Pre-K Enrollment For The 2016-2017 School Year Has Begun; Here Is What You Need To Know

It’s that time of year again: pre-kindergarten enrollment season.

The pre-K enrollment process for the 2016-2017 school year runs from January 25 through March 4 and is open to all New York City families with children born in 2012. This includes children with disabilities and who speak a language other than English at home.

• If you are a parent of a child with special needs and/or an IEP, contact the Committee on Special Education; for District 22 families, either visit their office at 5619 Flatlands Avenue or call them at Phone: 718-968-6200.
  For District 20 and 21 families, visit the CSE office at 415 89 Street in Bay Ridge or call 718-759-4900.
• 27 pre-K programs have been designated as Dual Language (DL) and nearly 200 pre-K programs are designated as Enhanced Language Support (ELS).

This year, there is a single application to be filled out and submitted — whether online, over the phone (call 718-935-2067), or in-person at a Family Welcome Center. Each application has room for your choice of up to 12 full-day pre-K programs — make sure to rank them in order of preference, with your favorite program as #1, and so forth.

There are hundreds of pre-K options, though, with all Department of Education (DOE) district schools, DOE-run Pre-K Centers, and NYC Early Education Centers qualifying. Families interested in half-day, 5-hour NYCEEC pre-K programs or charter school pre-K programs should contact those programs directly to apply.

To make sense of them and see which ones are closest to you, browse the Pre-K Finder Map or Brooklyn Pre-K Directory. To find out what your school district and school zone is, browse the School Search tool.

You can also attend an information session. Brooklyn’s session is next Wednesday, February 3 at 6pm at Clara Barton High School (901 Classon Avenue).