UPK has won three national awards for family

engagement.* UPK sites help you by: Invest in Children

www.investinchildren.cuyahogacounty.us
Universal
Providing parenting and child
development information to help you Pre-Kindergarten
support your childs learning.
www.earlychildhoodohio.org
Communicating with you about your
childs progress through effective
school-to-home and home-to-school
communications.

www.marchintokindergarten.com
Involving families as volunteers and
supporters to the school and its
programs.

Involving you with you childrens learning www.starting-point.org

activities at home and other learning- Children who attend a high-quality
related activities and decisions. preschool are more successful in
Cuyahoga County
Office of Early Childhood kindergarten and beyond.
Invest in Children
Including families as participants in
310 W. Lakeside Ave., Suite 565
certain school decisions. Cleveland, Ohio 44113

Coordinating resources and services for

children, families, and the school with
businesses, agencies, and other groups,
and providing services to the community.

* Based on School, Family and Community Partnerships by J.L. Epstein, 2002

 What is Universal
Pre-Kindergarten?
Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) is an
award-winning initiative administered
by Invest in Children in Cuyahoga
County to help preschool children
ages 3-5 have access to a high-quality
pre-kindergarten program. Only those
preschool sites that meet strict local
and state requirements for quality can
be a UPK Site!
What is Invest in Children?
Invest in Children is Cuyahoga Countys
public/private partnership serving
the needs of young children from
prenatal to kindergarten. We partner
with Starting Point, the regional child
care resource and referral agency,
to provide technical assistance and
training to all UPK programs.
Where is UPK?
UPK sites are located throughout the
county and include public preschools,
Head Start programs, community child
care centers, and family child care
homes. All UPK sites meet a series of
standards, proven through research to
be the hallmarks of quality that result in
improved school readiness. View a UPK
site map at:
www.investinchildren.cuyahogacounty.us
Is UPK Affordable?
Each program sets its own tuition rates.
Cuyahoga County can provide scholarship
assistance for one-third of the cost to
families earning up to 400 percent of the
federal poverty level (for example: $95,400
annual income for a family of four.)
What does a UPK
preschool look like?
The very best preschools meet these high
standards and many others.
Teachers hold higher education
qualifications, and value and participate
in professional development that exceeds
the minimum requirements.
Low teacher / child ratios.
The needs, interests and abilities of
children are the basis for developing
experiences and activities.
Programs share child screening and
assessment results with families and
together activities and plans are
developed to support childrens learning
and development goals.
Family and community input is used
to inform the programs continuous
improvement process.
A variety of high-quality and engaging
materials are provided for children to
explore.