More than 4,200 new full-day pre-kindergarten seats will open in public schools by September.
The goal is to eventually provide pre-k to all 73,250 eligible students by the 2015-2016 school year.
"We are more than 4,000 seats closer to ensuring that every 4-year-old has access to high quality full-day pre-K," said Mayor Bill de Blasio. "For months, we have been planning every facet of these programs to ensure we were ready to launch the moment funding was secured. Today, the rubber hits the road, and families will have more options for their children."
New York legislators and Gov. Andrew Cuomo agreed to a state budget that includes $300 million for New York City pre-K programs.
With these additional new seats the Department of Education will bring the number of students enrolled in full-day pre-k to 20,387 by September 2014. This is the highest number in city history. Community organizations will provide thousands more ensuring that about 53,000 pre-k seats will be available in the fall.
The full-day pre-K seats will be available throughout the five boroughs, cover 140 schools and nearly all 32 community school districts.
The deadline to apply for the public school pre-K programs is April 23. Community-based organizations will allow parents to apply for their pre-K programs later this spring.
NYC Children born in 2010 are eligible to apply for the pre-K slots and parents can find information and applications for public school pre-K options online at schools.nyc.gov/prek or by visiting a Borough Enrollment Office.
Additional information and updates can be found by texting "prek" to 877877.
