Current Family Registration is due January 15th.

How to submit ECDC Registration Forms –

1. Campus Mail
2. Postal Mail
3. Drop it by an ECDC program site between 7:00am and 5:30pm
4. Families currently living outside of the U.S. – please send your registration forms(s) by email to kalford@saintmarys.edu. The registration fee(s) will be collected when you join the ND/SMC/South Bend community.

Mailing Addresses:

ECDC-SMC
Saint Mary’s College, Havican Hall
Notre Dame, IN 46556

ECDC-ND
10 Child Care Center
Notre Dame, IN 46556

Registration fees can be paid by check or cash – checks should be made payable to ECDC. If submitting cash, please submit the registration form to an ECDC office and you will be provided with a receipt. ECDC doesn’t accept credit or debit card payments for registration fees.

Registration for the 9 week 2025 Summer Program takes place during January/February with a registration due date of February 15 to be included in the initial registration process. After February 15, registration takes place on a first come, first served roll in application basis. Parents will be informed by March 15 about their child’s summer enrollment.

The Summer Program Registration Form is available each year on the ECDC website in early December. The summer registration form requires a nonrefundable $50 registration fee. Families can reduce their summer enrollment schedule or withdraw from the summer program through April 15. If a family withdraws or reduces their enrollment schedule after April 15, they are responsible for the entire summer program tuition, unless another child is enrolled to take their child’s enrollment schedule.

Summer enrollment for the full 9 week summer program is required.

Registration for the 2025-26 School Year Preschool Program takes place during January & February with a registration due date of March 1, to be included in the initial registration process. After March 1, registration takes place on a first come, first served roll in application basis. Parents will be informed by April 1 regarding their child’s school year enrollment.

The School Year Registration Form is available each year on the ECDC website in early December. The school year registration form requires a nonrefundable $50 registration fee for preschool age children. Families can reduce their school year enrollment schedule or withdraw from the school year program through May 1st. If a family withdraws or reduces their enrollment schedule after May 1st, they are responsible for the entire fall semester program tuition through December, unless another child is enrolled to take their child’s school year enrollment schedule.

Registration for the 2025-26 SY Kindergarten takes place in December/January with a registration due date of January 15 to be included in the initial registration process. Children who turn 5 years old by Sept. 1st are eligible for the ECDC kindergarten program. After January 15, registration takes place on a first come, first served roll-in application basis. Parents are informed by February 15 regarding their child’s kindergarten enrollment.

The SY Kindergarten Registration Form is available on the ECDC website in early December. The kindergarten registration form requires a nonrefundable $100 registration fee. Families can withdraw through May 1. If a family withdraws from kindergarten after May 1, they are responsible for the entire fall semester program tuition through December, unless another child is enrolled to take their child’s school year enrollment schedule.

ECDC-SMC is open to members of the Saint Mary’s College and Notre Dame communities (e.g., faculty, staff, students, administration, alumni/alumnae, and employees of Holy Cross Order institutions) as well as the public and offers four preschool age groups/classrooms during the school year: 3’s, 3/4’s, 4’s, and 4/5’s.  The summer program enrolls children ages 3 through 10*.  ECDC-SMC is the only ECDC program that enrolls families who aren’t affiliated to ND or SMC, families who are from the Michiana community.

ECDC-ND is open to members of the University of Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s College communities (e.g., faculty, staff, students, administration, alumni/alumnae).  ECDC-ND is NOT open to the public.  ECDC-ND offers six early childhood age groups/classrooms during the school year: 2’s, 3’s, 3/4’s, 4’s, 4/5’s, and Kindergarten.  The summer program enrolls children ages 2.5 through 10*.  Typically there is only enrollment space for families affiliated to ND; most SMC and alumni(ae) families are placed on the wait list and enroll with ECDC-SMC.

*Summer enrollment priority is given to children 9 years and younger.  If school age rooms are not fully enrolled after the initial registration process, 10-year-olds will be enrolled if they attended ECDC the previous summer.

ECDC offers both full time and part time preschool schedules. Full time is a Monday – Friday schedule – ECDC is open 7:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. Part time enrollment options include: MWF mornings, afternoons or all day; TTH mornings, afternoons or all day, M-F mornings or afternoons. About 50% of the children enrolled attend with full time schedules and 50% of the children attend with part time preschool schedules.

Kindergarten schedules are Full Time (given priority enrollment), Mon-Fri mornings and Mon-Fri mornings including lunch.

During the summer day camp program, only full day schedules are available for school age children (children who have completed kindergarten and older): M-F all day, MWF all day, TTH all day. Please see the Tuition Schedule located on the ECDC website registration page for details about the various enrollment schedules and corresponding tuition.

ECDC only offers M through F, MWF or TTH schedules due to class schedules at ND and SMC.

The only age group that receives an enrollment schedule priority during the registration process is Kindergarten. First priority is given to full time schedules for the school year kindergarten program. Second priority is giving to half day schedules.

Preschool Groups – parents should list their first choice schedule, their second choice schedule and if they have any flexibility they should list “any” under third choice. It will not help or hurt to list full time first except for application to Kindergarten. If a family only can accept one schedule, they should only list that one schedule. Please do not list “any” if you don’t have some flexibility. Willingness to accept either ECDC site, if you are eligible for both, could also increase your chances of enrollment.

