Parents who applied for the first round of openings for the Seattle Preschool Program (SPP) are being notified today whether their children have been accepted to enroll for fall classes. Families will be receiving notification via e-mail and telephone.

Two hundred forty-six applications were submitted for 86 open spots. Of the 228 preschool seats opening this fall, 142 had been filled by the time the classrooms were selected to be part of SPP through pre-enrollment.

“The number of applications we received verifies what the voters told us in November when they adopted the SPP proposal – there is great demand for high quality preschool programs,” said Mayor Ed Murray. “Families are eager to have their children start elementary school ready to succeed. I welcome these families into the program and know that their children will have a richly rewarding school year.”

The Department of Education and Early Learning (DEEL) conducted a selection process adopted in the SPP Action Plan and the Implementation Plan which gives preference to four-year-olds and to children from families that live in the Seattle Public School Elementary Assignment Areas where the preschools are located.

A second round of the selection process also begins today and will run through September 7. Applications are being taken for a Vietnamese-English dual language program at the Hoa Mai Vietnamese Bilingual Preschool in Mount Baker, two classrooms located at Old and New Van Asselt Schools approved by the Seattle School District Board on Wednesday, and any spots that open up because parents who applied in the first round declined their chosen spots.

Applications from parents who applied in the first round but were not selected will also be included in the second round.

Applications are available online at http://www.seattle.gov/education/. Applications are due by the end of the day September 7 and parents will be notified of the results of the second round by September 14.