VPK Information Rates

VPK stands for the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program. Pre-K prepares children to be ready for Kindergarten, especially in the areas of pre-reading, pre-math and social skills. Children who participate in high-quality early childhood education programs develop better language skills, score higher in school-readiness tests and have better social skills and fewer behavioral problems once they enter school.

To qualify for this free program:
Any child that lives in Florida and turns four years of age by September 1 is eligible for the school-year or summer VPK Program. This program consists of either 540 instructional hours during the regular year or 300 hours for the summer and is offered through both private and public providers.

Documentation needed to register in our VPK Program:
VPK Certificate given to you by the Early Learning Coalition of Miami-Dade/Monroe. VPK applications must be submitted via the Florida Office of Early Learning (OEL) Family Portal. Families may access the Family Portal in two ways:

Directly: https://familyservices.floridaearlylearning.com/Account/Login/
From the Early Learning Coalition website: www.elcmdm.org, then click on the apply for VPK link.

Parents will be required to create a login and a password if this is their first time accessing the Family Portal. For problems or concerns with logging into the portal or for technical assistance, parents should contact the OEL Service Desk at mail to: [email protected] or (850) 717-8600.

What Fees Are You Responsible For?
The Voluntary Prekindergarten program covers 180 days at a daily rate of $17.19 for a total of $3,094.20 for the school year 2024/2025. The last day of school for those students attending the VPK basic 3 hours will be on 06/01/2025.

There will be no tuition charges for those students attending 3 hours a day. The rest will be charged according to their schedule. For your convenience, we already calculated your yearly tuition for the period 08/19/2024- 06/04/2025, deducted the portion that VPK pays in your behalf and divided that amount by ten months, payable from August of 2024 through May of 2025. The right amount will be reflected in your monthly invoice.

2024/2025 VPK Rate Calculation

2024/2025 monthly payment explanation, according to your child’s schedule:

The Early Learning Coalition requires that your child’s teacher takes attendance every day on the “Student Attendance and Parental Choice Certificate” form. Any authorized person to drop off and/or pick up your child must sign and date the attendance between the LAST WORKING DAY OF THE MONTH AND THE FIRST THREE DAYS OF THE NEW MONTH. If for any reason your child is absent on those days, you are RESPONSIBLE to come to the school just to sign the form. This is a very important step in the process because the certificates serve as proof of attendance and MUST be submitted electronically to the Office of Early Learning of Florida and kept on our records in case of an inspection/audit. Failure to do so may result on the immediate stop payment from the VPK Program on your child’s behalf.

Lastly, your child is allowed to be absent no more than 36 days per year without affecting the payments made on behalf of your child. We will receive a reconciliation payment for absences at the end of the school year. Please, be on time every day so your child is able to participate in circle time and doesn’t miss this important part of the daily lessons.