A communication transmitted from Yi-An Huang, City Manager, relative to an update on the Cambridge Preschool Program

1 July 25, 2024 TO: Mayor Denise Simmons From: Ellen Semonoff, Assistant City Manager for Human Services CC: Yi-An Huang, David Murphy, Dr. Carolyn Turk While we are engaged in the search for our new Executive Director of the Office of Early Childhood, I have been working closely with the very talented staff of the Office of Early Childhood as they complete the work of launching the Cambridge Preschool Program (CPP) in September. The staff have provided information about enrollment for the 24-25 school year as well as the work that is ongoing to begin the application process this Fall for the 25-26 school year. This memo is a complement to the memo provided to us by Interim Superintendent of Schools David Murphy. Throughout this past year, Mr. Murphy and his team, the City Manager, and I have worked closely with the Office of Early Childhood to design and implement CPP. As you will see below, the launch of a mixed-delivery universal preschool system in Cambridge has resulted in more than 750 Cambridge 4-year-olds and some 3-year-olds being assigned to preschools across Cambridge Public Schools (CPS), the City’s Department of Human Service Programs (DHSP), and community sites through a unified application process. In addition, as Mr. Murphy’s memo describes, a number of 4-year-olds and 3-year-olds were assigned to CPS preschools outside of the CPP process through their Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). We are proud of this exceptional community milestone, providing all 4-year-olds and some 3-year-olds in Cambridge with access to a school day high-quality preschool education at no cost beginning this September.

2 As with any new large-scale effort and system implementation, there have been some growing pains. The teams have been working hard to address issues, raised by families and program partners, that can be changed for the 25-26 school year. We will be working together during the upcoming year to determine what other changes might be necessary or possible for the 26-27 school year, for which the application will open in the fall of 2025. The Cambridge Preschool Program is universal preschool, designed to center equity so that all Cambridge 4-year-olds and some 3-year-olds have access to high-quality preschool. Families may choose from a variety of program options through a single, centralized application process. OEC, DHSP and CPS worked with BridgeCare (https://getbridgecare.com) to build the online application and matching system. In addition to the necessary application information, families ranked up to 10 preschool programs. Each preschool program has a profile with the necessary information a family would need including the program’s philosophical approach, location, program hours / extended day options, and other factors. The system’s algorithm allocated the best available seat for each child based on the family’s ranked programs and provider capacity at each program. To date, CPP has placed all eligible 4-year-olds into programs and all priority 3-year-olds. For CPS sites, priority status was based on the child’s household income and Free/Reduced Lunch eligibility. For DHSP and community programs, priority was based on the child’s household income being at or below 65% of HUD Area Median Income (AMI). The data below will continue to fluctuate slightly as the school year goes on as a few additional eligible children apply. Total number of CPP Applications (as of 7/23/24) 1067 Total number of CPP Assignments (as of 7/23/24) 777 Percentage of children placed by location 41 % of applications received were matched to Community-Based Preschools (For-Profit, Non- Profit, Family Childcare) 41 % of applications received were matched to Cambridge Public School Preschools 18 % of applications received were matched to Department of Human Service Programs Preschools

3 CPS (priority= F/R lunch) DHSP (priority= 65% AMI) Community Providers (priority= 65% AMI) Total Enrolled 320 144 313 Total general four- year-olds 175 40 158 Total priority four- year-olds 58 39 58 Total general 3- year- olds 57 21 0 Total priority 3- year- olds 30 44 97 CPS DHSP Community Providers (including Family Child Care) Total Sites (physical locations) 12 7 42 61 System Adjustments for 2025-2026 School Year The Office of Early Childhood team, together with CPS and DHSP partners, have been working with BridgeCare on several improvements for the roll out of the October application. Some of those changes include: ● Adding language to each provider profile clarifying the length of the day ● Adding questions asking families if they need extended day/summer programs ● Adding a step in the process to review families' answers to extended day/summer questions compared to programs selected on their application. Contacting the family if there is a discrepancy between what they are looking for and the programs they applied to ● Clearer communication to families about the status of their application ● More streamlined matching (adjustments to the algorithm, and tagging/labeling of seats) ● Improvements to the process from accepting a preschool placement to enrolling in a preschool.

4 The Office of Early Childhood will open the CPP application for the 25-26 school year from October 1-31, 2024. Families will be notified of their placements in early January 2025. The Office is working on establishing improved communication for families and for programs so that there can be a more seamless application and enrollment process. This is the list of participating programs in the Cambridge Preschool Program for 2024-25: Cambridge Public Schools Amigos Baldwin Cambridgeport Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Fletcher Maynard Academy Graham & Parks Haggerty Kennedy-Longfellow King Open Morse Peabody Tobin Montessori Department of Human Service Programs: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Haggerty Kennedy-Longfellow King Open Morse Peabody Windsor Family Childcare Programs: C&C (Christina Smith) Family Child Care Learning Sprouts Cambridge 2024-2025 Cambridge Preschool Program (CPP) Partner Programs Community-Based Programs: Al Bustan Preschool Alef Bet Child Care Aster Montessori

5 Bright Horizons – Biogen* Bright Horizons – Kendall Bright Horizons – Mass Ave Bright Horizons – University Park Bright Horizons/MIT – Kendall* Bright Horizons/MIT – Koch* Bright Horizons/MIT – Stata* CAAS Head Start (both Cambridge locations)* Cambridge Ellis School Cambridge Preschool of the Arts – East Cambridge Cambridge Preschool of the Arts – Harvard Square Cambridge Preschool of the Arts – Inman Square Cambridge Preschool of the Arts – West Cambridge Cambridge YMCA Campus Child Care – Botanic Gardens* Campus Child Care – Harvard Yard* Campus Child Care – Oxford Street* Campus Child Care – Peabody Terrace* Campus Child Care – Radcliffe* Campus Child Care – Soldiers Field Park* Campus Child Care – Western Ave* Capucine Montessori Children’s Village East End House Evergreen Day School Garden Nursery School Jun Zi Lan Montessori Newtowne School Nurtury Rock & Roll Daycare – Broadway Rock & Roll Daycare – East Cambridge Rock & Roll Daycare – Inman Square Rock & Roll Daycare – Northpoint Rock & Roll Daycare – Porter Square Violeta Montessori Wild Rose Montessori Wildflower Montessori *These programs are CPP affiliates which means families must apply first directly to those programs and meet their eligibility requirements.