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Admissions

We are here to assist qualifying families through the admissions journey. Below, you will find information about the admissions process as well as our minimum admissions qualifications.

CHS is committed to providing enrolled children and families with:

Educator working with studentsHigh quality early education and care from a team of dedicated, highly qualified educators and staff.

Student eating lunchComprehensive support for children’s needs beyond academics, including health and nutrition, early intervention, transportation, and more.

Family Success AdvocateFamily Success Advocates to help navigate needs, access resources and educational programming, and establish a personalized plan to reach each family’s goals.

Family members reading materialsOngoing commitment to growth and excellence through measurement of not only child and family progress, but also CHS program outcomes and success.

State-of-the-art facilitiesState-of-the-art facilities designed to meet the needs of children and families, including dynamic age-level classrooms, indoor and outdoor play spaces, a STEM Garden, Family Success Center, and more.

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Learn more about CHS admissions

CHS receives more applications than we can accept, and our application is not open year-round. If you are interested in admissions at CHS, sign up for our admissions news and you’ll be among the first to know when our application is open again.

As we review applications to fill our limited openings, it is our priority that we fully understand your family’s needs before determining eligibility. That is why our dedicated admissions team will guide you through the process, beginning with our online application.

Sign up for admissions updates

Ages served

Infants

6 weeks to 12 months old

Younger toddler

1 to 2 years old

Older toddler

2 to 3 years old

Preschool

3 to 5 years old

Siblings with parent

Minimum admissions qualifications

A child must meet the following criteria:

Come from an income-eligible family

Be six weeks to 4 years old at the time of enrollment

Have the ability to participate in and benefit from the CHS program

CHS receives many more applications than it can accept. This is due to limited space in our centers and our desire to maintain small class sizes with low teacher-to-child ratios. As a result, meeting the minimum admissions qualifications does not guarantee a child’s enrollment.

CHS Prioritized Districts

CHS prioritizes applications from children and families who live, work, or attend school in the community where a CHS Center is located, as determined by the surrounding school district(s).

Each CHS Center works closely with the local school district(s) to support a successful transition to kindergarten.

If your family does not live, work, or attend school in the priority school districts, CHS still encourages your family to apply as we consider many other aspects of a family’s circumstances to determine eligibility and prioritization.

CHS Hershey
This location prioritizes children and families who live, work, or attend school in: Derry Township School District
  • Hershey
Palmyra Area School District
  • Palmyra, Campbelltown, Lawn, and Mount Gretna
Lower Dauphin School District
  • Hummelstown and Grantville

CHS Harrisburg
This location prioritizes children and families who live, work, or attend school in: Harrisburg School District
  • Harrisburg City

CHS Middletown
This location prioritizes children and families who live, work, or attend school in: Middletown Area School District
  • Middletown
Steelton-Highspire School District
  • Steelton and Highspire
Lower Dauphin School District
  • Middletown

CHS New Danville
This location prioritizes children and families who live, work, or attend school in: Penn Manor School District Solanco School District Lampeter-Strasburg School District

CHS Elizabethtown

This location prioritizes children and families who live, work, or attend school in: Elizabethtown Area School District Donegal School District Manheim Central School District

CHS Lancaster City

This location prioritizes children and families who live, work, or attend school in: School District of Lancaster Manheim Township School District
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The admissions process

Application

Step 1 Submit application Submit the online application and indicate qualified location.
Step 2 Provide documentation We will reach out to gather additional information.

On-site visit

Step 3 Schedule interview If eligible, we will contact you to schedule an in-person interview.
Step 4 Conditionally accepted Following the interview, your child may be conditionally accepted to CHS.

New family orientation

Step 5 Home
visit A Family Success Advocate will meet with your family at your home.
Step 6 Now
enrolled We will start to prepare you for your child’s first day at CHS!
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Family commitments and expectations

We believe a strong partnership between CHS and our enrolled families is critical to the successful growth and development of the children in our care. As such, we ask our families to uphold specific commitments as we work together to provide children with the foundation for lifelong success. Some of these commitments include:

  • Regular attendance of children, year round, five days a week
  • Ongoing participation in our quarterly home visiting program
  • Collaboration with a Family Success Advocate to complete goal setting
  • Attendance at a minimum of three parent-teacher conferences per year
  • Participation in data collection/research as needed to understand child progress and program outcomes
  • Collaboration with CHS staff, partners, and community agencies to meet the needs of your family and self
Catherine Hershey Schools

Catherine Hershey Schools for Early Learning are subsidiaries of Milton Hershey School and will be staffed and operated independently of the Milton Hershey School core model.

Catherine Hershey Schools for Early Learning admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.

© 2025 Catherine Hershey Schools for Early Learning