In New York, we opened applications for Pre-K classes. How to enroll for free

The Pre-K for all program applies to New York families of any income level; there is no competition and no selection - places in schools are guaranteed to everyone.

Pupils of the preparatory class. Depositphotos.com photo

The New York Department of Education has announced the start of accepting applications for pre-K (Pre-K) classes of public (private) or private schools. Detailed information, including in Russian, can be obtained here.

1 step. School selection

Lena Hurwitz, the mother of 4-year-old Rony and 5-year-old Adam, moved to New York 2 a year ago. Then the boys were still too young for the Pre-K and stayed at home with their parents and nanny. About the Pre-K program for all, Lena, like many other parents, learned from the announcements on the playground in the local park.

Searches for school for sons she began with interactive map, which shows the location of all Free Universal Pre-K schools. There were several dozen educational institutions within a 3-mile radius. You had to choose no more than 12—that’s exactly a dozen schools you can apply to. You don't have to limit yourself to your school district, but the closer to home the school is, the greater your chances of getting a place there.

At this stage, it's time to think about how your son or daughter will get to and from school. Would you like to choose an educational institution within walking distance? Can you transport your child by car? Are you counting on a school bus? For the latter you will have to pay extra - usually about $25 per week. Students from kindergarten through high school are given free or reduced-price passes, but during the pre-K year, parents are responsible for paying the fare.

At the same stage, it is necessary to decide whether the child will only go to classes (then he will have to be taken away and taken home in the middle of the day, and it is better to decide in advance who can do it) or to stay in school for a full day. In the latter case, for each school it will be necessary to find out the cost of the extended day. Sometimes this service is provided free of charge, but most often we are talking about a surcharge of $ 50 to $ 150 per week.

Lena's sons remain in school only until half past two: the mother does not work every day, and it is more convenient for her to invite a nanny a couple of times a week, and on the other days to take the boys on their own and take them to parks and classes. For families where both parents work daily from 9 to 5, this option, of course, will not work.

The choice between private and public school depends on the desire of the family: some parents want the child to start getting used to the typical school environment, others, like Lena, believe that in 4, children are too small for a large building with lots of classes and will get more attention in a small private garden.

Pupils of the preparatory class. Depositphotos.com photo

2 step. Studying selected schools

After choosing conveniently located schools, you will have to play Sherlock Holmes and collect as much information as possible about each school from a long list. First, on the computer: go to the school website, look for reviews, videos from school holidays. Surely, residents of your area have their own group on Facebook, and perhaps more than one. Most likely, you can find discussions about schools there - check them out and don’t hesitate to ask questions.

If you are visiting a local playground or library with your child, chat with other parents about the school their children go to, and why they chose this institution. Such conversations can give many reasons for reflection, because there are factors that do not immediately occur to us, especially if the first-born child goes to kindergarten.

Here are some questions to ask:

— Did the child have conflicts with peers? How did the teachers behave in this situation?

— Is it easy for parents to meet with a teacher or principal if necessary?

— How is this school encouraging and punishing children?

— Do children often get sick, and with what symptoms are they sent home?

Some educational institutions will certainly be crossed off the list at this stage. If it is unacceptable for you when guilty children are shamed in front of their peers, and teachers pretend not to notice the fights, this also happens. True, it is worth remembering that parents may be biased or talk about an individual case as a rule.

Polina, Maria's grandmother: “A granddaughter once said that a teacher in the garden threatened to prick her with a needle if she would not sleep during a quiet hour. Even in the same kindergarten, they tried to save water and not flush the toilet after each child, which is simply unhygienic. In the end, we took Maria from this school and told everyone why. ” An unpleasant story occurred in a private school. Now Maria is studying in a public school.

After collecting information, it is time to visit the schools. This stage may take the most of your time, but it is very important - it is an opportunity to see with your own eyes the place where the child will spend 5 days a week, and at the same time, the adults who will surround him there.

Call each school and ask when you can go look at the classes and ask a few questions. You will be told the date of the next open day or will be offered to come on an individual basis.

Here is what might interest you:

— What does a regular school day schedule look like?

— Is the walk included in the daily routine? Where do children go for a walk: on the school’s own playground or in the nearest park? How many teachers and their assistants accompany children for a walk?

— At what time and in which room do students sleep?

— How is food organized? In which room do children eat?

— Are there music lessons and how are they conducted? What physical activity is included in the schedule?

— What languages ​​do teachers and teacher assistants speak? The Universal Pre-K program should be taught in English, but other languages ​​can also be used in free time at school: Russian, Spanish, Hebrew, Chinese.

