The city’s Department of Education (DOE) will hold information sessions about pre-kindergarten enrollment for the 2009-2010 school year in Ozone Park and Long Island City.
The information sessions will be held at John Adams High School, 101-01 Rockaway Boulevard, on March 5, and at Aviation Career and Technical Education High School, 45-30 36th Street, on March 12. Both sessions will run from 6 to 8:30 p.m.
Officials from the DOE will present material about early childhood education and the application process, as well as answer parents’ questions about the program.
To be eligible for the program, the child must be 4-years-old by December 31, 2009 and parents must submit the application by April 3. The admission process begins March 6. Applications will be available at the information sessions, local elementary schools, school district offices and, for the first time, online at their web site: www.nyc.gov/schools/PreK.
Andy Jacob, a representative for the department, encourages parents to fill out the application online because it catches common mistakes that would typically delay the paper application process. It will also give the parent immediate notification that the application has been received.
The free Pre-K program enrolled roughly 25,000 students last year and they expect similar figures for the 2009-2010 school year, Jacob said.
Filling out the application does not guarantee acceptance into the program and seats are limited. Jacob suggests parents select multiple school sites for the pre-k program to increase the likelihood of acceptance.
Prior to this year, the admission process was conducted on a first come, first served basis. This year, admission and school assignment is based on another set of standards. First priority will be given to pre-k students enrolling in the same school that an older sibling attends. Second priority will be based on the student’s zoning and district.
Families will be notified of their acceptance the week of May 18. The following weeks will be spent pre-registering at the school where the pre-k program will take place.
