Northampton County Schools  Developmental Pre-Kindergarten 

NCS offers a free, high-quality pre-kindergarten program for 4-year-old children. They will experience a full day with their classmates learning skills appropriate for their age through exploration and discovery. The goal of our Pre-Kindergarten program is to prepare children to enter kindergarten ready to learn and succeed.

Our Pre-Kindergarten classrooms are located in Central Elementary Schools, Willis Hare Elementary School, and Gaston STEM Leadership Academy's Pre-Kindergarten/Kindergarten Center (formerly Gaston Elementary).   Each school follows the same hours of the elementary school day.

This program is for children who are 4-years-old on or before August 31st. Students with disabilities may be referred at age 3 and may be considered for our 3-year-old program.

NC Pre-Kindergarten

The NC Pre-K Program is open to all eligible 4-year-olds.  Eligibility is determined based on previous services, developmental risk factors, and income.  This program is designed to make sure unserved and underserved children have quality preschool experiences prior to entering Kindergarten

Title I program

The Title 1 program is open to all eligible 4-year-olds.  Eligibility is determined based on risk factors.  These are determined by a point system based on given criteria.  This program is designed to eliminate the achievement gap between student subgroups.

Exceptional Children Program

The EC Pre-K program is open to all eligible 3 and 4-year-olds.  Eligibility is determined based on evaluations completed by various agencies.  Students are eligible to receive services on their 3rd birthday once they are found eligible.  Children in this program display 25%-30% delays in one or more areas of development.