Capistrano Unified School District

How Do I Enroll My Child?

ENROLLMENT FOR THE 2025-26 SCHOOL YEar

We are still enrolling for the 2025-26 school year. Our Early Childhood Programs office begins open enrollment for our tuition-based preschool program in January of the prior school year. However, we enroll students throughout the school year until spring, as space allows! We will close enrollment for this school year on Wednesday, April 1, 2026.

Enrollment for the 2026-27 School Year

Open Enrollment for preschool will begin on January 7, 2026 at 8:00 a.m.!

*Applications for the California State Preschool Program (CSPP) will begin being processed on May 12th, since income verification cannot be accepted more than 120 days from the start of the new school year.

Registration and Enrollment Process:

The following steps outline the registration process:

Step 1: Enroll your child in AIR by completing an Online New Student Enrollment

Be sure to select Preschool Program (Registration) as the grade level or program for your child. If the incorrect option is selected, our office will not be able to assign a 7-digit Student ID for your child.

Once you enroll your child in AIR, you will receive an email within 24 hours with your child’s new Student ID Number.

*If your child was enrolled in preschool during the 2025-26 school year and is returning for the 2026-27 school year, then you may skip to Step 2. Please have your child’s Student ID Number ready! Unsure of what your child’s Student ID is? Please ask your teacher or contact our ECP office!*

**If you are completing this step before January 5th, 2026, please complete the enrollment for the current 2025-2026 school year. This is just to get a Student ID for your child**

Step 2: Using your child’s Student ID Number, submit an Online Preschool Application at: https://webapps.capousd.org/preschoolapplication/

*Please make sure to select the 2026-2027 school year! This option will be unavailable until January 7th at 8:00 am*

Step 3: Once your application is received, you will receive an email confirming that we received your application. Our Early Childhood Programs (ECP) office team will review applications.

- If the requested preschool program is available, your child will be tentatively placed into the class, and you will be notified by email. This email will include an acceptance letter with additional directions to finalize the enrollment process.
If your first-choice requested preschool program is not available, but your second-choice is, your child will be tentatively placed into the class and you will be notified by email. This email will include an acceptance letter with additional directions to finalize the enrollment process.
If neither of the requested programs are available, you will receive an email letting you know that your requested programming is unavailable. This email will contain information for the next steps.

Step 4: Families will finalize preschool enrollment and registration by submitting all of the required documents and payment within 30 days of receiving the acceptance letter.

Enrollment Priorities - Tuition-Based Preschool

Priority is given to returning families for the first week of open enrollment. The priority enrollment window for our returning families will take place from Wednesday, January 7, to Friday, January 16, 2026.
New families may apply during this window, but placements will be given to returning families first during this time. Applications received from new families will be reviewed beginning on Tuesday, January 20, 2026, in the order in which they were received (Our offices are closed on Monday, January 19th in observance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day)
Applications received after Tuesday, January 20, 2026 will be reviewed in order, and placements will be made on a first-come, first-served basis for all families.
Please note that every attempt is made to honor first-choice or second-choice requests, but placements are contingent on program availability.

Enrollment priorities - California State preschool program (CSPP)

To qualify for the California State Preschool Program, families must meet eligibility guidelines. In order to qualify for the CSPP, a family shall meet the eligibility criteria as follows:

Family is a current aid recipient;
Family is income eligible;
Family is experiencing homelessness; or
Family has children who are recipients of child protective services, or are identified as at risk of being abused, neglected, or exploited.