Five-year-old Marlaina Paulding likes playing in the tents in her VPK classroom at Felix A. Williams Elementary School in Martin County. She likes learning the alphabet and numbers, and the Spanish ...

Florida's first voluntary prekindergarten program began in 2005. The program is free for all 4-year-olds. School-readiness test scores show VPK prepares children for school. This story was updated to ...

Hunter Geisel is a digital producer at CBS Miami. Hunter has previously produced digital content for local and national outlets, covering several topics from breaking news and current events to ...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Thousands of Florida kids who go to voluntary prekindergarten, or VPK, are not ready for kindergarten, according to the state. In Florida, 4- and 5-year-olds have free access to ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Teachers and staff at Phillippi Shores Elementary School in Sarasota check in students during the opening day of school in August ...

PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla (WFLA) – Early learning educators and advocates are worried after seeing a decline in enrollment for Florida’s voluntary prekindergarten (VPK) program. The Early Learning ...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla — Enrollment for voluntary pre-kindergarten this fall is now open, but local programs are still seeing fewer students enroll than before the pandemic. VPK enrollment for early ...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The cost of child care is on the rise and research shows it’s largely due to the pandemic. But in Florida, there is the option of free volunteer pre-kindergarten, also known as ...

Many parents of Pre-K students are weighing their options for how to get the best and safest education for their kids. One parent, Karen Douglas, has chosen to keep her 4-year-old son home for the ...

KISSIMMEE, Fla. — For the first time, voluntary pre-kindergarten is now being offered to Osceola County children digitally. Ramona Jarvis, the mother of an immuno-compromised child, is happy to hear ...