HCPSS’ Pre-K Program

Curriculum

The HCPSS pre-k program provides a wide range of experiences and opportunities to familiarize students with the school environment and build on the child’s understanding of his or her world, while developing a readiness for school. The pre-k curriculum, which is based on recommended practices from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and guidelines for early childhood education from the Maryland State Department of Education (including alignment to the Common Core State Standards), is designed to enable children to acquire knowledge, skills and processes and apply them in meaningful real-world ways.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility for Pre-K is defined by state law and requires that Pre-K be made first available to any child who meets first priority criteria (Tier I) and whose parent/guardian(s) seek enrollment.

In accordance with the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, COMAR 13A.06.02, and HCPSS Board of Education Policy 9000 – Student Residency, Eligibility, Enrollment and Assignment, the HCPSS must prioritize enrollment for children who are or who will be 4 years old on or before September 1 of the enrolling school year and whose family also meets Tier I eligibility.

Waitlist Procedures

Applicants who do not meet Tier I eligibility will automatically be placed on a waitlist and may be considered for enrollment at a later date.

Again, the waitlist will be evaluated frequently throughout the school year but does not guarantee enrollment and families will only be contacted by our office if we are able to offer their child a seat in the program.

Apply

The application link for the 2026-27 school year will go live at 9:00 am on Monday, March 9.

2025-26 (current) School Year : Families of children who turned 4 by September 1, 2025, are still eligible to apply for the current school year and should email hcpss_pk@hcpss.org to request an application.

Due to the volume of inquiries and application submissions, please allow up to 21 business days from the time of submission for application processing. Please note, processing times may be longer based on the volume of inquiries and applications received. For faster processing, please ensure that ALL sections of your application are complete and that all required documentation is included with your application submission. Applications that are not complete or missing documents cannot be processed and will be returned.

To Enroll: Families who meet the eligibility criteria will receive an acceptance letter from the Office of Early Childhood Programs. This letter is one of the required documents for registration and will need to be uploaded as part of the online registration process. This letter should also be used as a point of reference when making pre-k program selections throughout the online registration process. Families should not enroll/register until they have received a decision letter from the Office of Early Childhood Programs.

Program Locations

Pre-K is available to eligible students in all attendance areas, but are only located at selected elementary school sites. Pre-K students will attend the school to which they are assigned. The student will then attend kindergarten at their regularly designated school, regardless of where they attend Pre-K.

Below is a list of HCPSS Pre-K locations. Pre-K students will attend the school to which they are assigned.

Pre-K assignments and locations are based on countywide projections. Pre-K programs and feeder locations are subject to change.

Feeder locations are subject to change. Any updates will be posted online and communicated to impacted families.

Accreditation

To date, the following HCPSS Pre-K and MINC-PK programs have achieved Maryland Accreditation. Additional cohorts of HCPSS Pre-K and MINC-PK programs are pursuing Accreditation. All HCPSS pre-K programs are expected to achieve Accreditation by the end of the 2025-2026 school year. Maryland Accreditation is awarded for five years.