New Hampshire

No Program

New Hampshire does not have a state-funded pre-K program, as defined in this report. However, the state provides a mixed-delivery system to support early childhood education in local communities. The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) licenses early childhood programs and administers preschool scholarships through its child-care assistance program for low-income families. The Department of Education (DOE) oversees early childhood special education programming and progress monitoring of IDEA Part B funded preschool programs. New Hampshire school districts use Title I and local funds to implement voluntary preschool programs in public schools. Also, New Hampshire’s Community Action Programs serve preschool-age children before school entry through Head Start and Early Head Start.

DOE issues both early childhood education and early childhood special education teacher licensure endorsements for nursery through grade three. DHHS issues voluntary endorsements and credentials for professionals serving young children and their families through the New Hampshire Early Childhood and After School Professional Development System.

The New Hampshire Early Learning Guidelines were introduced in 2005 and address development and learning for children birth through age five. The guidelines cover multiple domains including approaches to learning, communication and literacy development, social and emotional development, physical development, creative expression and aesthetic development, and health and safety. The guidelines are aligned with New Hampshire’s academic standards, as well as the New Hampshire Kindergarten Readiness Indicators. The state’s Early Learning Standards, released in 2015, align with the New Hampshire College and Career Ready Standards, by expanding to include emergent literacy, early numeracy, and science and social studies.

DHHS’s Child Development Bureau administers New Hampshire’s QRIS, which is currently under revision. Categories of standards in the proposed revision include: Curriculum, Environment, and Assessment; Engaging Families and Communities as Partners; Early Childhood Administrator and Educator Qualifications; and Measured Standards of Environmental Quality and Teacher-Child Interactions using the ERS and CLASS, respectively.

New Hampshire received two Preschool Development Grants Birth through Five (PDG B–5): a $3.8 million planning grant followed by a $26.8 million renewal to lead a collaborative effort between the University of New Hampshire, DOE and DHHS, the Governor’s Early Childhood Council, and New Hampshire’s early childhood advocates and practitioners, to create a collective vision for quality early childhood care and education to ensure that all children and families of New Hampshire are healthy, learning and thriving.

Additionally, in December 2022, the University of New Hampshire was awarded a federal Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five (PDG B–5) one-year planning grant for $3,948,368.

New Hampshire

Access

Total state pre-K enrollment	0
School districts that offer state program	NA
Income requirement	NA
Minimum hours of operation	NA
Operating schedule	NA
Special education enrollment, ages 3 and 4	2,073
Federally funded Head Start enrollment, ages 3 and 4	900
State-funded Head Start enrollment, ages 3 and 4	0

Resources

*Pre-K programs may receive additional funds from federal or local sources that are not included in this figure. †Head Start per-child spending includes funding only for 3- and 4-year-olds. ‡K–12 expenditures include capital spending as well as current operating expenditures.