Universal Pre-K

Shenendehowa Universal PreKindergarten (UPK) Program

The Shenendehowa School District partners with multiple community based preschool providers to offer a Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) program to qualifying 4-year-old district residents.  Children who will be 4 years old by December 1 of that school year are eligible for UPK.  A child who is age-eligible to attend kindergarten in that school year is not eligible for UPK.

The UPK program is tuition free for families. Funding is provided through a grant from the New York State Education Department.

Parents must provide transportation.

Our preschool providers are centers approved by Shenendehowa. They offer a program that is aligned with the New York State Early Learning Guidelines. The teachers have the required credentials to instruct preschool students.

A lottery system is used to select students for this program as the number of seats is limited. To those who entered the lottery, selection letters and waitlist letters will be mailed via USPS in late May or early June.

Those selected in the lottery must then formally register their child to accept the seat (providing proof of residency, parent ID and child’s birth certificate).  Registration is done online here.

If you have further questions about our UPK program please reach out at prek@shenschools.org.

UPK Frequently Asked Questions