Curriculum & Instruction

UPK Lottery Registration OPENS for the 2026-2027 School Year on January 6, 2026.

The Universal Pre-K program will be a full-day program, running Monday through Friday, offered through partnerships with Universal Pre-Kindergarten centers located within the district (the centers are listed below). The program will begin on or about September 2, 2026, and will follow the school district calendar. There is NO COST to participate in this program. Wrap-around services for “before care” and/or “after care” are additional expenses not covered by the grants. Parents and guardians are responsible for providing transportation for their child. The curriculum follows NYS Pre-Kindergarten Standards and is taught by New York State Certified Teachers.

If interest exceeds available placements, a lottery system will be utilized.

Please use this LINK starting on January 6, 2026, to enter the lottery.

We will notify families of their lottery position for UPK placement on February 4, 2026. After notification of your lottery spot, we will begin the selection and registration process. 

Entering the lottery does not take the place of the registration process. Final registration will begin after February 4, 2026.

If your child is to participate in the UPK program, additional information such as a birth certificate and proof of residency within the Plainview-Old Bethpage school district will be required for registration.

Any questions may be directed to POB UPK email.

Please review the following information regarding the application process:

Frequently Asked Questions about the Plainview-Old Bethpage CSD Universal Pre-kindergarten Program

• Seats are limited to approximately 230 students and placement is not guaranteed.
• Students will be selected for the program by a randomized lottery to be observed by the District’s auditing firm. Please see information below on entering the lottery. Requests to enter the lottery past the deadline are unable to be accommodated.
• Parents/guardians who have entered the lottery will be given the opportunity to rank the participating Pre-K centers in order of preference.
• The number of seats available at each of the locations for the Pre-K program is limited, and placement will be determined by the results of the randomized lottery.
• In order to provide a fair and consistent process for all qualified residents, we cannot honor requests to switch locations.
• Once all seats are filled, children will be placed on a waiting list.
• Students must be a Plainview-Old Bethpage Central School District resident and be 4 years of age on or before December 31, 2026 (a birthdate between January 1, 2022, and December 31, 2022) in order to participate.
   

1. What is Universal Pre-kindergarten (UPK)?

Universal Pre-kindergarten (UPK) refers to state government-funded preschool programs that are free for those who attend. As defined in Commissioner’s Regulations 151-1.2(c) an eligible child means a child who resides within the school district who is four years of age on or before December 31st of the year in which he or she is enrolled or who will otherwise be first eligible to enter public school kindergarten commencing with the following school year.

2. Who is eligible for the Plainview-Old Bethpage UPK program?

To be eligible for the Pre-kindergarten program, the student must turn 4 years-old on or before December 31, 2026.

3. How do I enroll my child in the Plainview-Old Bethpage program?

Selection for this program is lottery-based and requires the completion of an application. Applications for the lottery must be received by 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 20, 2026. Parents can fill out the online application by visiting the District’s website at www.pobschools.org or may obtain a copy through the Curriculum Office located at 106 Washington Avenue, Plainview, NY 11803.

4. What is the deadline for applying for the UPK program?

Applications must be received by 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 20, 2026.

5. How many openings are there for the UPK program?

The District is likely to receive funding for up to two-hundred and thirty (230) UPK slots.

6. What will happen if more than 230 children enroll in the program?

The District will have a randomized lottery in more students apply than there are seats. The lottery will be conducted electronically by auditors from the firm Cullen & Danowski LLP. The first 230 children will be randomly sorted and may select from one of the four UPK providers that the District has contracted with: Miss Debbie’s Creative Childcare, Mid Island Y JCC, Shalom Day Care, The Learning Experience or Good Shepherd, pending availability. Parent/guardians will have 24 (twenty-four) hours to confirm their acceptance of the placement. If the parent/guardian does not accept the placement within 24 hours, they will lose the slot and it will be offered to the next family on the list. All families that have applied for the program will be given a randomized slot on the list. Families that apply for the program after Friday, January 20, 2026 at 4:00pm will be placed on the waiting list in the order they have submitted their application.

7. My child is already attending one of the childcare centers (Miss Debbie’s, Mid Island Y/JCC, Shalom/The Learning Experience/Good Shepherd). Can my child still attend for the UPK program?

The UPK application requests that you rank the four centers in order of your preference to attend. If space is available at your preferred center when we get to your position in the lottery, your child will be placed in your first preference. If that program is full, and space is available in your second preference, your child will be placed in that center. If you choose not to send your child to the center that you marked as your second preference, then you will have declined enrollment in the UPK program.

8. What is a typical day in the UPK program like?

The daily UPK program is five (5) hours long (exclusive of naps/rest periods) with a minimum of two-and one half (2.5) hours of instruction. It will run for at least 180 days during the 2026-2027 school year and will begin on or about September 2, 2026, depending on the center. The calendar is left to the discretion of the childcare center. The program must be non-sectarian so there is no religious instruction. Please know that religious symbols may still be present in classrooms and the centers will not be directed to remove them. The specific daily schedule is at the discretion of each center. The school district has general oversight over the instructional program but does not dictate the instructional schedule or the specific instructional materials used. Each program will provide the following services to students and families:

• Strengthening their cognitive skills
• Increase early literacy skills (reading, writing, speaking, listening and information processing)
• Increase their creative and artistic abilities
• Improve inter and intra-personal skills, feelings of self-worth, and become independent at a developmentally appropriate level
• Increase appreciation of diversity and improve understanding of their own heritage and its relationship to self-image and interactions with others
• Enhance personal, physical and emotional wellness following the components of NYSED Social Emotional Learning Benchmarks. http://www.p12.nysed.gov/sss/sel.html
• Increase physical skills including fine and gross motor movement, kinesthetic and spatial relationships
• Encourage parental involvement in their child’s education
• Ensure parents have ease of utilization and access to program and program services
• Integrate preschool children with disabilities
• The program will also meet the needs of English Language Learners in the following categories:
  • Understand language development. Recognize the connection between the home language and English
  • Connect oral language to emergent literacy
  • Provide bilingual supports

9. What if I need my child in the program more than 5 hours a day?

The four centers may offer “wrap around” hours at an additional cost. Specific information about wrap around hours or additional hours is available from the specific centers and will not be provided by the District.

10. Is transportation provided as part of the UPK program?

No.

11. How do I get additional questions answered about the program?

Please email your questions to POBUPK@pobschools.org. We will make every attempt to answer your questions promptly.

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Click here to access Understanding Erin's Law parents guide.

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is a U.S. federal law that was enacted in 2015, replacing the No Child Left Behind Act. ESSA aims to ensure all students have access to a high-quality education and achieve academic success. The law emphasizes accountability, but it gives states more flexibility in determining how to measure and improve student performance.

Key components of ESSA include:

• State Control: States are responsible for setting their own education standards, determining how to assess students, and designing improvement plans for struggling schools.
• Accountability: Schools must track student performance through standardized testing, graduation rates, and other indicators, but states have more freedom in how they use this data.
• Support for Disadvantaged Students: ESSA focuses on ensuring that students from low-income families, students with disabilities, and English language learners receive the resources and support they need.
• Teacher Quality: ESSA emphasizes the importance of highly qualified educators and provides funding to support teacher training and professional development.

Overall, ESSA seeks to promote equity in education and improve outcomes for all students while giving states and schools more autonomy to meet their unique needs.

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