Wednesday is the start of pre-enrollment for San Antonio’s new early childhood education initiative, Pre-K 4 SA. 700 students in total will be selected for the inaugural classes at the two model education centers, located on the northwest and southeast sides of town.
The city changed the dates and locations of pre-enrollment, which is now scheduled to run through May 9.
Mayor Julián Castro, who was joined by City Manager Sheryl Sculley, District 4 City Councilman Rey Saldaña, Harlandale ISD superintendent Rey Madrigal, Pre-K board member and former Northside ISD superintendent Dr. John Folks, and Pre-K interim CEO Kathy Bruck, to encourage parents to enroll their four year olds.
"There are slots that are available for families, no matter what their income level is and we want folks to know that and to not let that stop them from enrolling their child in Pre-K 4 SA," he said.
Castro wants the program to be a model for other cities, but he attacked state lawmakers for not making quality, free, full day pre-K available for all Texas children.
"If people wonder why it is that only certain folks who make under a certain income at the state level can get free pre-K, it's because the governing majority in Austin has decided that they don't want to pay the money so that middle class families and above can have pre-K in our state," Castro said.
Sculley said there is a reason the city is working with the school districts.
"We have memorandum of understandings with seven of our school districts representing 90 percent of the eligible children throughout San Antonio, and this enables us to access and leverage our dollars with federal and state dollars," she said.
Parents will pre-enroll through the districts, and in June, the city will hold a lottery to determine who will attend the first Pre-K 4 SA classes in August. See additional dates and times for pre-enrollment in the related post below.
- See the new dates, times and locations for pre-enrollment at: sanantonio.gov/Pre-K4SanAntonio/parents.aspx
