Four Star Express Pre-K + Care

• For children who turn four or five-years-old on or before Sept. 1 of the school year they are attending.
• Open during the school year Sept. to June; five days/week
• Daily schedule: 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and most non-school days.
• Breakfast, lunch & snack is provided.
• ​​​​​​​Food from home is always an option. View breakfast/lunch menus on the district Nutrition Services website.
• ​​​​​​​During school hours, students are provided scheduled opportunities in the schools’ music, phy-ed and media center.
• ​​​​​​​Four Star Express has its own room in a school building.​​​​​​​
• Staff to student ration is 1:10. The maximum enrollment for a Four Star Express room is 20.
• Care is provided most non-school days and these days are included in tuition cost if they are used or not used.
• Benchmark Literacy, Math Expressions/Bridges Math and Second Step Curriculum is used in the program.
  • Student assessment in 38 areas.
  • ​​​​​​​Staff meets with parents two times per year to review assessment and progress.
• Instructors have obtained levels of experience:
  • Early Childhood Education
  • Licensure in Early Childhood Educators or Education related fields

Register online

• The program is full and accepting wait lists for the 2024-25 school year.

2025-26 Four Star Express registration opens Jan. 15, 2025 at 9 a.m. until Jan. 31, 2025. A lottery drawing will take place Feb. 3, 2025. Families will be notified no later than Feb. 14, 2025 if their student's contract has been accepted.

• To be ready to enroll when registration opens  view tips and how to create an account.
• You will need to register for Non-School Days (NSD’s). NSD’s are included in your Four Star Express student’s tuition.
  • NSD calendar and important deadline dates
  • Instructions on how to register for NSD

• A non-refundable deposit must be made at the time of registration for the tuition of Week 40 (the last week of tuition in June). This deposit is processed when your contract is accepted and applied to last week’s tuition of the program.
• Weekly payments are due on Monday of each week. All accounts are required to be set up using autopay with a bank account or credit card payment method on file.
  • For the 2024-25 school year, the weekly tuition is $279.78, or $11,191.20 total for the 40-week program.
• County Child Care Assistance is accepted for this program if the family is approved. Please note that county assistance will cover a portion of our tuition, and not the entire weekly payment.
• Scholarships are available. Email cecares@district279.org for an application.

Four Star Express 2024-25 holiday, tuition and non-school day calendar
Four Star Express 2024-25 register, cancel and approved contract schedule for non-school days (NSD’s)

• If a family withdraws and there is another family on our waitlist at the time of withdrawal who accepts this opening, we will provide a full refund of the last week’s deposit.
• If a family withdraws by 11:59 p.m. on June 30 and the opening cannot be filled at the time of withdrawal, we will provide a half refund of your last week’s deposit.
• If a family withdraws after 11:59 p.m. on June 30 and the opening cannot be filled at the time of withdrawal, no refund will be provided.