Hi Friend,

With the New Year—and a new decade—just hours away, at Boston School Finder, we have an important resolution for you in 2020. This New Year, we hope you'll resolve to make finding and enrolling your child in a great-fit school a top priority. And if you're the parent of a child who is currently 4 years old, you can fulfill that resolution even before the New Year starts—here's how.

UPK Seats for 4-Year-Olds Are Still Available

The City of Boston has committed to providing Universal Pre-K (also referred to as UPK) for children who are 4 years old. You should know that UPK seats align with the grade K1 curriculum and calendar in BPS schools. While these seats are limited in number, there are still open UPK seats available throughout the City of Boston for this current school year.

If you have a child who turned 4 by Sep. 1, 2019 and they still need a K1 seat for this school year, please contact Joelle Auguste, Boston UPK Family Engagement & Comprehensive Services Manager for Boston Public Schools. (You can find her contact information at our UPK blog post.)

Looking ahead for next school year: If your child will turn 4 by Sep. 1, 2020, we recommend enrolling your child into BPS K1 or UPK seat for the 2020-21 school year, as the City of Boston has invested in 750 UPK seats for next year.

Information about UPK application and enrollment for the 2020-21 school year should be released in January 2020. For this current school year, click on the map below to explore UPK providers with open UPK seats available right now for 4-year-olds:

Read our UPK blog post to learn more and text "SCHOOL" to 33-777 to get a text alert as soon as UPK information for 2020-21 becomes available.

Have You Pre-Registered for BPS Yet?

BPS pre-registration is live online. Pre-registering your child will save you time at your Welcome Center appointment during Priority Registration, which kicks off Monday, Jan. 6, 2020.

Don't forget: Online pre-registration simplifies your Welcome Center visit but does not replace your in-person Welcome Center visit, which you will complete during your assigned Priority Registration period.

Not sure when you need to register? The graphic below outlines BPS Priority Registrations dates for the 2020-2021 school year; click the image to learn more:

School Previews Resume in 2020

If you're still in the research phase of finding a great-fit school for your child, School Previews and Open Houses stopped for the holidays, but pick right back up after the New Year. Scroll down to view which schools have remaining previews.

As we say farewell to 2019, Boston School Finder is committed to helping all families find and enroll their children into a great-fit school in 2020 and beyond.

Warmly,
Latoya Gayle, Executive Director
Boston School Finder