Enrollment listings allow you to showcase your school to prospective families and accept new applications. Enrollment listings simplify the application process with customizable pricing plans, essential paperwork, and the option to share listings via links or QR codes, ensuring a smooth and efficient experience for both families and administrators.
Create Your Listing
Prefer to watch a video walkthrough instead? Click here.
From your Admin Dashboard, click the Enrollment tab and then click the blue + New Listing button in the top right corner of the screen.
Enter the Listing name. This title will be family facing so make sure it clearly describes the listing families will be completing. The Listing name can always be edited later.
When ready, click Create Listing. The first page of the enrollment editor will open.
Step 1: Center Details
The first step in creating a listing is the Center Details page. This is where you add all of the information families need to understand your program. Since most of this content is family-facing, make sure it's polished, accurate, and concise — you'll be able to preview the listing exactly as families will see it before you publish.
Contact Information
In the right-hand sidebar, fill in the contact details families will see on your listing. Phone, Email, City, and State are required; everything else is optional.
Primary button text | The call-to-action button families click to apply. Common options include Apply, Enroll, Register, Inquire, or Join waitlist. |
Website | A link to your school's website. |
Phone [required] | A phone number families can use to reach your school. |
Email [required] | An email address families can contact. |
Program address |
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Cover Photo
Adding photos creates a warmer, more personalized landing page for prospective families. You can add one Cover Photo (the large hero image at the top of the listing) and up to four additional photos.
Click the Cover Photo tile to upload your hero image.
Click any of the four additional photo tiles to upload more images.
To remove a photo, click the x in the top-right corner of the photo.
💡 Use high-quality photos of your classrooms, outdoor spaces, and activities to help families picture their child at your program.
About
The About section is required. Write a brief, engaging description of your program — this is the first thing families read on your listing, so keep it clear and welcoming.
Basics
Most fields in the Basics section are optional. Any field left blank will not appear on the enrollment listing. If you'd prefer to hide the entire Basics section from families, click Hide section in the top-right corner of the panel.
Days | Days of the week care will be provided |
Staff to student ratio | Optional field if programs want to share their ratio with families. |
Languages | Languages spoken |
Curriculum | The curriculum(s) used in the classrooms |
Meals | Which meals are provided or available |
Potty Training Required | If potty training is required or not |
Religious Affiliation | Any religious affiliations |
Snacks | How many snacks are provided, if any |
Start & end date [required] | Session dates |
Subsidized care | If programs want to proactively state whether they accept subsidized care or not |
Registration opens/closes | Optional fields that let centers control when families can register. Families won't be able to register outside of the set window. |
Date settings |
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💡 If you're a year-round program, we recommend setting a start date of today and an end date of one year from now. You can hide these dates from families by opening Date settings and checking Hide dates for families.
Typical Day
Add a standard schedule for a day at your center. Click the Add activity button to add a new item to your schedule.
Licensing
Enter your License Number so families can verify your program.
Philosophy
Provide a description of your center's philosophy and curriculum.
Admission Process
Let families know the exact steps they will walk through in order to apply to your center. Include the next steps after applying so families know what to expect.
Plans
The Plans section controls whether families can see your pricing plans before they start an application.
Toggle on Show a preview of pricing plans to allow families to see pricing plans before signing up or logging in.
Leave the toggle off if you'd prefer families to begin the application before they can see available plans.
💡 Plans themselves are configured later in Step 3: Pricing.
Parent Password Protection
An optional password families must enter to apply to your center.
🚨 This password is not encrypted. Don't reuse a password you use anywhere else.
Family Handbook
Upload a Family Handbook to share with families while they apply to your center. This can also be uploaded later as paperwork in Playground.
Step 2: Paperwork
In this section, you can create an enrollment form and select paperwork that should be assigned to students. You can even require that the paperwork be completed before the application is submitted.
Enrollment Form
Either build your enrollment from scratch by clicking Create New Form or connect to an existing one by clicking Use Existing Form
If you have already created a form, choose the form from your dashboard.
When ready, click Link Form
If you've selected the wrong form, click Unlink Form to remove the form from your listing.
Once you unlink a form, you won't be able to re-link it. You will lose the ability to use connected fields for this form, it will no longer autofill any documents or forms, and you may lose the ability to view previous responses to this form. If you are unsure about this button, please contact support before you unlink your form
Select whether you'd like to copy the existing form questions to a new form or remove all fields and start from scratch.
Confirm you'd like to unlink the form to be brought back to the create form screen where you can start to build a new form.
If you are creating a new form, the default student and guardian templates will populate with the Add Field button at the bottom so you can begin to build your enrollment form.
