Starting in the 2025-26 school year, all Choice Schools that have Kinder will also have traditional* Pre-K4. Four year olds are always prioritized for seats in the lottery. Any additional seats are then offered to 3 year olds.

Age requirements for Pre-K:

  • For Pre-K4, student must be 4 years old by September 1st of that school year.
  • For Pre-K3, student must be 3 years old by September 1st of that school year.

Turning 3 or 4 later in the school year does not make the student eligible to enroll later; they will need to wait until the following school year to enroll.

These Choice schools offer Pre-K for 4 year olds only:

  • Advanced Learning Academy
  • Bonham Academy
  • Woodlawn Academy
  • YWLA Primary

Lottery priorities for Choice Schools apply to Pre-K seats after age and qualifications.

For more information, see the question What is the priority structure?

* Head Start is different than traditional Pre-K. If you would like to participate in Head Start, you will need to submit a separate Head Start application. See details and apply for Head Start on SAISD’s Early Childhood page here.