City and School District officials collaborated to launch a single application system for free preschool options across Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA — The City of Philadelphia’s Office of Children and Families and the School District of Philadelphia are encouraging families to enroll children aged 3 or 4 years old in the city’s high-quality, free preschool options with seats still available at 350 locations across Philadelphia.
“How do we ensure our youngest learners are prepared for kindergarten and elementary school? We enroll them in one of Philadelphia’s many free preschools and we do it today!” said Mayor Cherelle L. Parker. “There is nothing more important in this school season than for parents and guardians to jump online and enroll their child as soon as possible, helping them succeed and helping us achieve a unified vision of serving all Philadelphia’s children.”
To help families search for and apply to locations, the City and School District collaborated alongside federal, state, and preschool partners to launch a new enrollment portal called FreePhillyPreK. The FreePhillyPreK website provides information on all 370 locations with over 17,000 publicly funded preschool seats and allows families to submit a single application for up to three of their top choices. The unified application is also mobile-friendly, available in 12 different languages, and automatically saves application data for future use.
“FreePhillyPreK is the city’s way of providing our 3 and 4-year-olds the support they need to develop in a safe, nurturing environment while helping families access the resources necessary for their child’s success,” said Vanessa Garrett Harley, Chief Deputy Managing Director for the Office of Children and Families. “Our goal is to fill every spot available across the city this year and give children a jump start on their education. I encourage every parent and caregiver to take advantage of this important opportunity and help spread the word.”
“The City, School District, state, federal, and early learning providers worked diligently to launch FreePhillyPreK this summer so families can submit a single application for any free full-day preschool option in Philadelphia,” said Sean Perkins, Chief of Early Childhood Education. “Since launching in June, we received over 2,600 applications and families are completing the application in under 15 minutes.”
Interested families are encouraged to visit the interactive FreePhillyPreK site to select the nearest pre-K program with spots available, or call 1-844-745-7735 to speak to a representative who can help parents start an application.
To apply, families will need:
- Proof child’s age
- Proof of family residency
- Proof of household income
- Caregiver ID
Additional details and support about the application process are available here. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.