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 children throughout Pennsylvania.
Who is eligible?
Children and their guardians must meet the following requirements to be eligible for the PA Pre K Counts program:
- They must be residents of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
- They must meet the income eligibility requirements of at or below 300% of the federal poverty level for their family size
- The child must be between the age of 3 and younger than the Kindergarten entry age for the district that they reside in
Once these eligibility requirements are met, enrollment procedures are based on local community needs. These procedures may contain other considerations for enrollment, such as; diagnosed disabilities or developmental delays, English as a second language, or any other factor that the program deems as a priority to ensure that their communities’ needs are being served.
How you can apply
There are PA Pre-K Counts classrooms in many Pennsylvania 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 Brochure in English.
- Click here to view, print and share the PA Pre-K Counts Brochure in Spanish.
- 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.
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