By default, the form requires basic student information and the name of one guardian. All forms created through a listing will populate to your Forms tab in the Paperwork section of the Admin Dashboard.
Connect custom field - custom fields are synced to a student's profile and will be displayed on the student's profile page. This is a great way of collecting enrollment data and connecting it directly to the student's profile to minimize the manual work of transferring data.
For more instructions on building a form, click here.
Registration Paperwork
Select which documents families need to submit when applying.
Start by uploading program paperwork to your Admin Dashboard. Once your paperwork is in Playground, you can include it in your enrollment flow.
The Additional Paperwork section will display a No paperwork selected empty state by default. Click Select paperwork to open the side panel.
In the Select paperwork panel, your documents are organized by type: Forms, Fillable PDFs, and File Request. Click the dropdown next to any document to set its requirement status:
Not required: The document will not be included in the listing.
During application: The document must be completed before the application is submitted. This option is only available for Fillable PDFs.
If a document is required during the application process, you will have the option to turn on the Skip if completed toggle. This prevents families who have already completed this paperwork from being asked again while filling out their application.
After application: The document will be available to the family after the application is submitted, and they can fill it out while logged into their Playground account. They will be able to fill these documents out before being accepted if needed.
You can click Preview next to any document to review it before adding it.
Once documents have been added, they will appear on the Additional Paperwork section grouped under During application and After application. Documents set to Not required will not appear. Click Select more to add additional documents at any time.
To manage a document that has already been added, click the three dots next to it:
Fillable PDFs: Preview, Require after instead (to move it from During to After application), or Remove.
Forms: Preview or Remove.
File requests: Remove only.
💡 For Fillable PDFs, you can choose Not required, Required during application, or Required after application. For Forms and File Requests, only Not required and Required after application are available. Required during application is not supported for those types.
Step 3: Pricing
Set up enrollment pricing plans for families to choose from when they apply. Families can select only one plan, and once a student is accepted, the system automatically creates a billing plan based on their chosen pricing plan. Billing admins can modify a family's plan at any time, and you can create as many plans as needed.
Add Family-facing Instructions
At the top of the page, add instructions or additional details for families to see when they are on the pricing selection page.
Create Plan Groups
Plan groupings allow you to categorize pricing plans into groups and streamline the family registration flow. Groups are optional; if only one group exists, families will not see groupings and instead see a list of all plans.
💡If you create plans without making a group, a hidden default group is created automatically in the background. Clicking Add Group at any point adds an additional group, allowing you to separate and organize plans differently.
Add a Group
From the Pricing section in enrollment, turn the Groups toggle on.
If you have already added plans, those plans will be added to the same group after turning Groups on.
Click the white Add group button to create a group.
Enter a Name and Description (optional) for your group and click Create when finished. You can also click Add another to add multiple groups at once.
Once a group is created, click Add plan to add plans within the grouping. More information about creating plans can be found here.
Edit a Group
Once your group has been created, click the Pencil icon to edit the Name or Description.
Click Save to save your changes.
Duplicate a Group
Click the duplicate button on the group you want to duplicate.
Adjust the Name and Description if needed and click Save to duplicate the group.
Delete a Group
Click the red garbage bin icon to the right of the group you'd like to delete.
Click Delete on the confirmation pop-up to confirm the action.
🚨 When you delete a group, all plans within the group will also be deleted.
Create a Plan
Plans can be based on schedules or prices. For example, you can create plans for the different schedules you offer. Each of these schedules can also have unique price points. Alternatively, you can create plans for the different pricing options you have. You can also use a combination of both options.
When enrolling a student, a family can only apply to one plan per student. There is no limit to the number of plans billing admins can create and make available to families. New plans can be added as saved items within the Overview tab of Playground Billing so you can reuse them later.
💡 Each plan should be differentiated by price or student type. Examples include Toddler 3-Day or Full-Time Program.
From the Pricing section within enrollment, click + Add plan.
In the Add Plan side panel, add a descriptive plan Name to help families choose the best option for their needs.
Add an optional Description if any additional information or instructions are needed to help families self-select.
Select Which days will the student attend?
No schedule (Not recommended): No schedule will be added to the student's account if this plan is selected. Most schools do have specified attendance days and schedules are linked to other features within Playground. If you don't add schedules now, it may result in more manual work later.
Select a Billing item to select a previously built saved item, or click Switch to custom price to create a new item from scratch. If you create a new item from scratch, you will also have the option to save it as an item that can be reused for future debits.
Fixed schedule: A fixed schedule is added to the student's account if this plan is selected.
