COLORADO SPRINGS — Even though the state's new Universal Preschool Program gives four-year-olds 15 hours of free preschool, it has caused a lot of confusion for some families. Some families just gave up trying because they felt lost in the process.
That's why today Harrison School District Two is hosting a sign-up event for parents who have questions, and even sign their kids up for the Universal Preschool Program.
Even though school started several weeks ago, there are still some open spots available in classrooms, and families who want to fill the empty seats.
One big problem families saw was getting matched with a school but then were told that the school didn't have any room for them. The confusion left parents giving up on the process and not signing their kids up at all. Because of that, District Two tells us there are seats open in both 3-year-old and 4-year-old preschools for this year. I asked District 2 why it's important to have this event open for the entire city.
“Sometimes we have issues where they’re matched with another district when they really should be in ours or we have people with our district, and they should be in a different district here in the Springs region so it’s a bit confusing for parents and we are worried that some of them have kind of given up,” said Hobgood, the wrap-around services director at District 2.
“We are worried that parents in the community and in this region may have missed the application and may not know that it exists or have gone part way through the process and not finished,” said Hobgood.
Here is another good part about today's event.
There will be specialists from CPCD Head Start who will help families through the application process for the Universal Preschool Program. If parents have concerns about the development progress of their child, the district is offering free on-site developmental screening for speech, and behavioral concerns as well as occupational and physical therapies.
Wednesday's event is from 8:30 a.m. until 10:30 a.m. and then later from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Centennial Elementary. The event is open to all 3 to 5 year olds.
Parents need to bring their child’s birth certificate, immunization record, and proof of income for last year.
____
Watch KOAA News5 on your time, anytime with our free streaming app available for your Roku, FireTV, AppleTV and Android TV. Just search KOAA News5, download and start watching.
