Family FAQs
Durham PreK Application Process
Durham PreK enrolls children that are 4 years old by August 31st of the school year attending.
Application appointments are currently being offered virtually and in-person. You do not need to bring your child to the application appointment, but they are welcome to attend with you.
Until further notice, all pre-K screenings for the 2023-24 school year application will be completed over the phone due.
School year 2023-24 applicants will receive a call after submitting the application online, by phone or by mail based on the time preference indicated in your online application.
For questions about the online application, families can email prek@childcareservices.org or call 1-833-773-5338. For questions about screenings, families can email durham_prek@dpsnc.net.
The developmental screening is a play-based assessment conducted by an early childhood professional. Families can share about what you see at home with your child’s development on a questionnaire completed during the screening. These screenings give us a snapshot of your child’s development and help us to identify children that may have a greater potential academic need. The results are used as a criteria component for some participating programs. Children that complete a developmental screening in the spring are eligible to be considered for all of the pre-K programs that use the Durham PreK application. Children who do not get screened in the spring may still be eligible for some programs and will receive their developmental screening once placed in a classroom.
Until further notice, all pre-K screenings for the 2023-24 school year application will be completed over the phone.
School year 2023-24 applicants will receive a call after submitting the application online, by phone or by mail based on the time preference indicated in your online application.
For questions about the online application, families can email prek@childcareservices.org or call 1-833-773-5338. For questions about screenings, families can email durham_prek@dpsnc.net.
The application will prompt you for each piece of required documentation needed to submit your application. This includes documentation of child’s age, Durham County residence, monthly income, and annual income. Some families may be required to submit additional documentation based on their application responses, such as proof of military service, custody paperwork, or school enrollment information. For a full list of required documentation and further explanation, download the checklist below.
Child citizenship does not determine eligibility. All 4 year old children in Durham County are eligible for all programs, regardless of citizenship status.
Families can choose to leave the citizenship question blank, but it will limit program options for that child to Durham Public Schools, Durham PreK and Head Start.
Durham PreK Site Information
Most Durham PreK classrooms follow the Durham Public Schools Traditional Calendar, with the exception of Holt Elementary and Pearsontown Elementary which operate on the Durham Public Schools Year Round Calendar. Both calendars are available under Family Resources.
All sites operate on a 6.5 hour school day, and some sites may offer before and after care. Families will be able to indicate their location preferences during the application appointment.
All available information on before and after care hours and fees for the 2022-2023 school year are posted on the Site Locations page. These lists will be updated as more information becomes available. These hours and fees are subject to change, so we encourage families to reach out to their child’s site directly after referencing our website.
You may find it helpful to contact the director of that facility for a tour before deciding on a placement offer. If for any reason you do not wish to accept placement at a particular location, you may ask to remain on the waiting list for other programs. If toward the end of the placement process unfilled seats remain in a preferred facility, you may be contacted about placement, though there is never a guarantee of a second offer or a preferred placement.
At this time, Durham PreK only serves 4-year-olds. However, please visit our Family Resources page for assistance in finding child care for your younger children.
Durham PreK sites are located around Durham County. You can view a map of all of the Durham PreK sites here. Families will be able to indicate their location preferences during the application appointment to be considered during placement.
Before and After School Care (also known as Wrap Around Care) is a separate service from preschool and is neither guaranteed at every facility nor free. DSS Vouchers and CCSA Scholarships can sometimes help to cover the cost of Before and After School Care for qualifying families. To learn more, you can watch the videos below.
For more information about CCSA Scholarships or to see if you may be eligible, please call 919-403-6950 and ask to speak to the next available scholarship counselor or you may send an email to familyscholarship@childcareservices.org.
Visit the Before and After Care page for the hours and fees currently available at pre-K sites for the 2022-23 school year. Hours are subject to change for the 2023-2024 school year. If your child’s placement site does not have hours or fees listed or for further questions about an individual site, we encourage you to contact the site directly.
All Durham PreK sites provide high-quality education that supports healthy social-emotional, physical and academic development. Children will learn positive social behaviors, emotional regulation and academic concepts through play, inquiry and other academic activities.
Visit our Why Pre-K page for more information!
Durham PreK classrooms are 5-star rated classrooms, and all lead teachers are required to have or be working toward a Birth to Kindergarten License. These classrooms go through a thorough application process and a non-conflicting committee reviews them before selecting semifinalists. Semifinalists then receive an official Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS©) observation to evaluate the quality of teacher-child interactions, and a site visit to review application materials and plans for family engagement, dual language learners and children with unique needs.
For the 2022-2023 school year, the Durham PreK Governance Committee voted to reduce parent fee rates from 4% of gross household monthly income to 2% of gross household monthly income.
Parent fees are monthly payments made by families to their child’s pre-K site. They are calculated by household annual income and household size based on the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). Families whose household income is greater than 400% of the FPL qualify for a monthly parent fee that is 2% of their monthly income (view the estimated parent fee table).
Parent fees contribute to the monthly payments that sites receive from the Durham PreK Partners. Durham County has determined the local cost of high-quality pre-K for each child to be $1300/month. Local, state, and federal funds cover the full $1300/month for families under 400% of the FPL. Families who qualify for parent fees contribute to the total $1300 paid to pre-K sites within Durham PreK. For example, a family whose parent fee is $300/month pay their fee directly to their child’s Durham PreK site, and Durham PreK pays the remaining $1000 to the pre-K site for that family’s seat. This sliding scale parent fee system allows Durham County to fund more seats for under-resourced families in the community.