Mayor de Blasio Announces Drive to Sign Up Children for Full Day Pre-K

City Launches Media & Organizing Drive to Sign Up Children in Every Community For Full Day, High Quality Pre-K

Subway and bus ads, PSAs and materials in nine languages urge parents to apply

Parents can apply for new options at schools.nyc.gov/prek

Joining Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver at a public school's pre-K program today, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a major media and community organizing push urging New Yorkers to sign their children up for pre-K. The outreach campaign follows the announcement this week that the city has secured the funding necessary to expand pre-K to 53,000 children this September.

The outreach includes $300,000 of ads on bus shelters, buses and subways urging parents to register their children for pre-K, as well as public service announcements, promotions in taxicabs, robocalls to families in public housing, and a multilingual canvassing effort in partnership with community groups.

The application deadline for public school options is April 23, and the Department of Education will notify families about public school placements in June. Families will also have an opportunity to apply for slots at community-based organizations later this spring.

The Department of Education is printing 70,000 Pre-K Expansion Guides that detail the new public school pre-K options. The guides are being mailed to 5,000 NYCHA families with eligible 4-year-olds and distributed through libraries, community partners and elementary schools. The Pre-K Expansion Guide will be translated in nine languages and available online.

For more information and updates on the pre-K application process, visit: schools.nyc.gov/prek or text "prek" to 877877.

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