Program year support for age-based placement

Many centers don't place children by their age today — they place them by their age as of a program year cutoff (for example, October 1). A child who turns three in November stays with the twos for the whole program year.

Hopping In now understands this. In your daycare settings, you can set a Program year start date. Once configured:

• A child's room eligibility is calculated from their age as of your program year start, not their birthday-to-the-minute age.
• Parents browsing your spots see only the rooms their child is actually eligible for under your center's rules — fewer mismatched requests for you to decline.
• Rooms that accept a continuous age range (rather than program-year cohorts) continue to work exactly as before.

Leave the setting blank and nothing changes — eligibility keeps using each child's current age.