Early Education

From the Director...

Welcome to the Barre Unified Union School District’s Early Education page. Families residing in Barre City and Barre Town have a few options for early education for children ages 3-5 in and around our community.

The Barre City and Barre Town schools serve children through public pre-kindergarten programs on a first come-first served basis. In addition, the BUUSD partners with local and regional pre-qualified pre-kindergarten programs, providing families with the flexibility to access early education in a setting outside of the public school. For more information about each of these options, see the links here and on each school’s individual webpages.

To view the Vermont Agency of Education's Universal Pre-Kindergarten web page, click on this link:

VT AOE Universal Pre-Kindergarten Website

At any time, if you have a concern about your child's development, please contact your school and request to speak with the Assistant to the Director of Student Services. This person will help connect you to our early education team.

PreK 2024/2025 Calendar

How do I...

Enroll my Child

BUUSD PreK Enrollment Procedures

Publicly funded pre kindergarten services are offered in schools and in pre-qualified community-based programs (homes and centers). To enroll in the BCEMS or BTMES pre kindergarten programs, you must live within the BCEMS or BTMES school districts. To have your child’s name added to your school's pre kindergarten program waiting list, please contact the school Registrar directly. For BCEMS, contact Cheri O'Neill at 476-6541 ext. 4330. For BTMES, contact Betsy Pearce at 476-6617 ext. 6306.

You can find a list of private providers by clicking on the following link: Pre-qualified Providers

Get Information on Universal Kindergarten

Frequently asked questions about Act 166, and how you can access funds to help pay for pre-kindergarten services for your child can be found here:

Act 166 Frequently Asked Questions.

You can also get information on Act 166 directly from the VT Agency of Education by clicking here: Agency of Education Act 166 Information for Families.

You can find a list of private providers by clicking on the following link: Pre-qualified Providers

get a registration packet

The Barre Unified Union School District has transitioned to an online registration system for Prekindergarten for the 2020-2021 school year. For more information on registering your child for public Pre-K or to access Act 166 funds, please contact Cheri O'Neill (coneibce@buusd.org) at 476-6541 ext. 4330 for BCEMS. Please contact Betsy Pearce (bpearbte@buusd.org) at 476-6617 ext. 6306 for BTMES.

Know if my child qualifies

become an approved buusd pre-kindergarten provider

Request act 166 tuition funds

For more information on registering your child for public Pre-K, please contact:

Cheri O'Neill (coneibce@buusd.org) at 476-6541 ext. 4330 for BCEMS
Betsy Pearce (bpearbte@buusd.org) at 476-6617 ext. 6306 for BTMES.

For more information on how to access Pre-K Act 166 funds if your child attends a community preschool program, please contact Megan Gonyaw (mgonybsu@buusd.org) at 476-5011 ext. 1023.

Helpful Links

Barre City Pre-K Handbook
Barre Town Pre-K Handbook

The links below will help connect you to a wide range of programs and services offered here in Vermont. Note: They are not part of the BUUSD website, and the BUUSD cannot be responsible for the content made available on these sites.