Lynbrook UFSD holds UPK lottery; 122 applicants drawn for Tiny Tykes and JCC seats

Lynbrook Union Free School District held a public UPK (universal prekindergarten) lottery by livestream to determine the order in which families will be offered seats for the 2024–25 school year, Superintendent Dr. Lynch said. "There are 122 applicants," Dr. Lynch said, and the district called numbers from a drum to establish the offer order.

The district said Tiny Tykes Early Learning Center will operate 20 UPK seats for the district; the Barry and Florence Fryberg Jewish Community Center (JCC) will operate the remaining UPK classrooms. Dr. Lynch said families with children already enrolled in Tiny Tykes' three-year-old program will be given the option to continue at Tiny Tykes; additional Tiny Tykes seats will be filled according to the lottery order and family preferences submitted on the application.

Dr. Lynch noted that the final number of students who can be offered seats depends on state funding. "We anticipate the availability of funds to offer every current applicant a seat to our UPK program; the final number of eligible students is contingent upon the passage of the New York state budget and the corresponding per pupil allocations for today's drawing," he said.

The district described the process on the livestream: staff used a drum containing numbered balls and called numbers in groups until all numbers in the drum were drawn. Dr. Lynch said the recording and a list of lottery numbers in the order they were called will be posted on the district website. "All UPK families will be notified via email up to 24 hours after the completion of this lottery drawing with specific instructions concerning the final registration process," he said.

The drawing concluded with the district confirming there were no balls left in the drum and reiterating next steps: posted video and lottery order on the district website and email notices to families with instructions for final registration. The district did not announce a date by which families must accept offers; that information was described as part of the forthcoming registration instructions.