3 years) and $1050/monthly for preschool (3–5 years).