During the October School Board meeting on Oct. 24, the Park City School Board approved Phase Two of the Park City School District’s preschool expansion, which expands preschool classrooms at Parley’s Park Elementary and Trailside Elementary to open for school year 2025-26. .

Both Parley’s Park and Trailside Preschools will increase their classroom capacity from two to four, allowing more families to benefit from high-quality early education in Park City, the school district said.

The expansion will also introduce a significant change to current programming: the 3-year program will move from two half-day sessions per week to a full five-day option. In addition, families with 3-year-old children will now have the option to enroll in the after-school program.

To support expanded programming, the district will add a licensed early childhood coordinator to the preschool team. With the expanded capacity, the number of students served will increase from 156 to over 288.

The Park City School District will open registration for the extended preschool program on January 1, 2025 and will offer a variety of options for both 3- and 4-year-olds:

• 4-year-olds: full days, five days a week
• 3-year-olds: full days, five days a week
• 4-year-olds: half day, five days a week
• 3-year-olds: half day, five days a week

Class offerings are subject to adjustment based on enrollment to ensure optimal class sizes and quality instruction, the district said.

The Park City Education Foundation supported the expansion effort by providing essential funding to ensure affordability and accessibility for all families. PCSD Preschool began in 2010, with education foundation donors providing seed funding. Since then, more than 2,000 students have gone through the preschool program.

Foundation donors provide more than $125,000 in funding each year to ensure the Park City School District is able to provide affordable, high-quality preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds, the district said.

According to Park City School District Preschool Director Dan Gallery, less than 60 percent of kindergartners have had access to 4-year-old kindergarten, and only 20% have experienced 3-year-old preschool.

“Through this expansion, we are providing more children with the opportunity for early school readiness and literacy, social skills development, wellness, oral language growth and essential services for students with disabilities,” Gallery said. “This step forward is vital in fostering a strong foundation that will support our youngest learners throughout their educational journey.”