If we want a good quality of life, high-quality jobs and a strong economy for Pennsylvania, we need to provide opportunities to every Pennsylvanian. Early education can open the doors of opportunity for every child to do well in school, in the workforce, and in life.

Quality pre-kindergarten benefits children and families today and tomorrow, and greatly benefits Pennsylvania in the future.

The Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts pre-kindergarten program, established by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, will make quality pre-kindergarten opportunities available to children and families across the commonwealth.

The Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts program:

  • is based on the quality components adopted for pre-kindergarten by the State Board of Education;
  • provides families in participating communities with a choice of quality pre-kindergarten options  in a school, child care center, Head Start, or nursery school;
  • increases access to quality pre-kindergarten to children and families throughout the commonwealth with a priority in at-risk communities; and
  • builds on the work of the Pre-K Counts Public-Private Partnership for Educational Success, a three-year project funded by leading Pennsylvania foundations and supported by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Early results from this public-private initiative find that children’s early learning improves when all early learning programs in a community share resources to improve quality and coordinate early learning experiences in pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, and beyond.

 PKC/HSSAP ADVISORY COMMITTEE

The Pennsylvania PreK Counts/Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program Advisory Committee is currently accepting applications for new members. The committee is open to all who represent the interests of prekindergarten programs in Pennsylvania including Montessori, Private Pre-K, Religious affiliated programs and others as appropriate and works to coordinate statewide efforts. Application deadline July 26.