Families, Parks and Recreation

Mayor's Children and Education Initiative

Mayor Buddy Dyer's Pre-Kindergarten Initiative

In 2002, Florida voters approved a ballot initiative making voluntary pre-kindergarten education available to all of Florida’s 4-year-old children starting in 2005. Upon taking office in March 2003, Mayor Buddy Dyer pledged to expand Pre-K opportunities to children right away. The Mayor opened eight new pre-kindergarten classrooms during the 2003-2004 school year and expanded the initiative to serve children at twelve elementary schools in the 2004-2005 school year.

• List of schools served
• Does your child qualify for the program?
• Criteria for school selection
• Funders
• CityKidz! Buddy’s Benefit for Children
• Make a donation to the Mayor's pre-kindergarten initiative
• Online Application for Florida's Voluntary Universal Pre-K Program
• “Easy as 1-2-3” Celebrity Public Service Announcements
• Orange County School Readiness Coalition
• Learn more about the Florida Child Care Executive Partnership, helping employers meet the needs of employees who are working parents, to ensure children have safe, high quality, developmentally appropriate child care while parents work to remain self-sufficient
• Learn more about Florida's Universal Pre-Kindergarten Program
• Research on early childhood education
• Check out the "Pathways Mapping Initiative," a website that holds a wealth of information about what it takes to increase the number of children who are ready for school.
• For Parents:  How to Help Your Child Learn in the Early Years