Mayor Murray announced today the first providers selected to participate in the Seattle Preschool Program. It is a strong group of high quality preschool providers. You can read the Mayor’s release here.
This is an exciting moment. Full day, affordable, high quality preschool will become a reality for hundreds of Seattle families this September, then thousands more in the coming years.
Seattle purposefully chose a “mixed delivery” method for its program, meaning the City is partnering with multiple providers who meet the City’s quality standards to deliver early learning opportunities across Seattle. This approach allows the City to be flexible and allows providers who are well connected in their communities to play a large role in the program. The City provides funding and coaching to the providers along the way. The Seattle School District may also be one of these providers, but the School Board won’t make a final decision on its participation until next month.
As I’ve written before, high quality preschool is an investment to make certain Seattle children have a fair and strong start. It will change lives and it will change the future of this city.