Lena rejected several selected schools just after her personal visit. “In one place, children were given a semi-basement room with tiny windows. During the daytime nap, the curtains are simply drawn and pitch darkness sets in. I didn’t like it,” she says.

Kostya Polyakov’s family lives in an area with a large share of the Russian-speaking population, but for a long time the parents could not decide whether to send the boy to a bilingual school. “At home we speak Russian, Kostya’s English was very weak, and we tried to ensure that he mastered it as quickly as possible,” explains Maxim, the boy’s dad. When the parents found out that classes would be held in English in any case, they opted for a Russian-English school so that one of the teachers could always help the boy if he couldn’t explain himself. However, the worries were in vain, and after 2 months Kostya was chatting in English as fluently as in Russian.

Photo: flickr / US Department of Education. Published under CC BY 2.0 license

3 step. Filing an application

Many parents keep track of the opening date for applications and tend to fill out the online form on the Department of Education website just after midnight on the first day. There is no point in this - all applications submitted before the deadline (that is, from the end of January to mid-March) will be considered in the general manner. Decisive factors include having siblings who already attend a particular school (in which case your child will receive priority) and, as mentioned above, the distance of the school from home.

Filling out the application usually does not cause anyone difficulties. For registration, it is enough to indicate the names of the parents and the child, as well as the address of residence. Confirm the information at this stage is not necessary. Each school has a unique curriculum code that can be found all on the same page with card, by clicking on the Details button next to the address of the desired educational institution - you will need to indicate it when submitting your application. By the way, there you will see how many places there are in the Pre-K class of each educational institution.

If your child does not have enough space in the school you indicated first (this can happen if there are few places and other applicants live closer), then he will be assigned to the second one. If there are not enough places in the second, they will invite you to the third. If there are no places in any of the schools you have chosen, the child will be automatically assigned to the nearest school where there are free places. Most likely, it will be a state school - there are 40-70 places there every year, while private schools can often accept only 12-18 children.

This does not mean that your son or daughter should go to the school where he was offered a place. Between May and September, additional places may appear, so you need to call or enter selected educational institutions and sign up for waiting lists. The same, by the way, should be done to those parents who missed the deadline for submitting applications.

4 step. Filing documents

In May-June, schools send letters to parents stating that the child has received a place in the Pre-K program. After receiving such a letter, you will need to take the documents to the school: an extract of vaccinations made and 2 proof of the child’s address. The last item often puzzles parents, but it's not very difficult: any letters addressed to the child, an apartment rental agreement, and for a moderate fixed amount (usually $ 5-7) in the pediatrician's office you will be given a certificate that the child lives with you at such an address.

Do not forget to check with the teachers what skills and abilities are expected from the child who came to the pre-preparatory class. For the remaining months before the start of classes, you can “pull up” a baby who is not yet used to dressing and undressing himself, experiencing problems with using the toilet or forgetting to wash his hands. It is best to get a copy of the schedule and gradually move to a similar daily routine, so that the new regime does not become a stress for the little student.

What the child learns in pre-K, according to the official to the guide New York Department of EducationI:

- Recognize numbers, recognize and write letters, ask questions, share toys and follow rules.

- New English words and grammatical structures that he will learn from books, poems, songs and conversations with classmates and teachers.

— Creative self-expression through drawing and sculpting.

- Exercise, stick to a schedule, form healthy habits.

— Explore the world and apply this knowledge in mathematics, natural and social sciences and art.

After all pupils are 4, children will begin to be taken on excursions to zoos, museums and theaters.

Victoria, Oksana's mother: “We moved to the USA only in the summer, and it turned out that the deadline for submitting applications for the Free Universal Pre-K program has already passed. We are already mentally prepared to spread $200-300 per week, but I called the nearby schools in 4, and 2 of them were able to offer us free places. They asked only to have time to make the daughter all the necessary vaccinations. ”

If your child does not go to Pre-K

If your child turns 4 of the year, but you decide not to send him to the Pre-K, but to start right away from the preparatory class of the school (Kindergarten), there are free short-term programs especially for you in the libraries of Queens and Brooklyn Kickoff to Kindergarten и Ready! Set! Kindergarten. These programs are coaching sessions for parents, relatives and babysitters, where they are taught to work with children, read, engage the little listeners in a dialogue, play with letters and words, draw and make crafts together. In both programs, parents receive a lot of handouts with game ideas, and at the end of each lesson, Kickoff to Kindergarten gives kids little books.

By the way, you can not go through such a program instead of Pre-K, but before you start studying: 3-X-programs in these classes are also welcome. The advantages are obvious: the kids will learn to listen to the teacher, will learn songs and finger games and will not be confused when on the first day of school they will be offered to sit on criss-cross applesauce, and quietly sit in Turkish.

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