Applications to Provide Georgia’s Pre-K Program Now Available


Deadline for Submitting Applications: 5 p.m., January 25

Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL) has posted applications for new and returning providers of Georgia’s Pre-K Program for the 2019-2020 school year. Providers of currently funded classes can request expansion classes via DECAL’s PANDA website. New providers can receive information about the application review, award process, and grant funding at decal.ga.gov. The deadline for all applications is 5 p.m., Friday, Jan. 25, 2019.

Georgia’s Pre-K Program is an educational program for age-eligible children in Georgia, funded by the Georgia Lottery for Education. To attend Georgia’s Pre-K in the 2019-2020 school year, a child must be 4 years old on or before Sept. 1, 2019. Georgia’s Pre-K Program normally operates on the regular school system calendar for the length of a typical school day. This year, approximately 81,000 4-year-olds are being served in 3,855 Georgia’s Pre-K classes at 1,873 locations.

The purpose of the program is to prepare children for success in Kindergarten and later school years.

Programs are offered in a variety of settings: public schools; for-profit and nonprofit child care learning centers; military bases; and faith-based organizations.

“Since its beginning 26 years ago, Georgia’s Pre-K Program has grown and improved to meet the ever-changing needs of Georgia’s children and families,” said DECAL Commissioner Amy M. Jacobs. “Recent research supports that, on average, children’s skills in language and literacy, math, self-knowledge, and general knowledge gained during their Pre-K year were sustained through Kindergarten. These findings confirm that Pre-K provides the strong foundation needed for future learning.”

For more information about becoming a provider in Georgia’s Pre-K Program, call 404-656-5957 or 1-888-4GA-PREK and ask for the Pre-K Consultant of the Day.

Contact:

Reg Griffin
DECAL Communications Director
404-656-0239
reg.griffin@decal.ga.gov

Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning is responsible for meeting the child care and early education needs of Georgia’s children and their families. It administers the nationally recognized Georgia’s Pre-K Program, licenses child care centers and home-based child care, administers Georgia’s Childcare and Parent Services (CAPS) program, federal nutrition programs, and manages Quality Rated, Georgia’s community powered child care rating system.

The department also houses the Head Start State Collaboration Office, distributes federal funding to enhance the quality and availability of child care, and works collaboratively with Georgia child care resource and referral agencies and organizations throughout the state to enhance early care and education.