UPK News

and FAQs

from the New York State Education Department's Office of Early Learning

Spring Edition: 2023-2024 Program Year

Important Dates and Deadlines:

two kids looking through a magnifying glass outside

Important Dates and Deadlines for the 2024-2025 School Year

Available Now: 2024-2025 Application Initial Survey now open in the NYSED Business Portal. Prekindergarten applications will be assigned once the initial survey is approved. Applications are due August 29, 2024.

Available Now: 2023-2024 Final Reports are open, and will be due July 31, 2024.

May 31, 2024: FS-10A Amendments Due - See the FS-10A Budget Amendments Webinar for guidance

June 6, 2024: Final day to correct student coding in SIRS. See the Child Counts and Coding Memo for guidance.

July 31, 2024: FS-10Fs are due to Grants Finance. FS-10Fs are not submitted to the Office of Early Learning.

Photo of Erik Sweet, Executive Director of the Office of Early Learning

Dear Educators,

I welcome you to our latest issue of the UPK newsletter and am happy to share an update on the many resources and supporting documents we are working on to support classroom learning and standards-based instruction. The latest news is that the budget passed, and our team is hard at working preparing resources and support for the 2024-25 UPK application and Final Reports.

Teaching and Learning is at the core of what P-3 teachers do. In development right now are several standards-based resources that will provide guidance to program administrators and classroom teachers. In January, the Department released a series of Literacy Briefs, developed for the Department by Dr. Nonie Lesaux. Our January release included a virtual and in-person hybrid event across NY State to roll out the briefs. The Literacy Briefs, which include a separate document for Prekindergarten and an Elementary brief, can be accessed on the Department’s Literacy Briefs website. More literacy guidance is forthcoming in 2024.

Our next release will focus on providing guidance on supporting positive classroom behavior in Prekindergarten. Our job as educators is to support the whole child, and guiding a student in their earliest years sets the foundation for years to come. This guidance document will include tips and classroom guidance for how to work with challenging behaviors for prekindergarten, while focusing on the positive. Additional guidance forthcoming will include Science Everywhere!, a science guidance document for prekindergarten, as well as a P-3 cultural education toolkit.

Our team continues to work with over 640 school districts and has prepared more UPK guidance for the new 2024-25 school year, which is outlined in this newsletter. To ensure we have your input, the Office of Early Learning and Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) are partnering on the creation of a “Collaboration Council,” which will bring together representatives from school districts, childcares, and other stakeholders for UPK to discuss the challenges and best practices for UPK collaboration. The council has been selected and will meet for the first time this summer. Stay tuned to this newsletter for updates on the work during 2024-25.

We look forward to best supporting you and hearing your input on necessary resources. Please reach out if you have any questions.

Erik Sweet

Executive Director

Office of Early Learning

Erik.Sweet@nysed.gov

2023-2024 RFP Awardees Announced

The New York State Education Department (NYSED) awarded $34,051,057 million in Universal Prekindergarten (UPK) Expansion Grants to 64 school districts across the state. The grants enable school districts to expand full-day prekindergarten programming for four-year-old students.

All public school districts in New York State were eligible to apply for this grant opportunity. The Department awarded these competitive grants based on a district’s plan to serve a community’s highest-need schools and students, the level of existing prekindergarten services, and the extent to which a district planned to maximize the total number of eligible four-year-old children served in its programs, among other factors. Awarded school districts will be able to operate a 180-day program during the 2024-2025 school year.

School districts awarded funding include:

