The newly launched Cambridge universal prekindergarten program was celebrated – and scrutinized – at a Monday roundtable of the City Council and School Committee.
The program, while remarkable, has kinks to work out in the coming months and years, officials said.
“We are learning as this process goes along,” said Cheryl Ohlson, executive director of the Cambridge Office of Early Childhood, referring to the Cambridge Public Preschool Program rollout a year ago. Students started in their placements in September, followed by a call for enrollment for the 2025-2026 school year. This timeline, adjusted slightly from the year prior, allows more room for the district to anticipate needs and coordinate open seats in participating schools.
The program provides free preschool to children ages 3 and 4 in the district, separating them by “general” or “priority” status to serve children with the highest needs first. To qualify for priority status families must be eligible for free or reduced lunch, have an income below 65 percent of the area’s median income, be experiencing homelessness or in the foster care system.
While all 4-year-olds are guaranteed seats at one of the participating programs, only some 3-year-olds are accepted.
CPP sites are spread across a dozen Cambridge Public Schools, nine Department of Human Services Programs (a jump from seven in 2024-2025) and 42 community-based programs. Many of the community providers were a part of a Birth-3rd Partnership scholarship program, launched in 2015 to provide free preschool to 50 children, Ohlson said. Others were recruited by the Office of Early Childhood.
The mixed-delivery system requires that each participating program use a research-based, state-approved curriculum, have high-quality educators and a focus on social-emotional development and school readiness through play-based learning. That doesn’t make the schools homogeneous. “The city is honoring different approaches, which I really appreciated,” educator Caitlin Malloy said in an interview.
Under-enrollment risk
Malloy is executive director of the Newtowne School, which serves children ages 22 months to 5 years old in Harvard Square. “We’ve had to make very little change to our programming, and that was a really important piece. We have a really strong school culture” based on the Reggio Emilia schools in Italy, she said. The child-led program is a small one, with enrollment capping at around 60.
For the second year in a row, program seats saved at the Newtowne School have been under-enrolled. “It’s disappointing,” Malloy said. “I was hoping that this program would kind of enrich the backgrounds of the students that are coming into our school.” Although enrollment projections falling short affects the school, Malloy doesn’t fault the city, “There has to be flexibility in order for families to honor that family choice model.”
City councillors and School Committee members shared concern for under-enrolling community partner programs such as the Newtowne School and what it could mean in the long term. “How is it that we can ensure that we’re not putting them more at risk,” asked councillor Patty Nolan, citing the possibility of preschools wasting resources by preparing for children they don’t get. School Committee member Elizabeth Hudson agreed, saying she is not worried about driving for-profit centers away, but that community vendors could be put out of business.
In the 2024-2025 school year, the Office of Early Childhood saw 939 applications and placed 734 children in programs. The next school year’s application data shows some growth: 839 of the 966 applications get placements. The current data does not account for students who will come into the district before September, said Ohlson; she acknowledged the potential harm to smaller programs and pointed to a declining birth rate in Cambridge and across Massachusetts. Cambridge Day reached out to the office for clarification on how many seats were reserved across community-based programs, but did not get an immediate response.
“Test prep” is unwanted
Curriculum was a focus of the evening, as councillors brought forward concerns over rigorous standards that stray from the emphasis on “play based” learning laid out in the mission of the CPP. Interim superintendent David Murphy clarified that – while there is not a clear consensus on the definition of the term – “there shouldn’t be any confusion with respect to the school district’s commitment to developmentally appropriate play-based instruction at the preschool level.”
“I think 4-year-olds should be eating more glue and doing less testing,” vice mayor Marc McGovern said, invoking teachers who worried the curriculum is too strict. It’s reviewed annually under Classroom Assessment Scoring System standards – but is that assessment based on social-emotional outcomes, Nolan wondered. “We really want to make sure that pre-K doesn’t become a test prep factory for kindergarten,” Nolan said.
Hudson agreed, saying teachers have admitted hesitation to speak candidly with the city about CPP programming out of fear of not being included in future versions.
The city has done outreach to program vendors through focus groups and in-person visits and is making efforts to reach out more meaningfully, Ohlson said. Next month, two advisory boards will be launched focused on vendor and parent outreach.
The inclusion of two community vendors – the Al Bustan Preschool and Alef-Bet Child Care – were questioned by Nolan. “I’m curious as to how it is that we ensure that we are not running afoul of any kind of concerns related to having our public dollars used for schools that have religious curriculum,” Nolan said. She asked for a legal opinion.
Families who selected the Kennedy-Longfellow School as their top choice will be contacted personally to make alternative arrangements, since the school is set to close, officials said. Otherwise, placement notices were expected to be with parents this week, with 2025-2026 enrollment satisfaction data anticipated for shared in the spring.
A stronger
Please consider making a financial contribution to maintain, expand and improve Cambridge Day.
We are now a 501(c)3 nonprofit and all donations are tax deductible.
Please consider a recurring contribution.
It would be interesting to know what the hours are of the city and community preschool programs. If the city program is full-day, that may account for the vacancies in the reserved seats at a place like Newtowne, which is not full-day.
When my kids attended Newtowne in the early 1990s (and I was board president) parents were required to assist in the classrooms a couple days a month and to take on other duties to help run and maintain the school. It creates a lovely close community of families but that level of hands-on commitment isn’t possible for everyone. I don’t know what’s currently required of its families.
Jean: The private programs tend to have preferable hours. Due to regulatory constraints Cambridge public schools cannot offer aftercare for 4 year olds. This means parents need to find alternative care.
I don’t have an explanation for Newtowne’s underenrollment. Maybe it’s just a consequence of the creation of a bunch of public school slots?
I know a family who listed Newtowne as one of their top three choices for their 3-year-old for the upcoming year but were not matched with _any_ school. It is disappointing to hear that there was “under-enrollment” at the school as there is certainly demand… this is fixable if there is will.
The article does not mention what I have heard is an issue- if a parent is placed in a CPS program, they are more likely later to get the kindergarten/elementary school of their choice.
That intersects with the fact that CPS programs are not full day. So it seems like it could lead to a situation where parents who need full day because they work are disadvantaged later when choosing an elementary school.
The article says: “In the 2024-2025 school year, the Office of Early Childhood saw 939 applications and placed 734 children in programs.” What happened to the 205 children who did not get placed? Did they not go to pre-K anywhere, or did they pay full-price for the the pre-K of their choice?