NC Pre-K Program

The NC Pre-K Program is designed to provide high-quality educational experiences to enhance school readiness for eligible four-year-old children.

Children participating in NC Pre-K attend a full school day (6-1/2 hours), full school year program (up to 10 months), and will be served in classrooms in licensed child care centers, county child care program, Head Start classrooms or public school classrooms.

NC Pre-K program requirements are built on the premise that to be successful academically in school, children need to be prepared in all five of the developmental domains that are critical to children’s success in reading and math as they enter school.

The five areas are:

Building Strong, Successful Kids

Approaches to play and learning

Emotional and social development

Health and physical development

Language development and communication

Cognitive development

NC Pre-K FAQ

NC Pre-K serves children who are four years old by August 31st of the year of enrollment and whose total household income is less than 75% of the state median.
- Will your child be four years old by August 31?
- Is your family income at or below 75% of the state median income? (See the table here.)
- A limited number of exceptions for children who are not income eligible may given to children who have an identified disability, speak limited or no English, have a chronic health condition, and/or have a developmental or educational need.
Smart Start of Transylvania County administers the NC Pre-K program.
Please contact us for more information!

The NC Pre-K Advisory Committee

The NC Pre-K Program requires every county that chooses to participate in NC Pre-K to establish and maintain a County/Region Advisory Committee.

This committee is represented in part by local school boards and systems, the local Smart Start partnership, licensed childcare providers, Head Start, Department of Social Services, parent(s) of preschool-age children, county cooperative extension agency, local child care center representatives, and/or childcare resource and referral agency.
We are always seeking to add new and diverse community stakeholders (who do not have to represent the categories listed above) to serve on this volunteer committee! For more information, please contact Ansley Harron at Ansley@smartstarttransylvania.org.
In Transylvania County, the NC Pre-K Advisory Committee meets a minimum of three times a year and the meetings are open to the public.
Please reference the public meeting notices page for meeting dates.