Pre-K Eligibility

Age for Pre-K:

• MSCS Pre-K is open to children who reside in Shelby County. To be considered for enrollment, children must be 3 or 4 years old by August 15^th.
• Note: If the child turns 5 before August 15^th, they are not eligible for Pre-K and should register for kindergarten.

Who is Eligible for MSCS Pre-K:

• Children who are 4 years old before August 15^th and who meet the income guidelines for their preferred location are given priority.
• 3-year-olds may be accepted in state-funded (VPK) classrooms after the first 30 days of school to fill vacancies.

Who is Eligible for Head Start Collaboration Classrooms:

• Classrooms are filled on a first-come, first-served basis.
• Priority is given to children who are 3 or 4 years old by August 15^th and whose family meets the Federal Poverty Guidelines and/or who are categorically eligible: SNAP, TANF, Child receives SSI, Child is in foster care.
• Both 3- and 4-year-olds may begin attending school on the first day of Pre-K.

Who is Eligible for First 8 Memphis Collaboration Classrooms:

• Priority is given to children who are 4 years old by August 15^th.
• Children who are 3 years old may be enrolled if and only if they turn 4-years-old before December 31, 2026. The child must be at least 3 years and 6 months old to qualify for placement in the First 8 Memphis classroom locations.
• 4-year-olds and qualifying 3-year-olds may begin attending school on the first day of Pre-K.

Wait List:

• If your desired location is full and we are unable to provide an alternative placement, children will be placed on the wait list for possible placement in the event of a vacancy. Please note vacancies only occur if someone withdraws from the program.

Transfers:

• We will not process transfers until after the first two weeks of school. Pre-K does not provide transportation, and not all locations have before and after care.

Application Checklist & Requirements

Step 1 - Online Pre-Application:

• Submit only one online pre-application for your whole household, even if you have more than one child who can attend PreK. (Submitting more than one application causes your application to be delayed for processing.)
• After the application is submitted, check your email for a message from GoEngage. You must click the link in that email to verify your email address and activate your Parent Portal account. You must do this within 24 hours. This is important because all messages will be sent through GoEngage.

Step 2 - Eligibility Interview:

• After the parent submits the application, use the link to schedule your eligibility interview. (MSCS PreK Enrollment does not call parents to schedule appointments, this should be cone by the parent and scheduled based on your ability to attend.)
• Prior to the eligibility interview, the parent must upload the required documents to the Parent Portal and also bring copies of the documents to the interview. (Two parent households must provide income and identification information for both parents at the time of the scheduled eligibility interview.)
• Required Documents: Look at the flyers below to see the list of documents needed for the eligibility interview. To speed up the process of the eligibility interview, please upload the documents to the GoEngage/Cleverex Parent Portal. Parents should bring copies of all documents to the interview to prevent placement delays with unreadable documents.
• Acceptance: After the eligibility interview, Parents will get a certificate of placement with the child’s tentatively assigned school location. Parents will receive official notification of placement via email.

Step 3 - Mandatory Parent Orientation:

• Parents of accepted students will receive an email July 1st with the dates and locations of the mandatory parent orientation as well as a link to register. It is mandatory that at least one of the child’s parents/guardians attend orientation before the child can start Pre-K.

Step 4 - Apply:

• Application link coming soon!

 

2026-27 Application FAQs