This article was originally published in The Notebook. In August 2020, The Notebook became Chalkbeat Philadelphia.
Parents searching for high-quality pre-kindergarten options for their children can be overwhelmed as they try to find a school they can trust.
On Tuesday, a coalition of nonprofit education advocacy organizations announced it will give parents a huge helping hand.
With the lead of the Philadelphia School Partnership, a new website is allowing parents to easily search and compare high-quality pre-K options. It can be accessed through GreatPhillySchools.org, an existing site that evaluates K-12 options.
"High-quality early childhood education is the best strategy to break the cycle of poverty and to help our schools be more successful," said Sharon Easterling, executive director of the Delaware Valley Association for the Education of Young People, one of the initiative’s key collaborators.
"Almost 50 years of research shows that children who attend a great preschool are more likely to graduate high school, avoid criminal behavior, earn higher lifetime wages, and enjoy better health into their senior years," she said.
The new site will include only pre-K programs that meet PSP’s quality threshold.
To be eligible, programs must meet one of the following criteria: