Pre-Kindergarten 2020-2021 Information

Due to the Covid-19 crisis, notification of Pre-K placement has been delayed. If you submitted an application and all supporting documents by June 15, you will be considered in the first round of placement and notified by July 15. We will continue to accept applications after June 15 throughout the summer and continue placing children as there are openings. If you need to drop off documents rather than uploading them, there is a locked dropbox at the front door at 1 Learning Place, Gastonia, marked "Pre-K". Please place documents in a sealed envelope with your child's name.  

Thank you for your interest in the Gaston County Schools Pre-Kindergarten Program! Our program is part of the 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. The NC Pre-K Program Requirements are built on the National Education Goals Panel’s 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 overall well-being and success in reading and math as they enter school:

     Approaches to play and learning
     Emotional and social development
     Health and Physical Development
     Language development and communication
     Cognitive development

You may submit application in the following ways:

1. Complete the online application here. (You can upload supporting documents or bring them to our office).

2. Print the application from the website, complete it, and bring it and supporting documents to Forest Heights Elementary School, #1 Learning Place, Gastonia, NC 28052.

3. Bring supporting documents to Forest Heights Elementary School, #1 Learning Place, Gastonia, NC 28052, and complete the application in our office.

4. Children registering for 2020-2021 must be: 4 years old on or before August 31, 2020 and a resident of Gaston County.

What to bring or upload:

1. The child's certified birth certificate.

2. Valid ID of parent/guardian registering the child.

3. Two proofs of residence documents (power, water, gas, cable, landline telephone, rent, or mortgage) or residence affidavit (Complete in our office. Bring the person with whom you live to do the affidavit.).

4.  Proof income for parent/step-parent living in home with child (one month's worth of income is needed).

5.  A completed health assessment (completed on or after August 27, 2019) and current immunization/shot record is required by the start of school. The North Carolina Kindergarten Health Assessment Form will be available at Pre-Kindergarten office, the Gaston County Health Department, and at your local physician's office. A completed Dental Screening Form is also required to give to your child's teacher.  We will have a free dental screening at 1 Learning Place on August 26-27, 2020.  No appointment is necessary.

Please note that applying for Pre-Kindergarten does not assure that the child will be offered placement. There is limited Pre-Kindergarten space at each of the sites, so there is not room for every child who applies. Eligibility will be determined for each child who applies and those showing the greatest need for preschool will be placed first. (See the Frequently Asked Questions section for eligibility criteria.)  Others will be placed on a waiting list. If your child is placed in a Pre-Kindergarten classroom out of your assigned public school attendance district, you will be responsible for providing transportation for your child to and from school.

Applications and all supporting documents must be received by July 15, 2020 in order to be considered in the first round of placement. Eligible applications received after that deadline will be placed on a waiting list and placed as openings occur.  Families will be notified in July of their placement in a classroom or on a waiting list.