Frequently Asked Questions

Tree of Life Children's Center is the same developmentally based program, with the same child centered approach as TBI Preschool, just with a new name! Our current Director was a former lead teacher at the program for many years, and the same philosophy and approach to working with children remains, while we develop additional aspects of our program to serve more families.

No. Our program is truly child centered and we understand that children’s bodies all mature at different paces and times. We happily accept children at every stage of potty training and allow them to progress to subsequent classrooms regardless of potty training status. We support children where they are in their journey and help them progress to independence with toileting when they are ready.

Tree of Life Children’s Center is a nut-free school. We do not provide any foods with nuts and we ask parents to make sure their children’s lunches are free from all nut containing products.

Families are expected to provide lunches for their children each day. Lunches are stored in the classroom, so they need cold packs to keep food chilled. There is no microwave available for heating food, so all food should be able to be eaten from the child’s lunchbox.

Parents pack a morning snack item and provide a water bottle for their child.  We refill water bottles with bottled spring water, and encourage children to hydrate throughout the day.  On Fridays, we also offer challah for Shabbat in addition to morning snack from home.  For children who stay past 3:30 pm, the school provides an afternoon snack, always vegetarian and child-friendly.

No, at Tree of Life Children’s Center we have a wide variety of learning tools, but we do not use screen-based technology in any of our classrooms.

Absolutely! Tree of Life Children’s Center welcomes children of every background.

Children are not required to sleep, but rest time is a requirement in full day licensed care, so all children attending past 1 pm will have a cot, and be supported to rest their bodies quietly in the early afternoon.

Yes, we are mandated as employees of Temple Beth Israel to have up to date Covid-19 vaccination status.  This also applies to any volunteers who are regularly interacting with the children.