Preschool Programming
The district currently offers preschool integrated and self-contained special education classes for three and four-year olds at Rice Elementary. The goal of the inclusion program is to bring together children with special needs with their typically developing peers in a collaborative classroom environment where students experience a variety of early reading and math concepts, language development, fine and gross motor skills, related arts and social skills. The curriculum used in both programs are state approved, developmentally appropriate, and based on best practice in early childhood education. Preschool expansion through PEA funding will be occurring over the next five years to increase opportunities for general education and additional integrated classrooms. See below for more information.
2024-2025 PEA Program & Expansion
Notification was received on October 3rd that the ETSD application for preschool education aid was approved by the state and will be phased in over the next five years in order to provide free full-day preschool to all ETSD families that are interested by the 2028-2029 school year (click here to view the approved PEA application). The district has developed a lottery process to accommodate a predetermined number of students each year that will grow annually based on district classroom space and partnerships with local private providers over that five year period.
This school year, 2024-2025, is considered year one, and our approved plan only allows us, due to limited space, to transition current Rice students that are already enrolled in our preschool program from half-day to full-day after winter break at Rice. Therefore, we are not able to accept any new requests for participation in the Rice program. However, we have partnered with two local private providers that will be opening one classroom each to teach our students, beginning January 2nd. Space is limited so if you are interested in having your child be considered for free, full-day preschool in one of these classrooms, see the following links for more information and the link to complete the Preschool Lottery Form, which is due by November 21, 2024:
Please Note: Only new families that are applying to start preschool on January 2, 2025 should access the ETSD Preschool Lottery and submit one entry for each eligible child. As a reminder, all students currently at Rice, will remain at Rice with their classmates. Current Rice preschool families do not enter the lottery.
In year two, 2025-2026, the lottery system will be used for both district and private provider classrooms with placement determined by attendance zone. The lottery system process will open in February annually and the lottery itself held at the end of February/early March for a September 2025 start date for students. More information will be published to families in the winter and the program will be advertised accordingly.
Please Note: If your child is not age eligible (3 or 4 by October 1, 2025) until the 2025-2026 school year, you should not complete the lottery at this time. You must wait for a different lottery to be opened later this winter for a September 2025 start.
In the interim, the Frequently Asked Questions document linked above can be used as a reference and will be updated periodically. Information will continue to be posted here on our district website and sent out to ETSD families and local community resources as it becomes available.
2024-2025 Tuition-Based Preschool Integrated Program
All current families that applied to the former tuition-based program will automatically be transitioning to the free full-day program effective January 2, 2025. The approval of the preschool expansion means that the $3,300 tuition charges for 2024-2025 will not be collected at all. If families paid any portion of the tuition, it will be refunded. The preschool program will remain at Rice Elementary School and will be converted to a full-day program that will follow the regular district school calendar as of January. More information will be forthcoming prior to Thanksgiving regarding this transition.