Albany City School District - $1,265,442

Belfast Center School District - $43,206

Brewster Central School District - $900,000

Buffalo City School District - $2,500,000

Cambridge Central School District - $310,000

Chateaugay Central School District - $161,930

Clifton-Fine Central School District - $120,000

Cortland Enlarged City School District - $67,322

Cuba-Rushford Central School District - $162,719

Deposit Central School District - $264,000

Dryden Central School District - $191,543

East Ramapo Central School District - $2,498,848

East Syracuse Minoa School District - $465,175

Elba Central School District - $130,000

Ellicottville Central School District - $311,400

Evans-Brant (Lake Shore) Central School District - $180,000

Fabius Pompey Central School District - $180,000

Farmingdale Union Free School District - $919,800

Florida Union Free School District - $210,000

Frontier Central School District - $519,551

Fulton City School District - $917,065

Gananda Central School District - $434,230

Garden City Union Free School District - $2,390,000

Guilderland Central School District - $800,000

Hamburg Central School District - $180,000

Haverstraw Stony Point Central School District - $2,454,359

Hendrick Hudson Central School District - $590,000

Heuvelton Central School District - $224,748

Hudson City School District - $200,000

Iroquois Central School District - $360,000

Liberty Central School District - $221,908

Lisbon Central School District - $203,349

Livonia Central School District - $356,622

Malverne Union Free School District - $470,000

Mechanicville City School District - $180,000

Medina Central School District - $494,269

Merrick Union Free School District - $360,000

Milford Central School District - $83,417

Onondaga Central School District - $180,000

Onteora Central School District - $167,900

Oyster Bay & East Norwich Central School District - $660,000

Plainview-Old Bethpage Central School District - $360,000

Poland Central School District - $400,000

Queensbury Union Free School District - $194,000

Riverhead Central School District - $1,000,581

Rockville Centre Union Free School District - $360,000

Roxbury Central School District - $100,000

Royalton-Hartland Central School District - $436,404

Rush-Henrietta Central School District - $544,756

Saranac Lake Central School District - $402,300

Seaford Union Free School District - $720,000

Sherrill City School District - $839,076

Southwestern at Jamestown Central School District - $114,173

Springville-Griffith Institute Central School District - $330,000

Starpoint Central School District - $1,213,528

Syosset Central School District - $910,000

Ticonderoga Central School District - $267,681

Tioga Central School District - $130,000

Washingtonville Central School District - $82,909

Webster Central School District - $1,204,300

West Canada Valley Central School District - $210,249

West Irondequoit Central School District - $540,000

Wheatland-Chili Central School District - $99,297

York Central School District - $272,000

Read the News Release Here

Navigating PreK Day 2024

On May 2nd, 2024 the Office of Early Learning hosted Navigating PreK Day 2024 at the Cultural Education Center in Albany, NY. Commissioner Betty A. Rosa delivered opening remarks, and over 150 attendees were able to engage in sessions on Inclusion and PreK Best Practices, NYSED's Literacy Briefs, Building Relationships to Foster Positive Behavior, and Play in the PreK Classroom. Fiscal presentations and budget updates were also integrated into the day, as well as time to spend speaking with an Office of Early Learning fiscal or programmatic liaison one-on-one. OEL plans to host another Navigating PreK Day in May 2025, so stay tuned for more details!

2023-2024 PreK Child Counts

Reporting and Guidance

Image of a chart for Coding SUFDPK and UPK students in SIRS which is available in the linked memo

For the 2023-2024 school year, PreK child counts must reflect the actual PreK enrollment as of March 13, 2024. Please note this is a change from previous years. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, districts were temporarily given an opportunity to report enrollment through multiple pull dates and recoup funds for any child educated in their program. This provision of counting "ever-enrolled" has ended.

Any coding corrections must be fixed in SIRS by June 6, 2024.

For more information or questions, please email OEL@nysed.gov.

Read the Full Child Counts Reporting & Guidance Memo Here

calculator and pen on top of financial papers

Fiscal Guidance for 2025 New Law

The FY 2025 enacted State budget removes the supplement not supplant requirement for State funds, allowing school districts to access their SUFDPK grant awards prior to accessing or even exhausting their UPK allocations. The 2025 New Law Field Guidance memo provides direction and examples to aid you in your fiscal decision making for the 2024-2025 prekindergarten program year.

Read the Fiscal Guidance Memo Here

2024-2025 Allocation/Award Lists and Funding Overview Chart Now Available

Allocation Lists and Grant Award Lists for the 2024-2025 school year have been released and are posted to the Office of Early Learning's website. A Funding Overview Chart can also be downloaded from the same page.

There have been significant changes regarding prekindergarten funding for the 2024-2025 school year. The Office of Early Learning has created a memo to provide information to help school districts understand their current funding sources, Universal Prekindergarten (UPK) allocations and/or Statewide Universal Full-Day Prekindergarten grants, for the purpose of Prekindergarten programming.

Understanding Your 2024-2025 Prekindergarten Funding Memo

Best Practices P-3 Webinar Series

The Office of Early Learning was excited to host a series of webinars that focus on best practices in Prekindergarten through Third Grade this year. The Value of Play: Play-Based Learning for P-3 Students took place on January 25th, and Best Practices for UPK Collaboration took place on March 13th. Recordings of each can be viewed on the Office of Early Learning's Webinar Series webpage. The Social Emotional Learning in the P-3 Classroom webinar took place on May 15th, and a recording will be uploaded soon to the same location.

teacher at riverhead csd conducting an experiment with a jar of water

UPK Classroom Spotlight: Riverhead CSD

Teacher Nancy Moloney recently conducted a science experiment with her UPK students from the Riverhead School District on Long Island. Using the scientific method, the students made predictions about what might happen when Ms. Moloney took a jar of boiling water and added hairspray and ice.

