Public School-Affiliated Preschool Programs in New Hampshire, 2024–2025 School Year

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Jake

Carsey Research Issue Brief #196 analyzes public school-affiliated preschool programming in New Hampshire during the 2024–2025 school year. It finds 147 programs statewide, serving all 4-year-olds and 89% of 3-year-olds, with total enrollment of 5,471 children in spring 2025, a 7.9% increase over the prior year. The brief emphasizes that most programs do not provide full-day or full-week schedules, and it examines how IDEA Part B requirements shape enrollment of children with and without IEPs.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages4

Reading Time10 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Box 1. About Public School-Affiliated Programs

Public School-Affiliated Preschool Programs Serve Children With and Without Disabilities

Small Changes in Preschool Program and Enrollment Counts Since 2024

Few Programs Offer Full-Day and/or Full-Week Programming for Enrolled Children

Carsey Research Issue Brief \#196 Winter 2026 Public School-Affiliated Preschool Programs in New Hampshire, 2024–2025 School Year Tyrus Parker, Kamala Nasirova, and Jess Carson Introduction In Spring 2025, researchers at the University of New Hampshire contacted every public elementary school in the state to track the availability of public school-affiliated preschool programming in New Hampshire (see Box 1). This work supplements data available through the New Hampshire Education Department by tracking offeringsand enrollment for children both with and without disabilities. Building on data collected in 2024, the 2025 survey collected new information about program implementation, including ages served, program schedules, service areas, and program implementation. As New Hampshire does not have state-funded preschool, capturing the ways in which local school districts creatively fund and operate these programs is key. In this brief, we focus exclusively on program offerings and reach, with analysis of broader implementation to be published separately. Box 1. About Public School-Affiliated Programs Public school-affiliated preschool programs mostly serve 3-and 4-year-old children and are provided by a local school district. These programs are typically located within elementary schools but can sometimes exist in a high school (as part of a career and technical center), or at an independent location. Public School-Affiliated Preschool Programs Serve Children With and Without Disabilities New Hampshire is home to 147 public school-affiliated preschool programs, an increase from 144 programs identified in 2024 (see Figure 1). All programs serve 4-year-olds, while 89 percent also serve 3-year-olds. These programs are distributed across the state and generally follow the population distribution, with the highest number of programs operating in Hillsborough and Rockingham County. | Key Findings | | | --- | --- | | | New Hampshire has 147 public schoolaffiliated preschool programs, serving a mix of 3-and/or 4-year-olds. | | | In the 2024–2025 school year, these programs enrolled 5,471 children—a 7.9 percent increase over the 5,067 recorded in 2023–2024. | | | The vast majority of these programs do not offer programming akin to a full school day: just 22 programs operate full week, full-day programming for 4-year-olds, and only 12 programs do for 3-year-olds. | In part, public school-affiliated programs exist to meet the requirement that all public school districts must provide access to a free appropriate public education for preschool-aged children with an identified disability under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part B 1 Children identified under IDEA Part B have an Individualized Education Program, or IEP, to support their learning. Traditionally, public school-affiliated preschool programming has been limited to serving children with IEPs; however, data from this study show that preschool programming has a broader reach.2 Only 12 programs reported exclusively serving children with an IEP in one or both age groups.3 Because districts are required to make special education services available to children with an IEP, a program’s capacity to serve children without IEPs may shift as needs within the community change.4 This is evident in the turnover around programs that specify IEPonly enrollment between the 2023–2024 school year and the 2024–2025 school year, likely due to changes within the mix of children in the community with an IEP. Huddleston Hall • 73 Main Street • Durham, NH 03824 603-862-2821 • [carsey.unh.edu](carsey.unh.edu) TTY Users: dial 7-1-1 or 1-800-735-2964 (Relay N.H.) 2 CA R S EY SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY Figure 1. Distribution of Public School-Affiliated Preschool Programs in New Hampshire, by Whether Program Enrolls Children Without an IEP Note: Programs in blue serve children with and without an IEP. Dark green programs exclusively serve children with

FAQs

How many public school-affiliated preschool programs operated in New Hampshire in 2024–2025?

New Hampshire had 147 public school-affiliated preschool programs in 2024–2025, up from 144 identified in 2024.

What were enrollment totals for the 2024–2025 school year and how did they change from 2023–2024?

In spring 2025, the programs enrolled 5,471 children, an increase of 7.9% over the 5,067 recorded in 2023–2024.

Do most preschool programs provide full-day or full-week scheduling?

No. Most programs operate part-day, part-week, or both, and only 22 programs offer full-week, full-day programming for 4-year-olds, with just 12 doing so for 3-year-olds.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Jake