Fort Bend ISD will begin offering Pre-K 3, or instructional sessions for students who are age 3, to eligible district residents at six new campuses in the 2025-26 school year, in addition to its existing Fueling Brains Academy program.

The Head Start program is the result of the memorandum of understanding between FBISD and Houston-area nonprofit BakerRipley, which was approved at the March 24 board of trustees meeting.

BakerRipley currently offers federally funded pre-K sessions for 3-year-olds at 25 locations across the region, according to its website. This partnership comes amid the district’s expansion of Pre-K 4 programs to six new campuses.

“We've worked alongside [Chief Operations Officer Damian Viltz and] his team, to make sure that all these campuses have the space, the capacity and the ability to support the addition of at least one [Pre-K 3] classroom,” Chief Academic Officer Adam Stephens said at the March 17 work study meeting.

About the program


Head Start programs are free, federally-funded programs designed to provide academic preparation for preschoolers from eligible families, according to the BakerRipley website.

The program runs Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m.-3 p.m., and all school supplies and meals including breakfast, lunch and snacks are provided, according to the website.

The existing Pre-K 3 program, Fueling Brains Academy, is not a Head Start program but is funded through the Texas Workforce Commission Child Care Services, according to district documents.

Who is eligible?


According to the district website, students must meet eligibility requirements in order to enroll in the Pre-K 3 program:Children also qualify if they are homeless, have current or previous conservatorship of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, or are the dependents of active duty or retired members of the armed forces, according to the district website.

According to the district website, only students zoned to the following campuses for kindergarten are eligible:
  • Arizona Fleming, Barbara Jordan, Aldridge, Dr. Lynn Armstrong, Dulles, E. A. Jones, Ferndell Henry, Glover, Heritage Rose, Hunters Glen Early Learning Center, James Patterson, Juan Seguin, Lantern Lane, Lulu Belle Goodman, Mary Austin Holley, Mission, Mission West, Palmer, Ridgegate, Ridgemont Early Learning Center, Rosa Parks, Townewest and Walter Moses Burton elementary schools
The locations

All Pre-K 3 sites offer bilingual Spanish curriculum, with the exception of Hunters Glen Early Learning Center and Fueling Brains Academy, according to the district website. Students will be zoned to a nearby school if they would like to be in bilingual classes.

Eleven classrooms will be offered across the sites, each with 15-17 students, one state-certified early childhood teacher and one co-teacher credentialed with at least an associate degree, according to the agreement.




Breaking it down

According to the signed agreement, both BakerRipley and FBISD will invest the following for the 2025-26 school year:
  • BakerRipley: Almost $1.33 million for one operations manager, two family development workers, 11 co-teachers, classroom furniture, educational materials and support staff
  • FBISD: $990,000 for 11 certified teachers, one staff member to oversee the partnership, technology and classrooms
Next steps

Registration is open, according to the district website. Families who are new to the district will register on the FBISD’s new student webpage, and those who already have an enrolled student will login to their Skyward account.