VPK

The Voluntary Prekindergarten Program (VPK) is a free program for children who reside in Florida and are 4-years-old on or before September 1 of each year.

VPK is designed to prepare 4-year-olds for kindergarten and build the foundation for their educational success. VPK supports the development of early literacy, executive functioning, and social emotional skills.

Parents have the option to enroll their child in one of the following program types:

General Eligibility Requirements for Providers

Types of providers who can participate in the VPK Program:

Licensed Family Child Care

Licensed Large Family Child Care

Licensed Child Care Center

Licensed Exempt Child Care Center

Providers must obtain and retain an insurance policy that provides a minimum of $100,000 of coverage per occurrence and a minimum of $300,000 general aggregate coverage.

How To Apply

To apply for a VPK contract with ELCPH, you must first create an account in the statewide Provider Portal by clicking the Provider Portal button below.

You can download a copy of the Provider Portal User Guide under Resources below.

VPK Program Assessments

Beginning with the 2022-2023 program year, each private prekindergarten provider and public school in the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program must participate in a program assessment of each voluntary prekindergarten education classroom. It is required that the approved VPK Lead teacher is present and observed. Substitutes are not permitted for the VPK Program Assessment. ELCPH and/or contracted assessors shall be responsible for the administration of the program assessments.

The program assessment shall measure the quality of teacher-child interactions, including emotional support, classroom organization, and instructional support for children ages 3 to 5 years.

A “composite” score of a 4.0 or above will be required in order to have a VPK Program Contract the following year (2023-2024).

1. Program assessment composite scores which must be weighted at no less than 50 percent.
2. Learning gains operationalized as change-in-ability scores from the initial and final progress monitoring results.
3. Norm-referenced developmental learning outcomes