Applications now being accepted for public pre-kindergarten program

Applications are now being accepted for the state’s public pre-kindergarten program, offered by the Executive Office of Early Learning, for the 2025-26 school year.

Parents and caregivers of qualifying 3- and 4-year-old children are encouraged to apply online.

Children within 2 years of entering kindergarten are eligible to apply.

The program is free and designed to give keiki a strong early learning foundation. It has has 92 classrooms on 74 Hawai‘i Department of Education campuses throughout the islands and hopes to add 50 more during the next 2 years to expand access to early education for the state’s youngest learners.

Click here to see the list of participating schools on Hawai‘i Island.

For more information about the 2025-26 application process, eligibility requirements and to apply, click here.

The Executive Office on Early Learning, established in 2012, was created to provide a unified framework for developing a comprehensive and integrated statewide early childhood development and learning system.

It collaborates with other Hawai‘i agencies, local organizations and communities to develop policies and initiatives that strengthen early learning systems and create a more equitable education framework for young learners throughout the islands.

“[The Executive Office on Early Learning’s] mission focuses on fostering collaboration and partnerships to ensure that Hawaiʻi’s young children — ranging from prenatal to age 5 — receive a solid foundation in early development and learning,” says the state agency’s website.