Child Care Options - Universal Pre-Kindergarten
Universal Pre-Kindergarten is a special program which was established by the New York State Education Department to provide a preschool experience for the children of eligible families. Children are eligible if they will be four years old by December 1st of the school year that begins in September and if they live within a school district offering Universal Pre-Kindergarten.
The program runs 2½ hours a day, five days a week for 180 days per year. Parents do not have to pay a fee for Universal Pre-Kindergarten.
Did You Know?
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The learning skills that children gain in early education programs last a lifetime. A strong early education foundation is necessary if we want our children to be successful.
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Children in Pre-Kindergarten are 25% less likely to be held back until the end of third grade than children who had no Pre-K. (NYS Experimental Pre-K Evaluation, NYSED, 1982).
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It is in the Pre-K and the early grades, when the brain is growing, that children must develop the learning skills required for life. (Years of Promise, Carnegie Corporation of New York, 1996).
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Pre-K and smaller classes in the early grades (K-3) create the reading, writing and math skills necessary for later academic success and economic self-sufficiency. (Haskins, Early Childhood Center Longitudinal Study, April 1995).
Participating school districts in Rockland County that currently offer Universal Pre-Kindergarten programs are Clarkstown, East Ramapo*, Nanuet, Nyack, Pearl River, Ramapo Central, South Orangetown and North Rockland.
For more information regarding Universal Pre-Kindergarten please call Jenine Valentino at (877) 425-0009 x460 or email jeninev@rocklandchildcare.org.
* For information regarding UPK for the East Ramapo Central School District, please contact Arnie Warmbrand at (845) 577-6158 or email awarmbrand@ercsd.k12.ny.us.
