Enrollment under way for free 4-year-old kindergarten

More than 40 private and nonprofit preschools are accepting applications for state-funded 4-year-old kindergarten for the 2008-09 school year. Qualifying families pay no tuition as part of the S.C. Child Development Pilot Program, which was created by the S.C. General Assembly.

Now in its third year, the program seeks to extend 4-year-old kindergarten opportunities to at-risk children living in the school districts involved in the stateís school funding equity lawsuit.

To qualify in the Pee Dee, a child must be 4 on or before Sept. 1; eligible for free/reduced lunch or Medicaid; and live in the Chesterfield, Clarendon 1, 2 or 3, Dillon 1, 2 or 3, Florence 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5, Lee, Marion 1, 2 or 7, Marlboro or Williamsburg school districts.

The 4-year-old kindergarten program runs the full school year (180 days), and classes are held for 6.5 hours per day, five days per week. All programs utilize research-based curricula.

For more information, call South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness at (803) 734-0479 or visit http://www.scfirststeps.org online.