About the FCMS Preschool Program

In keeping with our Mission, Fort Collins Montessori School offers a Preschool Program that is a full or half day, five-day-a-week program.

FCMS teachers (guides) are Montessori certified (either Association Montessori Internationale, AMI or American Montessori Society, AMS) for the level they teach. All classrooms are equipped with AMI-approved Montessori materials.

Families interested in enrolling their children in the FCMS Preschool Program are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the Montessori Method.

Our full day, five-day-a-week classic Montessori Preschool Program supports the child’s social, emotional and academic development. We offer approximately 20% of our 4‐year-old positions and 40% of our 3‐year-old positions as half day positions for families who are not yet ready to commit to a full day program. As Montessori is a progressive form of education, and FCMS recognizes that early childhood education is vitally important to future school success, full day enrollment is considered “best practice” and is strongly encouraged.

Currently enrolled Preschool students have priority for enrollment at FCMS for the following school year. Parents of current students must submit an Intent to Re-Enroll Form on our Forms page by the January/February deadline of the current school year.

Enrollment Requirements

Children must have turned 3-years-old by October 1 of the school year to enroll in our Preschool Program. There is a non-refundable Preschool application fee of $50. A Preschool application is not considered complete without this payment. See our Priority Order for Admission and Waiting List information below.



2024-2025 Important Dates

• January 13, 2025: 2024-2025 Intent to Re-Enroll form due for currently enrolled students planning to return.
• January 13-February 13, 2025: Application window for NEW STUDENT APPLICATIONS for 2025-2026 school year. PLEASE NOTE: New student applications MUST be completed and submitted via our New Student Application Page within the January-February window to be considered for the lottery.
• February 21, 2025: New student seat offers sent via email.
• March 4, 2025: Deadline for new students to accept/decline seat.

New Student Applying During Open Enrollment — January 13-February 13, 2025

1. Complete the New Student Application form.

Mail relevant information to:
Fort Collins Montessori School
1109 W Harmony Road
Fort Collins, CO, 80526
Attn: Enrollment

You will receive an email when your application is received. If you do not receive this notification within three days of  your application, email [email protected] to confirm that it has been received.

Admission to FCMS is determined based on a priority order for admission (see Priority Order for Admission below). If there is more interest during Open Enrollment than there are spaces available, admission will be determined by lottery one week after the last day of Open Enrollment.

After the lottery, notification of an offer for a position will be made by e‐mail no later than one business day after the lottery. After receiving the offer, we ask that applicants accept or decline the offer via email within two business days. If we do not receive an email reply within two business days, we will attempt to contact you by phone for two days. Should a family not respond to notification within four business days of an offer, their child’s name shall be withdrawn and that available spot will be offered to the child at the top of the waiting list. If you decline, we ask that you let us know; if we do not hear from you, we will assume you have declined. Once you accept, you will be emailed directions to complete the Online Registration forms. These forms must be completed online within 2 weeks of acceptance. Applicants who are not selected by the lottery will be placed on the waiting list for the desired grade and may receive an offer for enrollment as spaces become available.

New Student Applying Outside of Open Enrollment (Post‐Lottery)

1. Complete the New Student Application form.

or print and mail to
Fort Collins Montessori School
1109 W Harmony Road
Fort Collins, CO, 80526
Attn: Enrollment

If no space is available, applications received during Post‐Lottery Enrollment will be placed on the appropriate waiting list in the order received (see Priority Order for Admission below for information on what waiting list is appropriate for your child). Note that waiting lists are continually adjusted to maintain priority order for admission. You will receive an email when your application is received. If you do not receive this notification within a reasonable amount of time after application, email [email protected].

Fort Collins Montessori School reserves the right to implement, as applicable, the following Poudre School District Right to Rescind or Amend Policy:

The District reserves the right to rescind and/or amend any or all choice/open enrollments, including the reassignment of choice/open-enrolled students to their neighborhood schools or to other choice schools or programs with available space, if it determines that (1) the choice/open enrollment was obtained through misrepresentation or nondisclosure of a material fact, (2) there is overcrowding of facilities in the choice school or program, (3) the choice school discontinues a particular program, (4) the choice school or program cannot continue to meet the special needs of the student, (5) the student no longer satisfies the eligibility criteria or level of performance required by the choice school or program, or (6) for other reasons authorized by law and considered by the District to be in the best interest of the student and/or the school or program.

Waiting List

Applicants who were not placed during the lottery will remain on the waiting list. The waiting list shall be continually adjusted to ensure that the students are in the priority order for admission. When making such adjustments, the order of students within each priority level shall be determined by their length of time on the waiting list. Whenever space becomes available in a grade level, applicants shall be considered for acceptance at that time in order of their placement on the waiting list. Offers for newly available spaces will be made within five business days of the space becoming available. Each waiting list will remain active for the duration of the Post‐Lottery Enrollment period. In order to participate in the subsequent year’s lottery, parents must again follow the Open Enrollment procedures for that year.

Priority Order for Admission to FCMS

For each grade level where the number of new applicants exceeds the number of spaces available, and during Post‐Lottery Enrollment as applicants are added to the waiting list, the determination of placement for each applicant shall be made based on the following order of priority:

1. Currently enrolled students (Preschool and K-6th grade), who have submitted an Intent to Re-Enroll form by the January deadline.
2. Children and grandchildren of “founding families,” defined as (1) members of the Fort Collins Montessori School Board of Directors at the time the Charter was approved who have committed to serving a full three year term, and (2) families who submitted an Intent to Enroll form for at least one child by the last business day of June, AND who completed at least 20 hours of volunteerism with FCMS by August 15, 2014.
3. Children of full‐time staff.
4. Siblings of Fort Collins Montessori School students.
   a. Should there be more siblings of Fort Collins Montessori School students than enrollment openings for a given grade level, enrollment shall be offered by computerized random selection from this priority group for the affected grade level.
   b. Sibling means: any child/children living in the same household or with a common parent(s)/legal guardian in separate households. This includes children who become siblings by marriage and/or adoption. Any sibling born while a student is enrolled may retain that status even if the original student graduates from Fort Collins Montessori School before he/she reaches Kindergarten. If sibling priority is forfeited more than once, sibling priority will no longer be honored.
   c. Any sibling offered a position in the first semester must enroll or forfeit their position, and are then subject to general lottery rules. Sibling priority applies to an applicant for K‐6th who has a sibling already enrolled in K‐6th. Sibling priority also applies to applicants for preschool (the 3 and 4‐year‐old program) who have a sibling in preschool or K‐6th. Sibling priority DOES NOT apply for an applicant to K‐6th who has a sibling only in the Preschool (3- and 4‐year old program).
5. District resident students with previous, uninterrupted Montessori enrollment (grades 1-6).
6. All other non-District students with previous, uninterrupted Montessori enrollment (grades 1-6).
7. District residents (physical mailing address within the Poudre School District).
8. All non‐district residents.