Mayor Zohran Mamdani and New York City Public Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels on Tuesday expanded access to preschool special education, bringing the city’s Nest, Horizon, AIMS, Path and ACES programs to Pre-K classrooms for the first time.
Supported by a $67.5 million investment in the Fiscal Year 2027 Executive Budget, the specialized programs will be available in 14 school districts across the five boroughs beginning this fall, giving young children with disabilities access to high-quality instruction in their own communities.
In Brooklyn, students will be placed into programs at:
- District 14: P.S. 147 Isaac Remsen
- District 15: P.S. 015 Patrick Daly, P.S. 024, P.S. 958
- District 20: D20 Pre-K Center
- District 21: P.S. 212 Lady Deborah Moody.
“Children with disabilities should not be forced to travel across the city just to get the education they deserve,” Mamdani said in a statement. “That’s why we’re bringing those classrooms closer to home and taking another critical step toward making Pre-K truly universal. Every child deserves to learn and grow in their community, and every family deserves a public education system that meets them exactly where they are."
NYCPS will hire hundreds of new staff members to reduce evaluation wait times, expand bilingual assessment options and help families navigate the Individualized Education Program process. The investment includes 35 new professionals across 10 additional Preschool Regional Assessment Centers, including psychologists, social workers, speech evaluators and occupational therapists, according to officials.
Building on a successful pilot, the Special Education Itinerant Teacher program will also expand, placing special education teachers in general education preschool classrooms and helping more young children with IEPs learn alongside their peers. An additional 29 therapists and specialists will strengthen services for children attending community-based 3-K and Pre-K programs.
“Every child deserves the chance to learn and grow in a classroom built around their needs, and that chance should start as early as possible,” said Samuels.
