Universal Preschool

Eligibility for UPK is determined based on the Kindergarten eligibility date of the child’s home district.

2024-25 School Year

Children must be 4 years old by October 1, 2024, to be eligible for UPK during the 2024-25 school year, with the following exceptions:

• Edison School District 54JT – Must be 4 years old by June 15, 2024
• Peyton School District – Must be 4 years old by September 30, 2024

2025-26 School Year

Children must be 4 years old by October 1, 2025, to be eligible for UPK during the 2025-26 school year, with the following exceptions:

• Edison School District 54JT – Must be 4 years old by June 15, 2025
• Peyton School District – Must be 4 years old by July 1, 2025

All children are eligible for 15 hours per week free (August to May).  If the family chooses to register at a UPK provider for more than 15 hours per week, the family is responsible for the cost of the additional hours at the provider’s published rates.

• Example:  Your child is eligible for 15 hours per week and you choose to register your child in a full-day program at your UPK provider (30 to 40 hours per week).  The first 15 hours per week will be paid to the provider by the state and will be free of charge to the family; the family will pay for the remaining hours each week that are not covered by UPK (between 15 and 25 hours).

Some children are eligible for 30 hours per week free (August to May).  Additional hours are based on a combination of family income and additional eligibility factors.  For more information, please consult the UPK Family Handbook under Eligibility:  Who Is Eligible for Additional Hours?

2024-25 School Year (children in their year before Kindergarten during this school year):

Families can register for UPK up until mid-May of 2025 by creating an application at upk.colorado.gov.  The UPK provider and family may work directly together to match the child to their selected provider.  Families should contact the provider of their choice to determine if seats are available and then place that provider as one of their choices in their UPK application.  The provider then can assist the family to be placed there and begin receiving services.

2025-26 School Year (child in their year before Kindergarten during the 2025-26 school year):

UPK registration for children without IEPs happens in two different ways.

1. Pre-registration – those with priority status as noted above
2. Those who do not have priority status.

Those who are not placed during Pre-registration (priority status) will be placed based on a matching algorithm that will be run twice – once in February and once in March.  Each child is given a lottery number when they register, and during the matching period, the UPK system attempts to match a child to their first choice if there are seats available, then to the second and on down until a match is made for the child.  Once the match is made, the family will be notified and have the opportunity to accept or decline that match.

Following are the key dates for pre-registration and matching for the 2025-26 year for children without IEPs.

• December 17, 2024 – Applications are open for all children.
• December 17, 2024 to February 3, 2025 – Pre-registration application window for families requesting priority registration is open.  Families who receive a match through the pre-registration process will receive their match and will have until February 10 to accept or decline their priority match.
• December 17, 2024 to February 5, 2025 – Families who do not have priority registration status will register and be included in the first round of matching.
• February 10, 2025 – The first round of matching will run.
• February 24, 2025 – Families who applied by February 5 will be notified of their first-round matches and must accept or decline by March 3, 2025.
• March 10, 2025 – The second round of matching will run.
• March 24, 2025 – Families notified of second round matches and must accept or decline by March 31.
• April 1, 2025 until the end of the 2025-26 school year:  Families of children who do not have IEPs may directly enroll with a UPK provider.

Children who have an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) can apply for UPK at any time at upk.colorado.gov by answering “yes” to the question in the application about the child having an IEP.  Families of children with IEPs are not able to select a program or a site when submitting their application.  The application goes directly to the school district or Pikes Peak BOCES to work with the family for placement.

All questions about UPK services for children with IEPs should be directed to the child’s home school district.  To find your home school district, please use this School Finder Search Tool.

Families with children who will be three by October 1, 2025 (and not yet four by that date) who want to be served by their school district must go directly to their school district to register.  These children will not be able to register through the UPK system (the exception is 3-year-old children with IEPs – see above).  Availability of seats varies by school district.  Any family who is unsure of their home school district may click HERE to determine their district.  If you need a school district contact for preschool, view the contacts for your home school districts HERE.

Note:  Some school districts have kindergarten eligibility dates that are different than October 1^st.  Eligibility for UPK is determined based on the kindergarten eligibility date of the child’s home school district.  In El Paso County, the following school districts adhere to different eligibility dates:

• Manitou Springs School District 14 – Must be 4 years old by September 1, 2025
• Edison School District 54JT – Must be 4 years old by June 15, 2025
• Peyton School District – Must be 4 years old by July 1, 2025