Class FAQs



Here is a list of the schools that Child’s Play NY currently offers after-school programming:

Berkeley Carroll | Brooklyn New School | Brooklyn Green Magnet | CBE
Columbia Grammar | Corlears | Friends Seminary | Greene Hill School
Imagine ELC | My Little School | My Little Village | Nightingale Bamford
Packer Collegiate | PS 8 | PS10 | PS11 | PS29 | PS56 | PS58 | PS154
St Hilda’s & St Hugh’s | The Learning Experience | United (Arts & Letters 305)

Connect directly with your after-school coordinator for details on schedule and registration.
If you do not see your child’s school on the list, please feel free to contact us and we can connect directly with your coordinator about a partnership.

Our teacher to student ratio is 1:6.

A sibling discount will automatically apply when registering two or more children in the same semester. Contact us if you have any questions!

Production classes (Musical Players, Shakespeare Players & Middle School Ensemble classes in Brooklyn Heights) have reserved tuition-free spots for BIPOC students and those from historically underrepresented backgrounds from the community. Please contact us to discuss possibilities.

Given the nature of our small arts business, Child’s Play NY does not offer refunds. We have several credit policies in place for use in future programs.

For private group classes, credit will be handled on a case-by-case basis.

For Child’s Play NY after-school programs and production classes:
– If you need to cancel 4 weeks or more before class starts, a full credit for use in a future program will be added to your account.
– If you cancel between 2 and 4 weeks before class starts, a 50% credit will be added to your account.
– If you cancel less than 2 weeks before class starts, no credit will be issued.

Credit can be used toward future camps or classes. Credit cannot be used for birthday parties or private coaching.

For private coaching and lessons, sessions must be cancelled at least 48 hours before the session is scheduled to begin. Any session cancelled within 48 hours will be charged in full.

If your child is enrolled for a class through their school, please contact your after school coordinator directly to ask about their refund policy.

For programs in schools, the late pickup policy varies by location. Please contact your afterschool director to clarify.

For programs at 121 Pierrepont Street in Brooklyn Heights, the policy is as follows:
If you think you are running late for pickup at any point, please text our office and let us know (347-759-6313). Our team will need to plan accordingly!

Child’s Play NY understands the unpredictable nature of commuting around Brooklyn, and as such, there is a 10 minute grace period for late pickups.
If you arrive for pickup 10-20 minutes after class has dismissed, you will be charged $10 through our Sawyer network to the card we have on file.
If you arrive between 20-30 minutes late, you will be charged $20.

These fees cover the cost of our teachers staying late to ensure your child’s safety, and the delay in their clean up and locking up the space.

We handle after-school pick-up on a case-by-case basis.
Contact us for more information.

Our goal is that each child find their unique abilities and be honored as an individual. We celebrate inclusivity and individuality and we work together on challenging things. In order for students and staff to feel respected and safe, we establish Community Agreements at the start of each session.

First, we talk about being Kind and being Brave. From there, the students add on agreements that they want to uphold. Finally, they create a unique chant to honor to the pact and/or add their signature to the document when appropriate.

While the pacts differ slightly from session to session, we always have a central goals that the children know and agree to. Here are the basic points that groups will speak about as they make their community agreements:

  1. 1) Participate in camp activities to the best of your abilities: Try things! Be brave!
  2. 2) Be respectful of teachers and follow directions
  3. 3) Be kind and inclusive toward fellow campers. Support and celebrate everyone’s efforts.
  4. 4) Be respectful of the spaces we are in, both outside & in our studios.
  5. 5) Be safe with your body, including staying with the group outside and adhering to the COVID-19 protocols.

Our goal is to help each student have a successful session and positive class experience. If a student’s behavior is negatively affecting the rest of the group and/or if there is any kind of safety concern, the following consequences will be implemented.

Each incident will be looked at individually and in terms of the degree of seriousness.

  1. – First Time – Teachers will speak to the child, write up an incident report to share with Child’s Play NY administration, and an email will be sent home to families.
  2. – Second Time – Child’s Play NY administration will have a phone call with families.
  3. – Third time – The student will miss at least one day of class in order to understand that there were better behavioral choices to be made relative to the incident. A second phone call will be had with administration to determine if the child can continue.

Thank you for helping us make a safe and nurturing environment for the Child’s Play NY community.

If a class is full, families will be able to join our waitlist! We are not often able to add additional spots to classes, and so getting in off the waitlist typically hinges on someone dropping out of the program. It can happen, but it is hard to predict the likelihood.

In the event a spot opens up, we will contact families over text and email in the order they enrolled for the waitlist, and give them a deadline to confirm if they still want the spot. If they pass, or the deadline passes, we move on to the next family.

