PA Pre-K Counts

Quality pre-kindergarten can give your child a strong start in school and in life. Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts provides free half-day or full-day pre-kindergarten for at-risk children throughout Pennsylvania.

Who is eligible?

Each program offering PA Pre-K Counts classrooms will have their own guidelines, but PA Pre-K Counts is designed for children who:

• are between age 3 and younger than the entry age for kindergarten;
• live in a family earning up to 300% of the federal poverty guidelines
• have a first language other than English, a disability or developmental delay, or other factors that put them at higher risk for failing in school.

If your child falls into these categories, you may be eligible to apply.

How you can apply

There are PA Pre-K Counts classrooms in most of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties. To find PA Pre-K Counts programs near you, visit www.findchildcare.pa.gov and search for a program in your area using your county and the age of your child. (The PA Pre-K Counts options will be in the tab at the top of the search results.)

You can also contact your local Early Learning Resource Center (ELRC) and they can help you locate your local PA Pre-K Counts program. Find your ELRC at Raise Your Star website. 

Please contact the lead agency directly for enrollment information, such as locations of classrooms and how to apply. Many grantees are partnering with other programs to provide classrooms in nearby cities, so contact them directly for information on all of their locations.

For more information, visit the Pennsylvania Department of Education website.

• Click here to view, print and share the PA Pre-K Counts flyer in English.
• Click here to view, print and share the PA Pre-K Counts flyer in Spanish.
• Click here to view, print and share the PA Pre-K Counts Brochure in English.
• Click here to view, print and share the PA Pre-K Counts Brochure in Spanish.