STEP 1: Determine whether your child may qualify for the state-funded pre-kindergarten program at no cost. To be eligible for enrollment in the state-funded Pre-K program, a child must be four years of age on or before September 1st of the current school year, live in the district, and must:
- Be unable to speak and comprehend the English language; or
- Be educationally disadvantaged (qualify for free/reduced lunch); or
- Be homeless, as defined by 42 U.S.C. Section 11302; or
- Be the child of an active duty member of the armed forces of the United States; or
- Be the child of a member of the armed forces of the United States who was injured or killed while serving on active duty; or
- Currently is or ever have been in the conservatorship of the Department of Family and Protective Services.
Step 2: Determine whether your child may qualify for the Early Childhood Special Education program (ECSE). ECSE is a program that serves children between the ages of three and five with delays in speech, language, physical, social, and/or emotional development. Eligible students attend the ECSE program at no cost.
If you have questions determining ECSE eligibility, please contact Laura Davis at 940-369-4090 or ldavis@dentonisd.org.
STEP 3: Children who do not qualify for either the Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) or the state-funded pre-kindergarten program provided for qualifying students, as described above, are eligible to enroll in the DISD PreK Academy. A parent may choose to send their child to any tuition-based campus in DISD; however, they must complete the online application through the district. Pre-K Academy students must provide their own transportation. PreK Academy will be offered at the following schools for 2024-2025: Adkins Elementary, Blanton Elementary, E.P. Rayzor Elementary, Hawk Elementary, Gonzalez School for Young Children, Pecan Creek Elementary, and Providence Elementary. The online application will be available in the middle of April 2022. Initially, there will be a finite number of slots available at each tuition campus, and registration is completed on a first-come, first-serve basis. Class sizes in DISD are approximately 18:1. After all tuition positions have been filled, an official waiting list will be developed.
STEP 4: An online application and a completed Tuition Parent Agreement must be submitted to the DISD Early Childhood Director, and the non-refundable $150.00 registration fee must be paid online to reserve your child’s spot in the Pre-K Academy program. Once the agreement is submitted, and the registration fee is paid, you will be contacted to confirm your child’s spot in the program. Once your child’s spot is confirmed and the Pre-K Academy site is assigned, you will need to attend registration at that campus during the district-designated registration week.
Items needed to complete your child’s enrollment in DISD are listed below.
- Student InfoSnap printout;
- The child’s birth certificate;
- Current immunizations;
- Picture ID of the parent/guardian enrolling the student;
- Proof of residence of this person (recent electric bill, current lease agreement, recent tax receipt that shows the property as homestead, recent mortgage payment receipt). NOTE: "Recent" means the document must be dated within 45 days.
STEP 5: All registration documents must be submitted to the school to confirm a spot in the Academy program.
STEP 6: If your child is denied the program due to lack of space, you will be given information about his/her position on the waitlist. You may call the DISD Early Childhood Director for information on space availability at another school. If you choose one of these other schools, your child will lose his/her position on the waitlist for the first school.
