New York City

Thousands of new pre-K seats — but deadline to sign up is Wednesday

April 22, 2014 By Mary Frost Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Farina
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Mayor Bill de Blasio joined Schools Chancellor Carmen FariƱa and a host of elected officials on Monday to urge parents to sign their kids up for pre-K by Wednesday, April 23. That’s the deadline for thousands of new, full-day pre-K seats that will open up in public schools across the city. 

Children turning four years old in 2014 are eligible, and parents can sign up online at nyc.gov.schools or at an enrollment office.
 
“Itā€™s a simple application to fill out,” Mayor de Blasio said. “Anyone looking for information can get it at nyc.gov.schools, also through 3-1-1. There are also 13 enrollment centers located across the five boroughs.”
 
De Blasio’s successful campaign in Albany will allow the city to more than double the number of kids getting full-day pre-K this September, to over 50,000 and more than triple it the following year, to over 70,000.
 
The city also plans to sign up religious and community-based organizations who have applied to offer pre-K classes, and will have a list compiled before the summer break. Parents must apply to these individually; the application can be found of the Department of Education’s website.
 
“This is the first of several phases,” Mayor de Blasio said Monday at the Riverdale press conference. “Some in the public school buildings, some in community-based organizations, all of them high-quality, all of them full-day, all of them free. We want to get the word out so parents can take advantage of it.”
 
The Mayor thanked many who supported his plan and singled out state Senator Jeff Klein for his leadership role in pushing the Senate to “do the right thing” and support his vision for full-day pre-K. 
 
“Whatā€™s going on in pre-K is extraordinary ā€“ the vocabulary development, the poise you see, the inquisitiveness, the way kids in pre-K learn to work in a group, the way they participate. You give kids full-day pre-K with quality teaching and it allows them to take off,” he said.
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