Eligibility and Inclusion

Eligibility for APS Early Childhood Preschool

Eligibility/Inclusion

To be eligible for Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) early childhood programs, including PreK

• Children must be 4 years old by August 31st of the school year they are enrolling in

• Mixed 3s and 4s classrooms, children must be 3 years old by August 31st of the school year they are enrolling in

• Students must reside within the APS district. Use the (find my school) tool to see if your address is withing APS district.

All of our classrooms provide inclusive opportunities for children with IEP’s and placement is an IEP team decision.

Immigrant Students Regardless of Documented Status

Neither the constitution of the state of New Mexico nor state law establishes citizenship as a requirement for school-age children to attend public school. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled citizenship status cannot be used to deny public school admission to school-age children. Schools shall not:

• Deny admission to a school age child on the basis of known, or suspected, undocumented status.
• Engage in any practice to deter or discourage the right of a student to attend public school.
• Require students or parents/legal guardians to disclose or document their immigration status or make inquiries that would expose their undocumented status.
• Require Social Security numbers.

Recruitment and Enrollment

Preschool enrollment for 3- and 4-year-olds opens in the Spring of the year prior to starting a Pre-K program. Enrollment is announced through through multiple outlets including the APS website, school site websites, social media and local media.

We do not discriminate when selecting student participants based on race, ethnicity, religion, national origin nor any other unique demographics of which our community’s children represent.

If you would like information regarding Pre-K for your child, please visit https://www.aps.edu/students-parents/early-childhood. You can submit questions through the Let’s Talk portal on our website.

Families may call the APS Early Childhood office between the hours of 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. or leave a message anytime at 505-253-0320.

We offer a Early Childhood School Choice Fair once a year in early February to increase collaboration efforts between Albuquerque Public Schools Early Childhood Education and other local early learning providers to ensure children receive the educational services that meet their needs.

APS Early Childhood, YDI: Head Start/Early Start, City of Albuquerque Child Development Center, CFYD, along with community providers and private day care centers share the responsibility of locating age-appropriate children in our community for participation in an effective early learning educational program.

We acknowledge that all families have varying needs and we provide information to parents regarding community and private programs to help find the best program fit for them and their child

Selection/Prioritization

There are conditions where one child is selected over another for participating in an Albuquerque Public Schools PreK program. PreK will consider the following situations, as priority needs when making participant selections:

• Children who live in the attendance area of school with a Pre-K
• Children who are experiencing homelessness
• Children with identified special needs
• Children who are in Foster Care or under CYFD Custody

Wait list

We maintain waitlists for each of our school sites that have NM PreK. We also work with families to help find availability at other APS locations with Preschool or refer families to other early learning providers that may have availability in their NM Pre-K classroom