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ImpactTulsa Urges Parents to Enroll Four-Year-Olds in Pre-K Now

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Oklahoma is one of just three states with free universal pre-K, and enrollment is now open.

"We really want folks to get enrolled before the summer so that districts have time to plan for the space in the classroom, because we know what an impact pre-K is making for our kids in our community," said ImpactTulsa's Autumn Worten.

One in three Tulsa-area four-year-olds — that's 3,000 kids — aren’t going to pre-K. Worten said the benefits can’t be overstated.

"They're more likely to be reading on grade level in third grade. They're more likely to be on track in middle-grade math and to graduate high school on time. So, they're all things that really compound upon each other," Worten said. "We do know that whether students are affluent or low-income that if they're attending pre-K, they are more ready for kindergarten."

ImpactTulsa asked parents who didn't send their kids to pre-K why they didn't.

"A lot of the responses were that the parents weren't quite ready to let their kiddos go yet, but also transportation has been a really big barrier," Worten said. "Pre-K kids are not allowed to ride the school bus because they're too small."

Worten said ImpactTulsa is working with cities and transit companies to address transportation gaps.

ImpactTulsa has pre-K enrollment information for 15 area districts available in English and Spanish.

Matt Trotter joined KWGS as a reporter in 2013. Before coming to Public Radio Tulsa, he was the investigative producer at KJRH. His freelance work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and on MSNBC and CNN.