The questions parents actually ask, answered the way we answer them on the phone.
No. We are an independent, non-profit, non-religious private school. Independent means we are governed by our own board rather than a district, a chain or a church, and we have run that way since 1979. A genuinely secular option is uncommon in the Coachella Valley.
Pre-Kindergarten and Transitional Kindergarten (from age 4) through elementary, grade 6. Children must be at least four years of age.
Small — capped at 20 students per teacher, and most classes run well below the cap.
In most cases within about a week of enrollment, space permitting in their grade — including mid-year arrivals.
Yes — children of work-visa (H-1B, L-1, TN, O-1), investor-visa (E-2) and student-visa (F-2, J-2 dependent) families may enroll in a private school under federal rules.
Yes — before- and after-school care is included with tuition. Daily hot lunch is available at a separate cost.
Yes, for children 4 and up — full day care runs 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., all year. Daycare for children UNDER 4 is not open yet; a child care license application for it is in review with the California Department of Social Services. Join the list on our Daycare page and we will tell you the moment it opens.
Care for children 4 and up is open now. For under 4, we do not have a firm date — it depends on the state completing its licensing review. The fastest way to hear is to join the list on our Daycare page. There is no cost and no commitment.
The 2026-2027 school year runs Monday, August 24, 2026 through Friday, June 11, 2027. Summer camp begins Monday, June 14. The school itself is open all year, Monday through Friday, apart from holidays and one week in August. The full calendar is on our School Calendar page.
Kindergarten-Prep and Kindergarten run 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., and 1st through 6th grade run 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Elementary students may arrive as early as 6:00 a.m. and stay as late as 6:00 p.m. at no additional charge.
Yes. The school year's tuition can be paid in 10 monthly installments, or in full at the start of the year. You can set up monthly autopay online on our Tuition page, with no card fees for you or the school.
A nutritious lunch is prepared daily on site by a full-time licensed cook: a main dish, vegetable, fresh fruit, juice or milk, and dessert. Special weekly meals include pizza and hamburgers. Children may also bring their own lunch.
Parents are called immediately and told exactly what happened and what we did. Minor injuries are handled on site. We rehearse fire and earthquake plans with every class monthly, and the school keeps enough food and water on campus to shelter students for 48 hours.
Yes — the educational summer program runs each year as a separate enrollment, open to current and new families.
Yes — se habla español, in the office and in our communications.
We publish it. The elementary school day, Pre-Kindergarten through 6th grade, is $925 a month, and lunches add $75 a month. Full day care from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. is $925 a month, or $1,000 with lunch. Part-time mornings start at $750 a month. Fees: a one-time $225 application fee for new families, a $600 textbook and materials fee for the year with $300 of it due at application and the balance by December, and $100 for materials, art and cooking twice a year. Weekly and daily rates are on the tuition page, where you can also pay online with no card fees. Online learning is priced per family, so call (760) 345-8100. Families commonly pay using 529 plans, dependent-care accounts, or direct grandparent payment.
Yes — book a video tour, message us on WhatsApp, and complete records, enrollment and deposit online before you travel.
If you are anywhere between Palm Springs and Coachella, yes. The Learning Tree Center is on Washington Street on the line between Palm Desert and Bermuda Dunes, with Interstate 10 and Highway 111 both close. Families drive in from Palm Desert, Bermuda Dunes, La Quinta, Indian Wells, Indio, Rancho Mirage, Cathedral City, Palm Springs, Thermal and Coachella. The campus is open 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. at no extra charge, which is what makes a cross-valley commute workable.
Yes. Pre-Kindergarten and Transitional Kindergarten start at age 4, and there is space now. Preschool here is not childcare with a worksheet: children get language, maths and science foundations alongside music, art and cooking, in a class capped at twenty. Call (760) 345-8100 and your child can usually start within a week.
We are one, and we have been here since 1979. The Learning Tree Center is an independent, non-profit, non-religious private school at 42-675 Washington Street, serving Pre-Kindergarten through 6th grade on a three-acre gated campus. Tuition is published on this site rather than hidden behind a phone call.
Yes, all year. Tops are polo shirts in burgundy, red, forest green or navy, always with the school logo, and bottoms are khaki or navy. Girls may wear navy, khaki or plaid skirts from 3rd through 5th grade. The dress code is enforced after the first two weeks of school, so there is time to get sorted. The full list and where to buy are on our Uniforms page.
On the monthly assembly day every child wears a red logo polo with navy bottoms. Not burgundy, not forest green. It is worth keeping one red polo clean for it.
Yes, every top must carry the school logo. Our primary provider is French Toast and the office can arrange sizing and ordering for you. You may also buy plain polos and bottoms anywhere, including Lands' End, Gap Kids, Old Navy, Target or Walmart, as long as the color and style match. Bring them to McDowell Awards at (760) 347-0069 to be embroidered. Order all your polos at once and take them in together.
It differs by grade. Pick your child's grade on our Supply List page and you get exactly that list, which you can print or download and take to the store. Supplies come in on the first day, Monday, August 24, 2026, labeled with your child's name.
