Cambridge Preschool Program Application for 2025-2026 School Year Opens October 1

The City of Cambridge and Cambridge Public Schools are delighted to announce that applications for the Cambridge Preschool Program (CPP) for the 2025-2026 school year will be accepted Tuesday, October 1 - Thursday, October 31, 2024. Overseen by the Cambridge Office of Early Childhood, CPP is a publicly-funded program that provides access to free preschool for every 4-year-old and some 3-year-olds living in Cambridge through a streamlined application and matching process.Cambridge residents who will turn 4 years old or 3 years old by August 31, 2025 are eligible to apply to CPP for enrollment in the 2025-2026 school year.

Beginning October 1, the CPP application will be available on https://earlychildhoodcambridge.org/cpp/.

As the City's universal preschool model, CPP is a mixed-delivery system designed to center equity in access and deliver high-quality education across 25 Cambridge preschool providers, including Cambridge Public Schools, the City's Department of Human Service Programs, and community-based programs. CPP provides a single application portal where families can compare participating programs, rank 6-10 programs to apply to based on their needs and preferences, and submit their application. Families who apply in October will be notified of their child's preschool match in January 2025.

The City of Cambridge provides funding to cover the cost of school-day, school-year preschool tuition for every Cambridge 4-year-old and for 3-year-olds who meet priority criteria. Families can choose from programs that operate full-day and year-round for an additional cost.

"As we prepare to welcome the first cohort of children enrolled in the Cambridge Preschool Program to classrooms in September, we are thrilled that nearly 800 preschoolers will begin their educational journeys with a high-quality preschool foundation that is cost-effective for families," said Ellen Semonoff, Assistant City Manager for Human Services. "We look forward to building on this newly established program model, led by the Office of Early Childhood, to support families in applying to CPP for the 2025-2026 school year this fall."

CPP's inaugural application period launched in January 2024. As of August 2024, CPP has placed all eligible 4-year-olds and all priority 3-year-olds who applied to the program into programs.

• 777 Cambridge children (528 4-year-olds and 249 3-year-olds) are enrolled in programs across 61 Cambridge preschool sites for the 2024-2025 school year.
• 90% of applicants received a preschool match from one of the top 3 choices indicated on their application.
• Approximately 42% of children enrolled across CPP providers meet lower-resourced priority criteria.

"The City of Cambridge has committed $34 million in total funding to the Cambridge Preschool Program for the fiscal year 2025, making this critically important initiative one of the largest financial investments across the City's budget," said Yi-An Huang, Cambridge City Manager. "We are so excited for the inaugural class to start in September and apply our early learnings to make the application process for the 2025-2026 preschool year even more efficient for those families most in need."

"Through our partnership with the City of Cambridge, we are delighted that the years-long vision of universal preschool has come to fruition as we prepare to welcome our youngest learners through our inaugural Cambridge Preschool Program," said David Murphy, Interim Superintendent of Cambridge Public Schools. "We are extremely grateful to the city for the immense collaboration and thought partnership and look forward to reflecting and making improvements to the application process so that our families have the most positive and seamless experience possible."

Leading up to the 2025-26 application opening on October 1, the Cambridge Office of Early Childhood will share more information about the CPP application process and participating programs. For the latest information, visit www.earlychildhoodcambridge.org/CPP.

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