Durham PreK has officially been awarded the Bull City Sapphire Award, celebrating its outstanding impact on early childhood education and its commitment to equitable access. The award highlights Durham’s remarkable progress in blending local, state, and federal funding to expand preschool access, improve teacher compensation, and raise instructional quality.

We are deeply honored and grateful to be recognized with the 2026 Bull City Sapphire Award for Education, presented by the McNair-Harris Crescent Foundation and the Durham Alumni Chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.

This recognition is a testament to the incredible work of the Durham PreK team and our dedicated early childhood providers, community partners, and families. Together, we are committed to ensuring that every child in Durham has access to high-quality early learning opportunities and the strong educational foundation they deserve.

Expanding Access and Impact

Launched as a pilot during the 2018-2019 school term, Durham PreK now coordinates services for over 1,700 four-year-olds annually. Thanks to strategic coordination across public schools, Head Start, and private licensed community programs, the initiative currently serves 41% of Durham’s four-year-old census.

The program’s long-term, universal goal is to reach 75% of all local four-year-olds without any entrance restrictions. Backed by an annual investment of over $10 million in local county funds, the program uses a universal application process to create a streamlined, single entryway for families, resulting in vibrant income diversity across classrooms.

Empowering Educators at the Core

Durham PreK’s success is built on a theory of change that centers entirely on the teacher. Key program components include:

• Fair Compensation: Lead teachers are paid on the local public school scale, and instructional assistants receive a minimum meeting the City of Durham living wage.
• Professional Growth: Educators receive intensive coaching, dedicated shared planning time, and paid professional development.
• Workforce Pipelines: The program operates North Carolina's largest early education apprenticeship program to sustain the local teacher supply.

Driven by a 2018 Supply and Demand Study revealing a stark deficit in publicly funded spaces, local policymakers and a 52-member volunteer task force worked across three elected bodies to build this evidence-informed service model. Today, this collaborative effort ensures that Durham's children enter kindergarten with stronger verbal, social-emotional, and academic foundations.

We sincerely thank the McNair-Harris Crescent Foundation and the Durham Alumni Chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. for this meaningful honor. We accept this award with gratitude and remain committed to serving Durham’s children and families with excellence, collaboration, and purpose.

Congratulations to all of the 2026 Bull City Sapphire Award recipients. We are proud to stand alongside so many individuals and organizations making a positive difference in our community.

Together, we are building brighter futures—one child, one family, and one classroom at a time.