I have a baby! WHEN do I have to think about preschool?
/By Joyce Szuflita
Count backwards from Kindergarten. Make a chart if you are a visual learner.
Your child will be eligible for public Kindergarten in the fall of the year when your child turns 5 years old. If they were born from Jan 1 to Dec 31 in 2024, they will be attending Kindergarten in public school in the fall of 2029. The application deadline will usually be in late Jan. of 2029. It is easy as pie if your child is born between Jan and August, but if you have a fall birthday child and you do the math - they will be 4yr and a bit when they begin attending. The DoE doesn’t give you any wiggle room here. There is no red shirting at kindergarten in NYC.
Your child will be eligible for public PreK in the fall of the year when your child turns 4 years old. Same deal, if they were born from Jan 1 to Dec. 31 in 2024 they will be attending public Prek in fall of 2028. It is your choice whether you apply or not, but there is no wiggle room with the age. The application deadline will be in late Feb of the year that you would attend (2028).
Your child will be eligible for public 3K in the fall of the year when they turn 3 years old. You know what I am going to say…no wiggle room for the age. Born in 2024, attend in fall of 2027. The application deadline is the same as Prek - late Feb.
You generally apply for any private program in the fall a year before you will attend. Kids born from Jan - August 2024 will be considering applying to private 3’s programs in the fall of 2026 and continuing for public to Feb of 2027 for entry into either of those private or public 3’s programs in the fall of 2027.
So fall birthday kids, hold on to your hats! If you are considering private early childhood or K- there is a different birthday cut off - Generally Sept 1.
So if you have a November 2024 birthday you will be applying by Feb of 2027 for a public 3’s program that begins in fall of 2027 when you are an old two, BUT you will have to wait until fall of 2027 to apply for a private 3’s program that won’t begin until you are an “old three” in fall of 2028.
In private until K, you could be a private old two in 2027 (applying in fall 2026), and private old three in 2028 (applying in fall of 2027) and enter public kindergarten in fall of 2029 (applying in Feb of 2029). You haven’t missed a year. Prek is not Precalculus. You have done two years of developmentally appropriate, play based enrichment in preparation of the first academic year in K.
Conversely, in private all the way through, you could do old twos in 2027, old threes in 2028, old fours in 2029 and THEN as an almost 6 year old - kindergarten in fall of 2030.
To assist with this and all early childhood brain cramps talk to Dana.