At any point, feel free to contact us and see where your child is on the waitlist.

Please note that we cannot accept waitlist requests over texts or emails, families must formally join the waitlist through our Sawyer registration network.

Even if your child does not get off the waitlist, by joining the waitlist, you will be given priority access to register for the next semester before it opens to the public.

We have a long history of supporting neurodivergent kids in various programming. Should your child have a diagnosis that impacts their ability to participate, please share that with us as soon as possible.

Our staff is comprised of actor-teaching artists. While we have some training around the smoothest ways to transition, and techniques that can help kids with focus and attention, we are not as well equipped as traditional classroom teachers to handle certain neurodivergences.

In a phone call before class, we can make a decision together about the best ways to support your child in the session, which group is right for them and will be honest if we feel like we need additional staff in the room to assist. If, during class, we determine that Child’s Play NY is not a good fit or we can not serve the student (based on their ability to work within the Community Agreements, as discussed above) we will be upfront and communicative and seek a fair recourse together.

Production classes include our Musical Players, Shakespeare Players & Middle School Ensemble classes in Brooklyn Heights.

In order to achieve our production goals, we are asking students and their families to be aware of Child’s Play NY’s updated attendance policy.

Please give advance notice of any absences you know will occur (due to travel or other commitments) during the production calendar dates. The semester calendar can be found on the Sawyer registration page and in your welcome letter. Please email emily@childsplayny.com with 48 hours notice, or text 347-759-6313 to notify within 48 hours of class.

We understand illnesses happen! Please communicate with us if your child will have an unforeseen absence due to illness. Text 347-759-6313 on the class day if your child can’t attend.

It is essential for us to know, in advance, who is going to be in the class so we can properly plan what to rehearse. 

Any more than three absences in a semester will result in a conversation with families that may lead to roles or lines being reduced for the student. This is not meant to be punitive, but so each child can still feel successful in the show and the production as a whole can be effectively staged. 

Our studio at 121 Pierrepont Street, where all of our production classes meet, is wheelchair accessbile. Bathroom access, however, is up or down a few stairs. Contact us if you or your child need support or guidance.

We will never cancel a class due to a teacher’s absence. Our classes are staffed by two professional actors with years of classroom experience. Given that they are working professionals, an occasion may arise where they need to miss a class. In the event that one of the instructors is out, another gifted teacher from the Child’s Play NY team will sub in for them. In this way, kids get to work with more of our teachers, and we retain a teacher-base that is vibrantly plugged into the New York theater, film and television scene. We love that our teachers are real working actors and we appreciate your flexibility and understanding if a sub for one of the teachers is in the room on a given week.

Child’s Play NY follows DOE school closure procedures, and therefore may delay opening or cancel classes due to inclement weather. We will notify class participants via text, phone and/or email at the earliest convenience.

Classes will move to Zoom in the event of DOE school closure.

Much thought goes into casting and all of the teaching artists of a given session are involved in decisions. We find the audition process is stressful for the children and not conducive to team-building. Therefore, roles are assigned after the first day once the teachers have gotten to know the students through games, improvisations, text and, if appropriate, music work.

Age and experience of the students are taken into account, but we also look to challenge actors and work to stretch them to experience new characters that they might not normally play. Plays are selected with the ensemble in mind, and great effort is made to ensure the company knows that they are to work together as a team. There are no “stars” or “leads,” but nor are all parts created equally. When a student has fewer lines, we do our best to give them more stage time and/or be featured in musical numbers to balance it out.

We do ask parents to help manage any expectations, as the spirit of the ensemble relies heavily on all kids being on board and trusting/enjoying the process.

For our Production Classes (including Musical Players, Shakespeare Players and Middle School Ensemble) our designer works with the children to provide special costumes. This helps them inhabit their character and takes the production to the next level. We ask that the students come in a “base costume” on which we can then layer pieces.

For our other classes, including ones in schools, as students are devising their own play, we encourage them to wear clothing from home on the last day for the sharing that helps them feel like their character.

Students in privately enrolled in-home classes are welcome to wear and bring costume pieces from home throughout their session.

Here’s a handy document to support support your child at home with practicing their lines.

We do not allow observers in the rehearsal room, there are no trial classes at Child’s Play NY.

We encourage you, when possible, to come see a performance at the end of a semester when possible. Check our website or newsletter to see our shows. Performances are in January and May or June.

These classes do tend to fill up and priority registration goes to current students and previously waitlisted students.

Registration typically opens November 1 for the winter session and May 15 for fall sessions.

Our Tax-ID number is 45-3252442.