Mayor Bruce Harrell distributes Seattle Preschool Program Home Learning Kits to an excited student. (Photo by John Liu)
SEATTLE — The Denise Louie Education Center in Seattle’s Chinatown International District, Mayor Bruce Harrell and Seattle Department of Education and Early Learning (DEEL) Director Dwane Chappelle announced the opening of applications for the Seattle Preschool Program (SPP) for the 2022-2023 school year March 15.
This year, the city’s award-winning preschool program will expand with seven classrooms and 144 additional seats to provide high-quality preschool programs for Seattle’s 3- and 4-year-olds.
Two of the new classrooms will offer bilingual programs and two will offer SPP Plus, an inclusive program for children with disabilities.
SPP is offered by DEEL in partnership with community providers and Seattle Public Schools, with 88 program sites across the city. With funding from seven years of family, education, preschool and commitment taxes, SPP is on track to serve more than 2,500 children by 2026. SPP tuition is free for most Seattle families, and tuition for high-income families is calculated based on family income and family size.
Susan Yang, director of the Denise Louie Education Center, said: “Our longstanding partnership with DEEL has been invaluable to our program. Many of our families are essential workers who have directly felt the impact of rising costs and the persistence of the pandemic. Impact. Providing high-quality early learning opportunities for their children at this time is something we do not take lightly.”
To better support student learning during the pandemic, DEEL has provided SPP families with more than 8,700 home study kits to encourage parental engagement and support sensory exploration and an important foundation for learning and development.
A full list of programs and application materials is available at seattle.gov/applySPP.
Families needing language assistance to complete the application process can contact DEEL at 206-386-1050 or email preschool@seattle.gov.
