What happens when your child doesn’t get into pre-K at your neighborhood school?

There’s still time to snag one of the thousands of prekindergarten spots available in Baltimore City Public Schools.

Though most families got a spot in the school they asked for last month, some parents panicked when their children didn’t get into the neighborhood school where they’ll attend kindergarten. That’s because City Schools allow families to apply for pre-K anywhere in the city, and kids from low-income families or with special learning needs get first dibs.

That also means not everyone can go where they want, or even where they live closest to.

Here’s how it works.

How do you sign up for public pre-K in Baltimore?

Any Baltimore family with a child who will be 4 by Sept. 1 can apply for the district’s pre-K program.

Baltimore has been ahead of the curve on public pre-K for nearly two decades, with spots available for all families with 4-year-olds who want them. Other Maryland school districts limit those spots to families based on income and other requirements.

Pre-K in Baltimore is a school choice program, even though kids are guaranteed a place in their neighborhood school starting in kindergarten. To sign up for pre-K, families rank up to three of their top-choice schools.

To have the best shot at getting their first choice, families must apply between February and mid-April. If you missed that window, applications reopen in July.

Pre-K enrollment is rolling, meaning families can seek leftover spots when classrooms open Aug. 24.

Charter schools are not included; there’s a separate process for those.

Who gets in first?

The district prioritizes kids who need special education, are learning English or come from low-income families.

“Space is limited within each building, and access to strong foundational education must be offered first to families who need it most,” the district’s website reads.

The highest-rated schools, often in the most affluent neighborhoods, draw the most requests, and low-income kids get first pick. A low-income student whose parents apply to a school outside of their neighborhood will get a seat before a higher-income student who lives nearby.

After that, the district’s centralized enrollment system considers factors like whether a student has an older sibling in the school they applied to, whether they live in that school’s attendance zone and if they have a parent working there (in that order). An out-of-zone student with an older sibling at their chosen school gets priority over an in-zone student without a family connection.

So far this year, the district received 1,636 applications for 4,100 pre-K spots. There are still more than 2,400 pre-K spots scattered across the city. District officials are working on finding placement for about 100 families who applied in the spring but didn’t get placed in one of their preferred schools.

My child didn’t get into pre-K at my neighborhood school. Will they get into kindergarten?

Kids are guaranteed a spot at their neighborhood school when they start kindergarten no matter where they went to preschool.

But if a student attends a school outside of their neighborhood for pre-K, their parents can keep them there for kindergarten and beyond. This year, nearly half of Baltimore kids in kindergarten through fifth grade go to a school outside of their attendance zone.

At a virtual town hall on Baltimore’s pre-K enrollment process last week, families expressed concern that schools would grow overcrowded in the older grades if out-of-zone kids stayed after pre-K. At three of this year’s most popular programs, over half of the admitted preschoolers came from outside the attendance zone.

District officials noted that pre-K classrooms are capped at 20 students. There are more seats per class as kids get older. Officials also said they can restrict out-of-zone placements starting in kindergarten if a school becomes overcrowded.

My child didn’t get the school I wanted. Do I have other affordable options?

Maryland offers free pre-K for students whose parents are low-income, defined as making $99,000 or less for a family of four, and offers discounted preschool tuition for some families with incomes above that range.

Baltimore works with private preschools and childcare programs that receive state dollars to offer free and reduced-price pre-K to income-eligible families. Families who need a closer option than the public school they got accepted into can apply to those options directly.

Parents with more questions can email enrollment@bcps.k12.md.us.

About the Education Hub

This reporting is part of The Banner’s Education Hub, community-funded journalism that provides parents with resources they need to make decisions about how their children learn. Read more.