Once all the predictions were made, Ms. Moloney conducted the experiment and all the students could see that a cloud formed in the jar. Ms. Moloney explained that when the hot water on the bottom reacts with the cold ice on top, clouds are formed. Students took turns looking at the cloud and talking about clouds. Students spoke about the clouds being water and air and reasoning that is why planes can fly through them.

When they were finished examining the cloud, the students went to the tables to draw pictures of their clouds. The teachers in the class wrote down what the students said about their clouds. These drawings were added into the students' Science Notebooks.

Supporting Emergent Multilingual Learners (EMLs): Integrating Home Language

index cards with the words "grape" and "apple" in english and spanish

Integrating a child’s home language is a culturally responsive and sustaining practice in the early childhood classroom. All children are developing their language systems and repertoires at this age, so Emergent Multilingual Learners (EML) are navigating the establishment of two interconnected language systems in their brains. That’s incredible work for our youngest learners! While many children are also developing print awareness at this stage, using a child’s home language verbally and in printed materials communicates respect and value for each child’s home language. Using a child’s home language in the classroom supports language development in all their languages and acknowledges the assets that children bring to the classroom.

How can preschool programs and classrooms support the integration of a child’s home language? Consider the following suggestions:

Label classroom materials and center areas with a clear visual accompanied by a label that contains English and the home languages present in the classroom.

Learn greetings for saying “Hello,” “Goodbye,” “Good morning,” or “See you tomorrow” in the home languages present in the classroom.

Invite students to be the teacher by asking them to teach you words in their home language as they play, work, and move about the classroom.

Continue to cultivate a classroom culture that accepts the use of all languages, whether they are used separately or together. All languages are valuable!

Helpful Resources/Professional Development:

architecture plans on a white table with a hard hat

Field Guidance for the Use of Building Aid to Support Expansion of UPK/SUFDPK Spaces

Under Education Law §3602(6), Building Aid can be used for constructing, expanding, and renovating facilities specifically for prekindergarten. A recent amendment in 2023 expanded the scope of the law to include the improvement of Universal Prekindergarten (UPK) and State Universal Full-Day Prekindergarten (SUFDPK) spaces. This change allows school districts to increase the capacity of programs serving UPK and SUFDPK funded students, providing better access to high-quality early childhood education. See the attached memo for specific details.

View the Building Aid Memo Here

Are you a district looking to start a UPK program using State-Administered PreK funding? The Office of Early Learning is here to help! OEL liaisons are available to walk you and your staff through the process of applying for UPK funding and running a successful program. Contact us at 518-474-5807 or OEL@nysed.gov

UPK Classroom Spotlight Opportunity

The Office of Early Learning is looking for best practices from districts, CBO, and Direct Contract Agency UPK classrooms to spotlight throughout the year. If you are interested in sharing a success story in any of the following areas, please submit your story via email to the Office of Early Learning at OEL@nysed.gov .

Learning centers
Theme integration
Building classroom community
Differentiated instruction
Kindergarten transition
Diversity, equity, and inclusion in the UPK classroom
Anything the district is inspired to share with the field

You will need to include the following information in your submission:

Subject: UPK Spotlight Submission
Local Education Agency Name
Teacher Name
Photo of the best practice in action
1-2 paragraphs describing the best practice and highlighting any results since its implementation.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Your Feedback Matters

The Office of Early Learning provides technical assistance to grades P-3 in New York State.

What does support from the Office of Early Learning look like to you?

Please complete a quick survey to let us know how we can best be of assistance.

image of the New York State Education building

Erik Sweet, Executive Director, Office of Early Learning

Lori Smart, Director

Tanya Amodio-Kovacs, Supervisor

Paulette Coppin, Supervisor

Grace Bombard, James Bordis, Samantha Chobot,

Lauren Cosamano, Carly Feldman,

Eric Feml-Nelsen, Jason Gish,

Tiffany Koo, Noelle Lake, Christine Lyons,

Terry Onofrio, Brandon Orszulak, Madison Ramnes,

Tina Rose-Turriglio, Christina Ryan,

Mary Sandoval, Rachel Schlude, Michelle Sidoti,

Zak Snyder, Megan Tobiasen, Vicky Woods