Yes. Twelve tuition scholarships are awarded each year, six at $500 and six at $300. A child needs to have attended for one year before being considered, and one child per family is eligible. A committee weighs academic achievement, financial need and parental involvement. Scholarships are confidential and are never shared with the enrollment. Ask the office for information.
California-adopted programs, the same ones the public districts use: Wonders from McGraw-Hill for reading and language arts, Abeka for mathematics, and Houghton Mifflin's Discovery Works for science. Desert Sands Unified adopted the same math program, so skills transfer cleanly in either direction. Pick a grade on our Academics page to see exactly what your child will study.
That is precisely why we use the California-adopted programs. A child moving in or out is neither behind nor repeating work. Our graduates go on to selective private schools and to public middle and junior highs, and the standard we hold to is that they are top students wherever they land.
Both. On top of the anthology, children in Kindergarten through 5th read three novels a year, one each trimester, as a full study rather than a book report. Kindergarten reads the Frog and Toad series, first grade Amelia Bedelia, second grade Stone Soup, third grade Sarah, Plain and Tall, fourth grade Island of the Blue Dolphins, and fifth grade Bridge to Terabithia.
Four supervised free-play breaks a day. Teachers supervise the playground on purpose, so they see how your child actually gets on with other children.
Yes, and it is normal here. Teachers hold extra help sessions in their own classrooms after the day ends. Study hall runs four days a week for homework, extra credit or quiet reading. Tutoring is available through our own teachers and outside instructors for a child who needs support in a particular area.
We have three rules: respect yourself, respect others, respect property. When one is broken, the child is walked through what they said or did and why it matters, in this order: a time-out, then restricted free time, then a conference with the parents and the principal. Suspension and expulsion exist but are the last step, not the first. Children with commendable behavior are recognized throughout the year.
Student government, and it matters here. The Senate leads on behavior and attitude across the school, represents what students need, and is the link between the children and the administration. It also co-sponsors the fundraisers that pay for programs. Our own handbook says the experience of leadership is what distinguishes this school.
Expected is the wrong word, but you will be welcomed and you will be glad you did. The Parent/Teacher Club organizes and staffs the events across four areas: family and community awareness, classroom programming, fundraising, and special events. Bring time, a skill or a connection. Parental involvement is also one of three things the committee weighs when awarding scholarships.
Extra-curricular activities run daily between 3:00 and 5:30 p.m. Seasonal sports include soccer, basketball, baseball, track and flag football. There are also classes in computer skills, gymnastics, tap, ballet and jazz dance, musical instruments, karate, reading and art. Most carry a small fee.
Every spring. Riverside County sponsors it, students build investigative and experimental projects that are displayed and judged at the school, and the winning projects go on to the Inland Empire Science and Engineering Fair.
Textbooks are furnished by the school for all required work and must be returned at the end of the year. Families are billed only for lost or damaged books. The textbook and materials fee is $600 for the year. The $300 you send with the application is the first half of that $600, not a separate deposit, and the balance is due by winter break in December. Returning families put their $300 down over the summer instead. New families also pay a one-time $225 application fee. If a different arrangement works better for your family, call the office.
Call the school office before 9:00 a.m. that same day, or earlier if you know in advance. If the absence is long or the illness is contagious, we need a doctor's confirmation before your child comes back. If your child needs to leave early, send the office a note in writing and we will pass it to the teacher.
Yes. There is no admissions season and no waitlist, and mid-year and mid-semester students are welcome whenever a grade has space. Families here for the winter equestrian circuit or on a sports roster enroll for a season all the time. If you travel, our live online classes keep your child with their own teacher.
Thirty days written notice. No credit is given for illness or vacation during the school year.
Every grade from Kindergarten-Prep up gets an hour in the computer lab each week, run by a Microsoft Certified Professional. The lab has twelve desktops, and every classroom has Chromebooks and tablets, with seventy added this year. Children learn keyboarding, how a computer actually works, the basics of the internet and real software including Microsoft Office.
The school sits on three gated acres inside a gated community with controlled entry. An adult walks each child in every morning and signs them in, and the same applies at pickup. Nobody leaves campus without it. Fire and earthquake plans are rehearsed with every class monthly.
All over the Coachella Valley. We are on Washington Street on the line between Palm Desert and Bermuda Dunes, with Interstate 10 and Highway 111 both close, and families drive in from La Quinta, Indian Wells, Indio, Rancho Mirage, Cathedral City, Palm Springs, Thermal and Coachella. The 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. day is what makes a cross-valley commute workable.
Yes. Our application asks for the last four digits if you have them. If your child does not have one, leave it blank. It is not a requirement to enroll.
There is a snack break mid-morning and another after school. Children can bring snacks from home or buy them at the front office for 75 cents. Many families keep a student spending account topped up so a child can buy lunch extras and snacks without carrying cash.
Twice a year, in the fall and again in the spring. You are under no obligation to buy any of them.
By phone for anything urgent about your own child. For class-wide notices such as early dismissals, event days and the monthly assembly, tell us on the application form where you want reminders sent and in which language, and we will use that.
Tours run every week — in person, or by video call for families abroad.
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