Select a template from the Schedule dropdown. Click Go to custom schedules page to add a new template. Click here for more info on creating schedule templates.
Select a Billing item to select a previously built saved item, or click Switch to custom price to create a new item from scratch. If you create a new item from scratch, you will also have the option to save it as an item that can be reused for future debits.
Families pick (Great for camps or full-time programs that allow parents to select which days they want to attend): You will then need to select from the What are families picking? list.
Recurring days: Allow parents to select how many times a week they plan on attending (Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays).
Select a Billing frequency (how often the family will be billed).
Enter the amount it is to attend once, twice, three days, four days, or five days a week, which would then be charged weekly or monthly, depending on which billing frequency you have selected.
For example, if a school charges $200 a month for a family to attend twice a week, I would enter $200 here:
Turn the Additional schedule toggle on if want to split times up into mornings and evenings. This allows you to charge different rates for different times of the day. You can only add one additional schedule.
The image below shows a preview of what this plan would look like from the applicant's point of view:
Individual dates: Allow families to select specific dates they want to attend.
Select a Billing frequency (Weekly or All at once).
Choose how the rate is calculated.
Daily rate allows you to charge a flat rate for each day a family wants to attend.
Weekly flat rate allows you to charge a flat rate for each week a family wants to attend.
Variable rate allows you to charge different rates based on how many days of the week the family wants to attend.
Click Add weekends to add an additional sixth and seventh day.
Enter a normal daily start and end time.
The image below shows an example of what this plan would look like from the applicant's point of view:
Individual weeks: Allow families to select which specific weeks they want to attend. Families must select full weeks with this option selected.
Select a Billing frequency (Weekly or All at once).
Choose how the rate is calculated.
Daily rate allows you to charge a flat rate for each day a family wants to attend.
Weekly flat rate allows you to charge a flat rate for each week a family wants to attend.
Variable rate allows you to charge different rates based on how many days of the week the family wants to attend.
Click Add weekends to add an additional sixth and seventh day.
Enter a normal daily start and end time.
The image below shows a preview of what this plan would look like from an applicant's point of view:
(Optional) Click the Advanced settings dropdown.
Click the Default classroom dropdown to link a classroom to the plan. If this specific plan is selected, you won't need to manually add a classroom to the student's profile when accepting. They will automatically be set up with whichever classroom is selected here.
Add any Accounting codes if needed.
Add a Deposit paid on enrollment amount. This amount will be charged and held after accepting the application.
If you previously selected the Families pick option, you will see two additional fields: Post and Due date, which allow you to set the post and due dates for this enrollment plan.
Click Add plan when finished.
Add additional plans by following the steps above, or by duplicating an existing plan by clicking on the 📋 icon.
Click the trash can icon to delete a specific plan, or the Edit plan button to edit your plan.
When all plans and groups are added, click Next: Additional Charges
Additional Charges
Set up additional charges and add-ons, such as application fees, enrollment fees, or tuition deposits, for guardians to select while applying for their child.
🚨 Any fees charged to families will override the program's processing fee settings. The program will pay the non-refundable processing fee for any additional charges, except for the Acceptance Fee. For Acceptance Fees, the processing fee will follow the settings configured in your Billing Settings.
Fee settings
Application credit card fees: Choose who pays credit card fees on application fees: you or the guardian.
Require applicants to add a credit card when they apply: This cannot be turned off if additional charges are set up.
Hide the charges that are not due on application submit: If this setting is toggled on, any program fees that are due later will not be visible. This applies to charges that are automatically charged once a child is accepted, not for charges that are due to submit their listing submission.
🚨 If you create an Enrollment Listing that includes additional charges but remove those charges in the future, you must go into Fee settings in order to turn off the toggle that requires applicants to add a credit card if you no longer want to require that.
The Additional Charges section of an Enrollment Listing allows you to charge guardians for registration or application charges. You have three options to charge families during enrollment:
Application Fee | Charged immediately upon application submission and does not count towards tuition. Required to submit the application. |
Enrollment Fee | Charged if the student is accepted to your center and does not count towards tuition. If there is an enrollment fee, guardians will be asked for a credit card at the end of the application so that it can be automatically charged once the student is accepted. |
Tuition Deposit | Charged if the student is accepted to your center and held. There is an option to delay applying the deposit and process it manually at a later time. With this toggle on, the applicant's payment will be held as a deposit until it is manually applied. If there is a tuition deposit, guardians will be asked for a credit card at the end of the application so that it can be automatically charged once the student is accepted. |
Add a New Fee
Click + Add new fee.
Enter the Charge name and the Fee amount.
Select Fee type:
Application fee: charged upon application submission and does not change the student balance.
