Baltimore City Pre-K Enrollment Opens Feb. 16 with April 17 Deadline

Baltimore families opened applications for free, full-day pre-K when enrollment began Monday, Feb. 16, 2026, and the window runs through Friday, April 17, 2026, with school placement offers scheduled to go out in May. The Baltimore City Public Schools announcement framed the registration drive as the gateway to stronger early outcomes, and City Schools officials urge parents to register early because space is limited.

Eligibility for the program is clear: children must be four years old by September 1 of the 2026–27 school year to qualify for free pre-K across the city. Families can choose among multiple delivery systems including Baltimore City Public Schools programs, Head Start classes, community-based providers, and charter schools; charter schools manage their own enrollment processes rather than using the district system.

Applications for traditional district pre-K schools are submitted through SEMS and can be completed entirely online from home, while charter school families should contact their preferred charter directly. The automated enrollment system uses an algorithm that considers Priority, location, and siblings when matching families to optimal school settings, Live Baltimore guidance noted during its outreach work.

Parents who prefer in-person help can enroll at their neighborhood school or visit the Multilingual Enrollment and Support Center at Baltimore City Public Schools’ headquarters, 200 E. North Ave., Baltimore, MD 21202, during office hours Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The city’s enrollment page directs families to find their zoned school with the school locator or call the call center at 410-396-8600 for zoned-school help. Additional contact numbers are (443) 984-2000 for pre-K programs information, 3-1-1 for city residents, and (443) 263-2220 for callers outside the city.

City Schools are promoting the long-term stakes of early enrollment with outcome data: “In 2024–25, 53.4 percent of City Schools pre‑K students demonstrated kindergarten readiness on the state assessment,” and kindergarten readiness “has increased by 16 percent over the past three years, four times the state’s growth, and is now at its highest level in nine years.” City Schools add that “registering with City Schools gives children a strong start and helps prepare them to be ready for kindergarten and beyond.”

Local outreach has included a Live Baltimore webinar titled “Demystifying the Pre-K Enrollment Process” presented January 29, 2026 in partnership with City Schools’ Early Learning Programs. “Families in Baltimore City have the option to send their four‑year‑olds to free, full‑day Pre‑Kindergarten at schools across the city,” Live Baltimore said, while Mayor’s Office of Children and Family Success representative Debra Brooks emphasized, “Mixed delivery pre‑K is not just convenient, but it's crucial, especially for all of our children and their families and their diverse needs. The range of settings allows us to meet every child where they are developmentally, every family where they are.” Baltimore City Public Schools’ Taiisha Swinton‑Buck tied pre-K to longer-term goals: “In Baltimore City Public Schools, we talk about our Portrait of a Graduate, which is really the skills and dispositions which we want all of our graduates to have, and some of those are communication, critical thinking, collaboration, resilience and civic and global awareness. These competencies do not begin in high school. In fact, they begin in pre‑K.”

Families should act before the April 17 deadline and expect placement notifications in May; for help finding a zoned school or completing SEMS, call 410-396-8600 or (443) 984-2000 for program questions.