Universal PreK Program (UPK)

Resident children reaching the age of 4 years old before December 1, 2026. You must reside within the Croton-Harmon UFSD district. 

Students must provide evidence of residing within the Croton-Harmon UFSD boundaries or qualify for enrollment through the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. Please visit the following website for the McKinney-Vento Homeless Definition: https://nche.ed.gov/mckinney-vento-definition/ 

The UPK programs follow the CHUFSD calendar. 

Before or aftercare can be arranged with the provider where your child is placed. Families are responsible for the costs of before or aftercare. Hours and availability are determined by each childcare provider. Please make arrangements directly with the location/agency where you are assigned. 

Universal Pre-Kindergarten programs will follow a curriculum aligned to the New York State Learning Standards. Specific materials and student schedules will vary by UPK site. You will be provided with a detailed curriculum and daily activities directly from your child’s assigned UPK provider. 

Preschool students with disabilities who require a program (whether integrated or self-contained, half- or full-day) should remain in their approved program per their IEP. Preschool students with disabilities who only receive services (OT, PT, speech, or counseling) and/or who only work with a special education itinerant teacher (SEIT) are eligible for the UPK lottery. SEIT and related services may be delivered at the UPK site or in the home. 

Families are responsible for providing transportation to and from the UPK program. 

Families are responsible for providing a snack and a lunch each day for all participants. 

The District received 3 responses.  Two of the three responses have been deemed responsive to the parameters established in the RFP, including the requirement that the provider identify its own space to house the UPK program.    

When the State Budget is finalized (typically on or about April 1), then the community-based organizations will assess whether the State’s per pupil funding is adequate to operate their program.  

Update: The District anticipates recommending to the Board that contracts be awarded to selected community-based organizations at a Special Meeting of the BOE in May.  

The Governor's Executive Budget currently proposes a reimbursement rate of $10,000 per student. However, this amount is subject to legislative approval and may change. The reimbursement from the State will be paid at the final state-approved rate, which will serve as the maximum amount provided by the District to the provider.

If a community-based organization determines that the finalized per-pupil funding in the NYS budget is not sufficient to operate a UPK program, then they can decide not to execute the awarded contract. 

No.  The administration does not plan to recommend to the Board of Education that funding from the  District’s K - 12 budget be allocated to the State’s UPK program.  We do not believe that reducing valuable funding for the K - 12 student experience is a viable or sustainable approach in response to the State’s failure to adequately fund the UPK program.  

Instead, in the event the final State funding for the program is deemed by the community-based organizations to be insufficient to operate a viable program, the administration has shared that we will plan to allocate a classroom space at CET to the UPK program, in order to help reduce operating costs for the community-based organizations, as other districts have done in instances where there is available classroom space.

The UPK Lottery Drawing has been held annually in the spring: 

April 2022 for the 2022–2023 school year
April 2023 for the 2023–2024 school year
May 2024 for the  2024–2025 school year, and 
April 2025 for the 2025–2026 school year. 

It is anticipated that the lottery drawing for the 2026–2027 school year will take place in May 2026.

The District will continue to post updates and information on our UPK webpage www.chufsd.org/upk