Optionally toggle on Family Fee so that this fee is only paid once per family instead of per student.
Optionally Add new discount to create a discount or promotional code that you can provide families to lower or bypass the application fee. This can be created as a flat amount or percentage of the application fee. Creating a promotional code or discount code is only available to application fees specifically.
Acceptance fee: charged upon acceptance and does not change the student balance.
Tuition deposit: charged and held upon acceptance and the payment will need to be manually applied to an invoice.
Optionally toggle on Hold as deposit so that this fee will need to be manually applied to an invoice. Useful for holding last months tuition as a deposit.
Optionally, click Add accounting code to add a accounting code to the fee
Click save to add the fee
🚨 If any additional fees are added, applicants will need to add a credit card in order to submit their application. ACH accounts can only be used if the applicant already has a Playground account with an ACH account added. If the applicant doesn't have a Playground account with an ACH account added, they will need to add a Credit Card to apply.
Discount codes can only be created for the Application fee type, and applicants still must add their CC even if a discount is applied.
How to Create Discount Codes for Application Fees
Discount codes allow administrators to waive or reduce application fees during the enrollment process. To create a discount code, follow these steps:
Open the relevant enrollment listing from the Enrollment tab and click the three dots and click edit.
Navigate to the "Pricing/Additional Charges" section by clicking Next in the top-right corner.
Locate the application fee, then click the pencil (edit) icon.
Click Add New Discount to create a discount code. In the Create Discount window, fill in the following:
Promo code: Enter the code families will use to redeem the discount (e.g., SPRING2023).
Discount type: Select either Flat amount to discount by a specific dollar amount, or Percentage to discount by a percentage of the application fee.
Expiration date: Optionally check This discount expires after a certain amount of time to set an end date. If enabled, enter the date after which the code will no longer be redeemable.
Accounting code: Optionally you can as an accounting code to the discount code
Save the discount code and share it with families. They can apply the code during the application fee step to leverage the discount.
Discount codes can only be applied to application fees and not to acceptance fees.
Codes may be generated and distributed in advance for families to use as needed.
🚨 Applying a held deposit impacts the current billing cycle, it cannot be applied for future debits. Once applied, the deposit is no longer held and will adjust the account balance immediately. To avoid billing issues, only apply the deposit at the time the invoice needs to be paid.
🚨 If you don't see the 'Add new discount' option while editing an enrollment fee, ensure the fee is labeled as an application fee. Discount codes are not supported for acceptance fees.
Add-ons
Add-ons are additional programs that a student can enroll in like a hot-lunch program or aftercare. The prices associated with these programs can added to the guardian's balance. There is the option to Charge fee on submission and charge for the program upfront.
To add programs, you must have already created the programs. Learn more about creating programs by clicking here.
Select the checkbox next to any program that should appear as an option for a guardian to enroll in when applying to this specific listing.
💡 If a program should have a recurring charge, you can set this up when you accept a student. You must set the enrollment fee to a one-time charge and enter the fee per cycle. Use the program description to let parents know how often this charge will reoccur.
Step 4: Publish Your Listing
Click the Publish Listing button in the top right corner of your screen.
💡 If you are not ready to publish your listing, click the white Save and Exit button to return to the Enrollment Dashboard.
To publish your listing from the Enrollment Dashboard, click the three dots on the unpublished listing tile and then select the green Publish button.
Step 5: Share the Listing with Families
Share your listing with existing or new families using a QR code or a direct listing link.
🚨 Only published listings can be shared with families.
From the Enrollment tab, select the three dots in the bottom right corner of the listing you'd like to share.
Click Share to access the link, QR code, and email invitation options.
Link: the link can be posted on your website or used in social media posts or emails.
QR code: add the QR to promotional materials to make it easy for prospective families to scan the code and access the listing.
You can save the QR code to your computer by clicking Print after opening it. Once the print window opens, switch the destination to Save as PDF.
Email invitation: send the listing via email to one or multiple prospective applicants.
💡 Families can save and exit an enrollment form at any time. If their browser times out, Playground will automatically save their progress so they can return later and complete the application.
Edit Enrollment Listings
From the Admin Dashboard, select the Enrollment tab from the left-side menu.
Click the three dots in the bottom right corner of the listing you'd like to edit and then click Edit.
Navigate through the enrollment listing pages and make any updates required. To edit a plan, click the three dots to the right of the plan and then click Edit.
Enrollment form questions can be modified, added, or deleted. Be sure to click Save and Exit in the top right corner when you're ready to save your changes and exit.
