Universal Pre-K Boston
- Universal Pre-K Boston
- Eligibility & Registration for Boston UPK
- About Boston UPK
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UPK Community Providers
- ABCD Head Start - Hyde Park
- ABCD Head Start - Jamaica Plain
- ABCD Head Start - Roslindale
- ABCD Head Start - Walnut Grove
- Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center
- Boys & Girls Clubs of Dorchester - Harbor Point
- Boys & Girls Clubs of Dorchester - McLaughlin
- Children Services of Roxbury Early Care & Education Center
- Crispus Attucks
- East Boston Social Centers
- Ellis Early Learning - Jamaica Plain
- Ellis Early Learning - South End
- Hattie B Cooper
- Horizons for Homeless Children
- Inquilinos Boricuas en Accion, Inc. (IBA)
- John F. Kennedy Family Service Center, Inc.
- Little Voices Early Education and Care, Inc.
- Mission Grammar School
- Nurtury, Inc. - Horadan Way
- Nurtury, Inc. - Learning Lab
- Paige Academy
- Saint Columbkille Partnership School
- Shaloh House Jewish Day School
- South Boston Neighborhood House
- Torah Academy
- VietAID - Au Co Preschool
- Village Preschool
- YMCA - East Boston
- YMCA - Roxbury
- YMCA - RTH
- YMCA - Wang
- YMCA - West Roxbury
- Resources
- Contact
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BOSTON UNIVERSAL PRE-KINDERGARTEN
Welcome! We’re excited you’re considering preschool for your child. Preschool is also known as Pre-Kindergarten. In Boston, we have Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK), which is a mixed delivery portfolio of programs funded by the City of Boston offering high-quality choices for children ages three and four living in the city at no cost to families. UPK is a 6.5-hour school day for 180 days per year.
The Boston UPK program is one of the strongest in the nation. Research shows children who attend are more prepared for kindergarten in the areas of early math, reading, and social-emotional development.The Boston UPK mixed delivery model offers the same high quality programming in a variety of settings:
- Boston Public Schools (BPS) - known as K0 (for 3-year-olds) and K1 (for 4-year-olds)
- Community-based providers (Update - March 1, 2023: Applications are now being accepted for the 2023-2024 school year).
- Family child care providers (to be added for the 2023-2024 school year)
Boston’s UPK program was first offered at Boston Public Schools and has since expanded to community-based providers and will soon expand to family child care providers in an effort to make UPK accessible in more locations around the city and better serve families.
All UPK programs - whether offered at BPS schools, at community-based providers, or family child care providers - are standardized and quality based. They are all working to implement the Boston Public Schools Focus on Pre-K curriculum, which is part of the BPS Focus on Early Learning curricula series for grades pre-k through 2. This is a nationally recognized curriculum developed by Boston Public Schools.