HOUSTON – Dozens of families registered for public pre-K on Saturday during a family festival hosted by Good Reason Houston and Houston Independent School District (HISD). The event was hosted at the Ninfa Laurenzo Early Childhood facility in Houston’s 77011 ZIP code, where less than half of eligible students are enrolled in public pre-K.

During the festival, students received free backpacks and other resources to help them start the new school year on the right foot. Houston Rockets mascots, Clutch the Bear and the Space City Dunkstronaut, stopped in to take photos and play games while Kids Meals Houston, Family Scholar House and Sea Smile Dental & Braces provided resources and giveaways.

“Houston should lead the nation in terms of quality public education for all. That starts with making sure families from all across Houston know about, understand the value of, and take action to enroll their child in a free, public pre-k program,” Good Reason Houston CEO Cary Wright said.

Good Reason Houston’s analysis shows that students are 2.5x more likely to be kindergarten ready when they attend a quality pre-k program. However, Houston area schools only enroll roughly 4 out of 10 eligible 3- and 4-year-olds in free, public pre-K each year. That leaves around 46,000 eligible students annually who could enroll in free, public pre-k but do not.

HISD provides free, full-day pre-K programs to help equip students with a strong foundation for their future education. Good Reason Houston has set an ambitious goal of increasing the number of students enrolled in pre-K by 50% by 2027, which means 8,500 more students need to be enrolled. Visit www.prekhouston.org, powered by Good Reason Houston, to learn more.