School Age Groups- During the summer day camp program, only full day schedules are available for school age children (children who have completed kindergarten and older): M-F all day, MWF all day, TTH all day. Willingness to accept either ECDC site, if you are eligible for both, could also increase your chances of enrollment.

The SY and Summer waiting lists are for that program period only. Families on the waiting list must re-apply for upcoming programs (e.g., the next SY or next Summer). Families on the SY waiting list during fall semester do not need to re-apply for spring semester; it is part of the SY program.

The SY and Summer waiting lists are for that specific year/time period only. Families register for the program for which their child is age eligible. Early registration of children younger than the ages served by ECDC isn’t possible. We are happy to add families to our mailing list and they will receive information about upcoming registration periods.

Families register for the program for which their child is age eligible. Children who are turning 2 by September 1st are age eligible for the ECDC-ND SY program. Children who are 2 years and 6 months (2.5 years old) by June 1st are age eligible for the summer program. Children not meeting these age cutoff dates are not yet eligible to register for the ECDC-ND program.

The ECDC facilities are limited with both space and required licensing components; therefore, unable to enroll children younger than age 2 at ECDC-ND and unable to enroll children younger than age 3 at ECDC-SMC.

If enrollment space is available, children may enroll mid-program. Contact Kari Alford at kalford@saintmarys.edu or 574-631-3344 to inquire about mid-year enrollment.

Due to licensing regulations and accreditation standards regarding group sizes and ratios for specific age groups, ECDC is unable to provide multi-age groups beyond what is currently offered.

The ECDC tuition schedule is located on the ECDC Website Registration page: ECDC Tuition

ECDC invoices families for the full semester. Parents may pay for the full semester when invoiced (e.g., fall, spring and summer) or may elect to pay tuition on a monthly, bi-monthly or weekly basis. Tuition is due in advance of the service. If paying monthly, tuition is due on the 1st of the month. If paying twice per month tuition is due on the 1st and the 15th.

In order to provide a quality early childhood program, ECDC is unable to offer multiple child discounts. Parents pay the same tuition rate, regardless of how many children they have enrolled at ECDC.

The ECDC calendar is located here.

ECDC-SMC and ECDC-ND do not operate on the following dates~

• Thanksgiving:  Wed, Thurs and Fri
• Winter: Two weeks for winter break and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
• Spring: Good Friday and Easter Monday
• Spring/Summer: Memorial Day and the Friday before and 4th of July
• The Thursday and Friday before the summer program begins – teachers and program staff are involved in changing the school year program into the summer program
• The two weeks before the school year begins in August – the first week, ECDC is closed; the second week, teachers and program staff are involved in required professional development activities and are preparing the classrooms for the new school year

• Please note – ECDC is open and in session on Labor Day at both program sites
• Parents are not billed for tuition during our two week winter break, the two days between our school year program and summer program, or the two weeks we are closed in August.

Parents pay for their enrollment schedule regardless of their child’s attendance. 

ECDC is an early care and education program licensed through the State of Indiana’s Department of Early Childhood Learning and is NAEYC Accredited. Less than 8% of all early childhood programs in the United States are NAEYC Accredited.

ECDC is a preschool program that provides both full day enrollment schedules for families working or studying full time and also provides typical part time preschool schedules. Regardless of a child’s schedule of full time or a part time preschool type schedule, the child is involved in activities that foster social, emotional, physical, cognitive and creative development.

Teacher Qualifications: Each activity room is staffed with two co-lead teachers and many classrooms also have an associate or assistant teacher. Lead and Co-Lead Teachers have a minimum of a Bachelor’s Degree in either Early Childhood Education or a related field and experience with young children. Several ECDC Lead/Co-Lead Teachers have Master’s Degrees in Education that include a concentration in early childhood education. All ECDC staff participate in more than 20 hours of professional development annually and receive Pediatric First Aid and CPR training.

Children do not need to be potty trained to attend either ECDC site. Teachers work with children and families when they observe signs of readiness to begin the process (e.g., staying dry for long periods of time, ability to manage his/her own clothing, willingness to sit on the toilet and occasionally going on the toilet, etc.). Families provide pull-ups or diapers. Children’s pull-ups or diapers are checked and changed by their teachers every two hours or as needed. Regular trips to the bathroom, seeing peers use the bathroom, and encouragement by the teachers help the process of potty training. Once children are wearing underwear, we encourage families to bring several changes of clothing to be stored in their child’s individual locker because potty accidents are a natural occurrence during the process.

Special activities are scheduled across all enrollment schedules so that children who are only enrolled part time will have the opportunity for special activities.

Children in the summer 2/3’s, 3/4’s, and 4’s at Notre Dame and the 3/4’s at Saint Mary’s participate in special activities such as storytelling, puppetry, gymnastics, nature activities, art, music, creative dramatics, gardening and play.

In the event of an emergency closing or other urgent information, ECDC families are notified via email message, text message, announcements on WNDU radio and television, and postings on the ECDC Facebook page. The text message program ECDC uses is called REMIND. Please update your phone number or email address when any changes occur so we can ensure emergency notifications reach you.