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Dozens More Free Pre-K Seats Just Opened Up on the UES

 More pre-K seats opened at two schools on the Upper East Side on Monday.
More pre-K seats opened at two schools on the Upper East Side on Monday.
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Department of Education

UPPER EAST SIDE — If your 4-year-old didn't get into the free pre-K program of their choice, now is the time to act.

Dozens of new seats have opened up in the neighborhood for the city's second round of pre-K admissions, and parents have until May 20 to apply. 

Roughly 65 new programs were added to the city's roster for the second wave, including 36 seats at the Manhattan Schoolhouse and 54 at the Roosevelt Island Day Nursery.

The Manhattan Schoolhouse — a First Avenue private preschool offering music, art, yoga, French and Spanish classes — normally costs $2,300 a month for a school day of 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., but those who get accepted through the city's program will get in for free.

The same goes for the Roosevelt Island Day Nursery on Main Street, which was started by island parents in 1975 and usually costs more than $17,723 a year for its full-day program.

The city's free "full day" programs run 6 hours and 20 minutes per day. Parents can apply online at the DOE's website for all programs in the second round.

You can still get off of a waitlist elsewhere and apply for programs in Round 2 even if you’ve pre-registered at your offer from Round 1. And applying in Round 2 won't affect your waitlist status at schools from your first round of applications, school officials said.

Parents at P.S. 183, who worked with Councilman Ben Kallos to increase the total seats on the Upper East Side from just over 123 to 515 since 2014, say they are relieved to have more pre-K seats because it can be tough getting a spot in the neighborhood.

"As an Upper East Side parent, I am concerned not only about the chances of my own child obtaining a pre-K spot in the neighborhood but also about the children of my friends and neighbors," resident Ariel Chesler said. "That is why I have been speaking out about the insufficient number of seats in the area."

For more than a year, members of the Roosevelt Island Parents' Network, which advocates for more than 500 families' needs, also worked to get more free pre-K seats on the island, according to member Eva Bosbach.

"Roosevelt Island could not be more thankful for 54 additional universal Pre-K seats for our families," she said in a statement. "Having a sufficient number of seats on Roosevelt Island strengthens our commitment to the international, diverse, mixed income island neighborhood, a community that is welcoming to all."

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