Preschool Enrollments Dwindling

Even preschools are seeing the effects of the tight economy with declining enrollments. While some pre-kindergarten educational facilities are still full, directors at many across the country are worried that they will not fill enrollments in the fall. Leaders are aware that high levels of unemployment and sinking salaries are resulting in fewer registrants, as more parents opt to keep children at home and others seek less expensive means of supervising and educating children prior to kindergarten.

In the past, many educational facilities for pre-kindergarten aged children consistently had years-long waiting lists that required parents to sign up prior to delivering a child they intended to enroll; however, for many schools, those days are over. Linda Jo Platt, the director of a local Manhattan nursery school explained, “Normally, we have phones ringing off the hook from parents inquiring about the school.” On a more negative note, she added, “This year, the phones have been dead.” The school, which usually has a waiting list of 40-50 families, now has open spaces for the fall and does not anticipate that they will be filled.

It isn’t just Ms. Platt’s school. Olivia Hewitt, co-president of the Westchester Association for the Education of Young Children, a 300-member consortium of nursery school educators, says, “Everyone is stunned,” She explains, “There are empty spaces and whether or not they are in your school, it is making everyone nervous.”

Historically, in times of low employment, families pull children from pre-school for less expensive alternatives. Rising unemployment and lower salaries have been reflected in low levels of enrollment in all types of educational facilities. Until those numbers improve, it seems likely that pre-kindergarten classes will continue to see lower levels of enrollment.