The Office of Early Childhood and its public/private partnership, Invest in Children, operate the County’s UPK program. The UPK program provides funding to existing high-quality preschools in Cuyahoga County with the aim of helping them create a gold standard preschool experience and increase access by providing scholarships to families. In addition, the UPK program offers technical assistance and coaching for teachers to improve the quality of classroom instruction. Scholarships are also offered to families in need, ranging from 25% to 50% off the preschool fee for families at or below 400% of the federal poverty level.

Preschool enrollment varies across the year, with higher numbers toward the middle of the academic year (Q1 and Q4) and lower enrollment in the summer months (Q2 and Q3). The number of preschool seats available may also shift over time, for example as sites increase the number of classrooms or consolidate with another site. For this reason, enrollment is reported as both the number of children enrolled in UPK preschools and the percentage of UPK seats enrolled. The latter measure is more comparable over time. 

The Office of Early Childhood sets a benchmark that at least 85% of UPK seats are enrolled. At the close of this quarter, in September 2019, there were 3,100 children enrolled in UPK sites. This translates to a 72% enrollment rate for September, which is lower than the September 2018 enrollment rate of 79% but consistent with the September 2017 enrollment rate of 73% (not shown on this page). The bump in September 2018 is likely a product of a marketing campaign aimed at improving enrollment in select UPK sites, which began late summer 2018. The return to normal in 2019 illustrates that marketing works to improve enrollment, but may need to be an ongoing strategy to reach the many new families entering the preschool phase each year.   

The UPK children's kindergarten readiness metric shows that about three-quarters of UPK children were prepared for kindergarten-level instruction. In the 2018-19 school year, 72.3% of children who attended UPK for six months or more were kindergarten ready; this is lower than the 2018-19 statewide average of 77.3%.

In 2018, the Office of Early Childhood worked with researchers at Case Western Reserve University on a rigorous evaluation of UPK. Results showed that, compared to children who get 18 months of high quality preschool in non-UPK sites, children in UPK sites are more likely to be on track to read at grade level, and show a stronger social foundation for learning in kindergarten. When followed over time, UPK children were also found to perform significantly better on the third grade reading proficiency assessment.

Cuyahoga County Early Childhood Education Expansion and Sustainability Plan