Publicly-funded Pre-Kindergarten in Vermont

Montpelier Partnership

Orchard Valley Waldorf School (OVWS) is partnered with the Montpelier school district to provide publicly-funded, high-quality, pre-Kindergarten programs for eligible three- and four-year-olds. Public funding may be applied toward the private program cost for up to 10 hours per week for 35 weeks. Children must be enrolled for a minimum of two days per week. Eligible children are those who reside in Montpelier and who will be three and younger than five on September 1.

The deadline to apply for the Montpelier school district pre-K program is April 15th. To apply, you should complete an application for the Child’s Garden in Montpelier or the Nursery/Kindergarten on the main campus as well as the Montpelier application for pre-K.

Other School Districts

Montpelier is currently the only district with whom we are partnered. Act 62 was approved by the Vermont legislature and took effect on July 1, 2007. Participation in publicly-funded pre-K education is voluntary; school districts are not required to provide pre-K education and children are not required to attend. Not all districts are participating, some districts are providing pre-K education through their own schools exclusively and some districts are in the beginning stages of exploring the viability of providing pre-K education opportunities.

If your town provides public pre-K, as a parent you may request that your school district enter into a contract with a qualified child care center inside or outside of your district. OVWS is a qualified program and we are actively seeking to partner with other school districts. As a parent, your request has more impact than an appeal from a private provider. Even if your school district already has pre-K partners, you may directly request through the superintendent for the public pre-K funding to be applied to our program for your child to attend if it better meets the needs of your family. There are deadlines for these requests – usually by the end of April – since there are a limited number of publicly funded spots per school district. Different districts have different requirements and you are encouraged to inquire early. Some districts have an application process or may require a preschool screening.

Contact info by district:
Barre SU- John Bacon, Superintendent (802) 476-5011
OSSU – Orleans South (Craftsbury, Hardwick, Wolcott, Woodbury) – JoAnn Canning, Superintendent (802) 472-6531
WCSU – Washington Central (Berlin, Calais, East Montpelier, Middlesex, Worcester) – Robbe Brook, Superintendent (802) 229-0553
WNSU – Washington Northeast (Cabot, Marshfield, Plainfield) – Nancy Thomas, Superintendent (802) 454-9924
WSSU – Washington South (Northfield, Roxbury) – Michael Fagan, Superintendent (802) 485-7755
WWSU – Washington West (Duxbury, Fayston, Moretown, Waterbury, Waitsfield, Warren) – Brigid Scheffert, Superintendent (802) 496-2272

For more info regarding publicly funded pre-K in Vermont, go to www.vermontparentsforprek.org.