NYC Pre-Kindergarten Applications Now Open

NEW YORK, NY — If your kid turns 3 or 4 this year, it's time to start thinking about pre-school. The New York City Department of Education started accepting pre-kindergarten applications for the 2018-2019 school year on Monday.

The city's Pre-K for All program guarantees every 4-year-old a space in a full-day pre-kindergarten classroom from September to June. Anyone with a child born in 2014 can apply until March 30.

Parents can apply for placement in up to 12 pre-kindergarten programs in any location around the city, the Department of Education says. Classes are offered at public elementary schools, city-run pre-kindergarten centers, Early Education Centers run by outside community groups, and charter schools.

Parents of 3-year-olds living in any of six school districts can also apply now for the city's "3-K for All" program, which aims to get kids started in school a year earlier. Applications for kids born in 2015 are due May 11.

Those classes will be available next school year in District 4 in East Harlem, District 5 in Harlem, District 7 in the South Bronx, District 16 in Bedford-Stuyvesant, District 23 in Brooklyn covering Brownsville, East New York and Ocean Hill, and District 27 in Queens covering Broad Channel, Howard Beach, Ozone Park and the Rockaways.

Classes for 3-year-olds will be offered in a total of 12 school districts by 2020 at a cost of $203 million, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced last week. City officials say every dollar spent on universal pre-kindergarten saves up to $13 in the long run.

The Department of Education will assign seats for 3- and 4-year-olds by the end of May. Decisions for 3-year-olds will come toward the end of that month because of the later application deadline.

Parents who list multiple schools will be assigned to their highest-ranked location that has available seats. Families will have to provide proof that they're eligible for certain programs if they're offered seats in those programs.

More than a dozen schools will give priority to students on free and reduced-price lunch, those learning English, families impacted by incarceration and kids on the child welfare system as part of a pilot program to increase diversity, the DOE says. The full list of participating schools is available here.

Parents can apply for pre-kindergarten online, at a DOE Family Welcome Center or over the phone by calling 718-935-2009.

(Lead image: Mayor Bill de Blasio, first lady Chirlane McCray, schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña and Queens Borough President Melinda Katz visit a pre-kindergarten class in 2014. Photo by Susan Watts-Pool/Getty Images)