Did you know?

Our city is Number One in the nation in public funding for early-childhood programs and Number One in the nation in percentages of four-year-olds and three-year-olds enrolled in pre-K programs, according to a report released last week.

Currently, DCPS’ free, high-quality early childhood programs serve more than 6,000 three and four-year olds in 75 schools— offering a great early start to put DC’s children on the path to academic and life success.

Here are some more facts about our early childhood programs:

• We offer pre-kindergarten classes to all three- and four-year-old children in the District.

• Each of our 350 classrooms has at least two staff members, including a teacher and teacher’s aide. That way, students can learn in small groups and with one-on-one instruction and support.

• We require every teacher to have at least a Bachelor’s Degree. All early childhood staff receive regular professional development and training throughout the year.

• 82% of our teachers were rated Effective or Highly Effective on IMPACT, a performance evaluation tool.

• Nearly all early childhood classrooms are using research-based curricula that support social and emotional skills and academic content.

• The curricula are aligned with the rigorous Common Core State Standards being used in our K–12 classrooms and proven to support the skills and knowledge children need to be successful in Kindergarten.

• Schools can choose which curricula best meet the needs of the children, families and school community. The teachers also receive curriculum-specific, targeted professional development.

• Early Childhood curricula in our classrooms include: Tools of the Mind, Creative Curriculum, Montessori, Reggio Emilia, and International Baccalaureate.

• According to one measure, 35% of students enter the year below benchmarks and make gains throughout the year. By the end of the last school year, 97% of our early childhood students met or exceeded these benchmarks for their grade level.  See more information in the brochure. 

• This means that most students finish the program with the skills needed to enter and succeed in Kindergarten.

• To make sure we’re meeting the needs of all students, DCPS has also taken a closer look at classrooms that receive federal Head Start funding. Students in those rooms are assessed using several measures that look at pre-reading, pre-math, problem-solving and social-emotional development. We’ve learned that our students are gaining important reading and math skills. In addition, children in classrooms using the Tools of the Mind curriculum have developed significant self-regulation and working memory skills.

• Check out this brochure to learn more!