TWC Prekindergarten Partnerships

Source: RECESS Initiative grantee, Commit Partnership with Early Matters Dallas

A child care/pre-K partnership is a collaboration between a public school pre-K program and one or more quality-rated* child care providers (sometimes referred to as “day care”) to provide high-quality care and education to three- and four-year-old children. This is also called an “early learning partnership.” 

*Texas Rising Star 3- and 4-star providers are eligible for pre-K partnerships. Visit this TEA web page for additional information.

Formal partnerships exist when eligible three- and four-year-old children are dually enrolled in subsidized child care with a Texas Rising Star 3- or 4-star facility and public school pre-K. This allows for eligible students to receive wraparound care to better support the needs of working parents.

The physical classroom is often in a Texas Rising Star 3- or 4-star child care center, but it can also be on a school campus. The teacher must meet certain requirements, such as having a bachelor’s degree, and can be employed by either the school district or the child care center. Information on other quality requirements is available here (slides 11–22). TWC and TEA will provide a robust support network to help you meet these requirements.

Informal partnerships exist when a school district and one or more child care centers share resources and information with each other. For example, the school district could share school-readiness expectations and professional development training for a shared curriculum, while the child care center invites school district pre-K teachers to trainings on conscious discipline or developmentally appropriate teaching strategies.

Through Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) funding provided by TWC, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) recently awarded grants to help develop partnerships in four regions as part of the Regional Early Childhood Education Support Specialists (RECESS) Initiative #3. The RECESS Initiative #3 grantees will support child care providers and school districts in their regions to develop partnerships. Contact the support specialist for the appropriate area.

Visit TEA’s Pre-K Partnership web page.

Individuals at locations outside of these regions who are interested in the partnerships may email Rachel Robinson at Rachel.Robinson@tea.texas.gov.

For families, partnerships can provide the following:

• Consistency between the school day and before/after care
• Better hours for working parents who need a full workday of care
• A child care curriculum aligned with the local school district for greater school-readiness
• The ability for students and families to remain at child care locations where they have existing relationships
• Greater continuity in education and care for children
• High-quality pre-K programming and greater support for the transition to public school for kindergarten.

For child care providers, partnerships can provide the following:

• Potentially higher enrollment and greater financial stability by continuing to fill classrooms for three- and four-year-old children, while also receiving support and/or funding from the local school district
• An opportunity to share knowledge with and learn from teachers who have received a different type of training and education
• A pathway to help transition parents and their children to public school for kindergarten
• Greater information and support for children to meet the school-readiness expectations of the local school district
• Increased resources and professional development opportunities

For school districts, partnerships can provide the following:

• Quality wraparound care for longer hours than a typical school day (before and after-school programming)
• The ability to share school-readiness standards and expectations for children who are future students
• Access to teachers with more rigorous training in developmentally appropriate practice and social/emotional support
• More pre-K setting options to meet the diverse needs and preferences of parents
• A larger population of eligible three- and four-year-old children, without having to build more classrooms
• Increased resources and professional development opportunities
• Open lines of communication with other early childhood education programs currently serving future students
• Earlier opportunities to engage parents in the local school district

• WD Letter 02-20, "Prekindergarten Public-Private Partnerships and Wraparound Child Care" issued on January 8, 2020
• HB3 pre-K video
• PowerPoint Overview of HB3, Pre-K Partnerships, and sample models developed by RECESS Initiative grantee, Commit Partnership with Early Matters Dallas.
• Partnership Interest Form  – Child care providers may complete this form if they are interested in partnering with a local school district to help provide pre-K. 
• Pre-K Partnership Calculator (online tool) – This tool can help child care centers understand their costs and revenues for 3- and/or 4-year-old classrooms when partnering with a school district or charter school to provide public school pre-K. Pre-K Partnership Calculator Accessible version.
• How to use the Pre-K Partnerships Calculator Tool (Video)
• Technology Check List – This can help navigate discussions related to technology and reporting requirements between an early learning program and public school partner.
• Pre-K Partnership Models  – These are the most commonly used Pre-K partnership models as of May 2020.
• Pre-K Flyer – An editable flyer for partnership programs to use.