As students return to school this week, Dallas ISD is hoping to fill more preschool classrooms. For the first time, every 3- and 4-year-old who lives within the district can attend pre-K for free, regardless of family income.
The expansion is part of the district's effort to attract more families while giving children an earlier start before kindergarten.
Up until this school year, free pre-K in Dallas ISD was only available for military households, low-income families, non-English-speaking learners, and children of Dallas ISD teachers. Of the more than 10,000 preschool students in the district, only, 267 families were paying for preschool last year because they did not meet the eligibility requirements, according to district.
Like school districts across Texas, Dallas ISD receives state funding based on student enrollment.
Assistant Superintendent Debbie Ramos, who oversees early learning and centralized enrollment, said many elementary campuses already had teachers and classrooms with empty seats.
"Every year we may have a couple of seats open, and so we were already funding that teacher," Ramos said. "Now we can fill those seats with students."
Ramos said the investment also pays off academically.
According to Dallas ISD, students who attend the district's pre-K program outperform classmates who don’t by about 30 percentage points on academic assessments. Students who attend both pre-K 3 and pre-K 4 perform even better, Ramos said.
“We know if they're getting those foundational skills very early on, we're setting them up for better success as they enter into kindergarten," Ramos said.
Almost every Dallas ISD elementary school offers pre-K, and Ramos said the curriculum and teaching are consistent across campuses.
Classrooms are staffed by a certified teacher and a teaching assistant. Students spend their day rotating through learning centers focused on early literacy, numbers, and imaginary play.
Ramos said the goal is to prepare children for kindergarten by helping them develop academic, language and social-emotional skills.
Dallas ISD is also launching a new initiative this fall for students who could benefit from an extra year before first grade. The Pre-Primer program is designed for kindergarteners who need more time to build foundational skills, incoming first graders who didn't attend kindergarten in Dallas ISD, and some younger students who may benefit from an additional year of development.
Ramos said the idea came from bridge programs that have become increasingly common in private schools.
"We've seen this at the private schools surrounding Dallas ISD, and we wanted families in our public school setting to have that option," Ramos said. “We wanted families in our public school setting to have that option, if they wanted additional time for them to learn those foundational skills, or if they want them to have that academic advantage.”
District leaders say both Pre-Primer and universal pre-K are part of a broader effort to give children a stronger academic foundation while offering families more educational choices.
Sujata Dand is KERA’s early childhood education reporter. Got a tip? Email her at sdand@kera.org.
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