Late last winter, my daughter called the local elementary school - Woodhome - for Pre-K information. The person she spoke to was very short, saying that enrollment was closed and that the Pre-K program had only taken in 20 kids. How was this deadline publicized and why the number "20"? I read the paper daily and follow this blog. She catches TV and radio news.

Since my son-in-law left, my daughter and her son have a hard time making ends meet. In the surrounding jurisdictions, they would surely be considered low income. Perhaps not the city. Who knows? I do know that this is a bright, eager-to-learn child who will NEVER set foot in a city school, no matter what his mother and/or I have to do. He's currently in a private Pre-K and it's a family struggle to meet the (pretty low) tuition. However, just the attitude of the person who answered Woodhome's phone, much less this "20" business is all anyone needs to know about that - or any school - in this city.

Granny,

First: Pre-K is open enrollment in Baltimore city. Your daughter could have/should have called a number of schools in your area to see if they have openings.

Second: The low income designation is set by the Federal gov't so moving from one jurisdaiction to another does not change anything.

Lastly: If you are struggling to meet the "low tution" of pre-K it only gets more expensive as your grandson gets older. There are is a charter school - City Neighbors - in your area that is doing good work.

The 20 number is the maximum number of students allowed in a pre-k classroom with a teacher and an aide. In order to receive state funding, pre-k classes must maintain a 10:1 ratio. It has to do with maintaining safety and learning needs of the kids in the class, who at that young age need lower teacher/student ratios. It is a system-wide (probably state wide) number, not one made up by Woodhome. It can be broken in very specific situations (for instance the school can't turn away a homeless child or one with an IEP placing him in pre-k) but rarely is.

There is not a magic date that pre-k stops enrolling. They start in the spring (which is a fairly well published date) and end when their school is full. Generally, they keep a wait list past that point. Pre-k is a citywide program though, so it is worth it to check with other schools in the area.

I am a little troubled that you are basing your opinion of the system based on one bad interaction with a stressed out school secretary. As a former pre-k teacher, who has worked in both city and private programs, I think the program is a great option for most parents.

I second OverTheTop in suggesting you look into charter schools in your area. They are doing some wonderful things for little kids.

Another option is the "together at" program which serves 3 and 4 year olds. I know of a great program at the Baer School in BCPS. They are a school that focuses most of their energy on students with severe disabilities but they bring non-disabled students in for their 3, 4 and 5 year old program. I have never met a more dedicated staff and (at the time I was there as a parent) a more interesting place.

OTT - thanks for the nod for a charter school, you are correct that CNCS does do some wonderful stuff.

Basically AAA has again said, lets do what's best for kids and families. And in these hard economic times, heck, in any economic times, finding free pre-k is the right thing to do.

Part of the problem here, as alluded to in the other comments, is geography. Woodhome (which is my zone school and is where my youngster attends) doesn't have the space for another Pre-K program so they can't open another room. Unfortunately, Woodhome is in a relatively isolated place and there aren't a lot of other elementary schools in the immediate area. Perhaps, Granny, perhaps you could try Hamilton Elementary/Middle or Yorkwood. They're not walking distance but neither are they especially far.

Also, in defense of the secretary there, ordinarily the office staff is quite nice but it is a very busy school and you must have caught her at an off moment. I don't think I've ever been in that building during the day when the main office wasn't just plain hopping. They work very hard to keep things going smoothly.

In other neighborhoods there are numerous, but smaller, schools, and the parents have more options. For instance, when enrollment filled up at Frederick Elementary last year, a bunch of their "overflow" students went to Lockerman Bundy. L-B also gets students from Bentalou (which is literally two blocks away) and Mt. Royal. And Lockerman Bundy is hoping to expand their pre-K options for next year!

I'm told that the part of the "Together at" program (which can also service 5 year olds) at Thomas Johnson Elementary in South Baltimore is considered low in its enrollment figures. The "Together" program is essentially a reverse mainstreaming special education program which is geared mostly toward students with speech/language issues. Enrollment is supposed to be 50% special ed students and 50% general ed students. The general ed kids are meant to be speech and language models for their peers. Unfortunately, they don't have enough general ed students in at least one of their rooms.

So a lot of this comes down to where in the city you happen to live.

I think that pre-K should be offered to parents who wish to send their kids. Since they made Kindergarten a full day and mandatory, they should have a half-day program that is available for kids. As for this low-income criteria. I can't believe that my child should be discriminated against because his father works for a living. What exactly is that teaching our children? I thought Obama was suppose to take care of the middle class. The middle class is paying a pretty penny to send their kids to pre-k. How about helping with that!

Just FYI, unfortunately City Neighbors does not offer Pre-K. We start at Kindergarten. But I do know there are some charters that offer Pre-K, but which ones specifically I am not familiar with. The list of charter schools on the Baltimore City Public Schools website is pretty up to date with the grades they serve.