What is a Pre-kindergarten Partnership?
A child care/Pre-K partnership is a collaboration between a school district or charter school and one or more quality-rated* child care programs to provide high-quality care and education to three- and four-year-old children. Partners can establish a formal or informal partnership.
*Texas Rising Star Three- and Four-Star certified providers are eligible for Pre-K partnerships.
Formal partnerships exist when eligible three- and four-year-old children are dually enrolled in public school pre-k and TWC’s Child Care Services Program. These partnerships allow child care programs and school districts/charter schools to provide children continuity in care and education, and better support the needs of working families.
The physical classroom is often in a Texas Rising Star Three- or Four-Star certified child care center, but it can also be on a school campus. The teacher must meet certain requirements, such as having a bachelor’s degree and can be employed by either the school district or the child care center. For information on additional requirements, please refer to Texas Education Code §29.153-29.1544.
Informal partnerships exist when a school district/charter school and a child care program share resources and information with each other such as professional development opportunities, school-readiness expectations, and parent engagement activities. In informal partnerships, children are not dually enrolled in public school pre-k and a child care program. Informal partnerships can be a great first step toward establishing a formal pre-k partnership.
What are the benefits of partnerships?
For child care programs, partnerships can provide the following:
- Potentially higher enrollment and greater financial stability by continuing to fill classrooms for three- and four-year-old children, while also receiving support and/or funding from the local school district
- An opportunity to share knowledge with and learn from teachers who have received a different type of training and education
- A pathway to help transition parents and their children to public school for kindergarten
- Greater information and support for children to meet the school-readiness expectations of the local school district
- Increased resources and professional development opportunities
For more information about Pre-kindergarten Partnerships, please visit TWC’s Prekindergarten Partnership page or email [email protected]