Preview Enrollment Listings
Previewing enrollment listings is a great way to view the application process as a potential applicant. To preview an enrollment listing, follow the steps below:
From the Admin Dashboard, select the Enrollment tab on the left-hand side of the screen.
Find the enrollment listing you would like to preview, click the ellipsis (...) on the listing, and select Edit.
While editing your listing, click the Save and Preview button in the top right-hand corner of your screen. From there, you will be able to start going through your enrollment listing.
After clicking Save and Preview, select the blue button above your website link to start simulating the enrollment process.
Click I have a Playground account, Someone has a Playground account for my family, but I do not, or I have not used Playground before. Click the blue Simulate button after you have made your selection.
If you would like to pre-fill information while going through the application process, click the white Fill it out for me button in the top right-hand corner. This button should appear while filling out the enrollment form and any other documents you have added to your listing.
If you need to update your listing at any point, click the blue Return to Editor button in the top right-hand corner.
💡 Submitting an application while previewing your listing will not create an application card in your enrollment funnel. This feature is for testing purposes
only.
Set-up Re-enrollment
Never Created a Listing
If you've never used Playground's enrollment feature, you'll be creating a brand new listing for re-enrolling families. Follow the instructions above to create a new listing.
Previously Created an Enrollment Listing
If you've created an enrollment listing for previous school years, click the three dots in the bottom right corner of the listing you've already created and then click Duplicate.
The Duplicate listing flow will open as a full page.
Enter a new listing name (we recommend including the year so it is not confused with other listings)
enter the Start date and End date for the new listing.
Optionally, add a Registration open and Registration closes date.
When ready, click Next: Select items to copy.
Select which parts of the original listing you would like to copy over. Options include:
Listing details - Photos, descriptions, address, and other details
Application form - Enrollment form families must answer when applying. If selected, choose either:
Use the same application form - Both listings will share the same form. Any edits made will apply to both.
Copy questions to a new form - The new listing will have its own independent form that can be edited without affecting the original.
Required paperwork - Additional paperwork families need to submit when applying
Pricing plans - Pricing options available to families when applying
Additional charges - Application fee, enrollment fee, tuition deposit
Add-on programs - Additional program add-ons for families to select while applying
Board options - Default application view options and sorting (still editable after)
Custom enrollment emails - Customized email templates sent when a student's stage is changed
The side panel will display a summary of both the original listing and the new listing, including start and end dates, so you can confirm the details before finalizing.
When ready, click Duplicate listing to create the new listing. You can then edit and publish it when you're ready to share it with families.
FAQs
Can I link additional enrollment fees to billing plans or programs?
Can I link additional enrollment fees to billing plans or programs?
No, enrollment fees can’t vary based on which billing plan or program an applicant selects. All applicants will be charged the same enrollment fees. Click here to learn more about adding discounts to specific enrollment fees.
Can families use discount codes for summer camp registration?
Can families use discount codes for summer camp registration?
Yes, the process to create and apply discount codes for summer camp enrollment is identical to standard enrollment. Administrators can utilize the discount features outlined in the detailed application fee instructions.
Why can't new families add ACH accounts during the application process?
Why can't new families add ACH accounts during the application process?
Linking a bank account (ACH) requires the account holder to personally authorize the connection — similar to how you can't set up someone else's bank account for autopay without their direct consent. That authorization happens through a secure bank-linking flow, which needs the person logged into their own established Playground account to complete securely. For a brand-new applicant with no account yet, that path isn't available during the application itself, so credit card is offered instead.
Are flat and percentage-based discounts supported?
Are flat and percentage-based discounts supported?
Absolutely! When adding a discount, administrators can choose between a flat dollar amount or a percentage discount, depending on organizational needs.
Can an enrollment listing have different paperwork settings for new and re-enrolling families?
Can an enrollment listing have different paperwork settings for new and re-enrolling families?
No, the paperwork settings(Required during application, Required after application, etc.) apply to all students who enroll through that specific enrollment listing. You might want to consider having two enrollment listings: one for new families who are also new to Playground, and another for re-enrolling families who already have existing Playground accounts.
What image size is recommended for enrollment cover photos?
What image size is recommended for enrollment cover photos?
Any size image can be uploaded as an enrollment cover photo. However, images that are at least 1500 x 1500 typically provide the best results.
Why can't I advance to the next page when creating an enrollment listing?
Why can't I advance to the next page when creating an enrollment listing?
If you are unable to advance to the next page when creating an enrollment listing, make sure you have filled out all the required fields on your current page. Hovering over the blue button in the top-left-hand corner should reveal what fields are missing. This tends to happen the most on the first Details page when the session start and end dates aren't filled out.
