Early Childhood Education

Pillar 1 

Outcomes for Pillar 1:

• Expand family supports
• Expand publicly funded full-day PreK
• Assess student readiness for kindergarten

The state of Maryland is investing in high-quality early childhood education and expanding the number of seats for Tier I students who are ages 3 and 4. Tier I students are identified as experiencing poverty, experiencing homelessness, students with disabilities, and/or English language learners. Increased access to early learning will provide opportunities to ensure all students enter kindergarten ready to learn. 

Additionally, community-based private prekindergarten (PreK) providers now have the opportunity to receive public funding, if staff meet quality state standards which include licensure and training for teachers and assistant teachers. PGCPS working with private providers will offer additional seats to PreK students.  

A few highlights from the approved Prince George’s County Public Schools 2024 Blueprint Plan are listed below. For more information, read the entire Early Childhood section (pages 16-29).

PreK Expansion

• Full day PreK at no-or reduced-cost for more families.
• Emphasis on enrolling students who are in a lower socio-economic level in a full-day PreK program and paying attention to diversity in PreK classrooms.
• Public-private PreK partnerships to expand options for families; this is a challenge that PGCPS is working through because of the need to increase private providers. 

Private Providers

• Building partnerships to increase the number of private PreK providers
• PGCPS offers opportunities for professional development around the Science of Reading (SoR) and mathematical concepts to private providers.
• Share students’ Individualized Education Program (IEP) information and Early Learning Assessment (ELA) data with private providers for students with disabilities.