Advantage Preschool is a guided play program aligned with the Arizona Department of Education Early Learning Standards with a focus on critical thinking skills and social-emotional development.

Advantage Preschool is for families with 3-5-year-olds and is offered at most GPS elementary schools three or four days per week.

This guided play program is aligned with the Arizona Department of Education Early Learning Standards, with a focus on critical thinking skills and social/emotional development. Thematic units are explored by students using a variety of learning styles and modalities, which, in turn, ignites curiosity and encourages sustained attention. The program is supplemented by using Handwriting without Tears and Creative Curriculum, intentional learning materials. Typically, developing peers and those with developmental delays work together and grow in one inclusive environment.  Instruction is individualized based upon ongoing progress monitoring (Teaching Strategies GOLD) so the teacher knows what a child knows and what they are ready to learn next.  GOLD is an authentic, ongoing observational system for assessing children from birth through Kindergarten. It helps teachers observe children in the context of everyday experiences, which is an effective way to learn what they know and can do.

Integrated SPICE 

Integrated SPICE is a blended program with all students learning and growing in one inclusive environment. Every child can feel valued for their unique contributions and have a sense of belonging. This program will have a maximum of 12 children and will consist of 50% of the students receiving special education support for their individual needs associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder, and 50% typically developing peer role models. This model is designed to promote social interactions and to develop communication skills using peer modeling and intentional, systematic, and individualized intervention.  

This program is located at Canyon Rim Elementary and Finley Farms Elementary. For the Integrated SPICE program, the tuition is reduced to $100.00 per month. 

Register and manage your Preschool and family account through Eleyo.  

Register/Manage My Eleyo Account

Registration for the 2023-2024 School Year Opened November 1, 2022

If you have concerns about your child's development, do not enroll your child as a tuition student at this time, but instead follow the instructions for the preschool screening process above. Please call 480-497-3461 with any questions.

Registration Information & Tuition Fees

2023-2024 School Year

Registration Fee: $50.00/year 

Tuition Options:

• Tuition is $240 each month for 3 days per week (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday), 2 ½ hours per day
• Tuition is $285 each month for 4 days per week (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday), 2 ½ hours per day
• Integrated SPICE tuition is $100 each month for 4 days per week (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday), 2 ½ hours per day  

For registrations prior to or on June 30, 2023, a $100 security deposit and $50 registration fee will be collected at the time of registration with the remaining tuition balance due by July 24, 2023. Both security deposit and registration fee are non-refundable.

For registration on or after July 1, 2023, the registration fee and 1st-month tuition are due at the time of registration and are both non-refundable.  

District employees are eligible for an employee discount. Please contact Community Education at 480-892-9089 for further details.   

Preschool Programs Parent Handbook 2022-2023 School Year

Preschool Programs Parent Handbook 2023-2024 School Year

Advantage Preschool (formerly Amanecer) Special Ed Parent Handbook

Advantage Preschool provides opportunities for your child to:

• Develop an enjoyment for learning
• Explore and investigate for deeper knowledge
• Develop problem-solving skills
• Receive instruction from a certified teacher with the assistance of trained paraprofessionals
• Build friendships with a variety of peers
• Develop creativity
• Learn how to be part of a classroom community
• Receive individualized instruction informed by rigorous on-going progress monitoring data analysis
• Build social-emotional competence
• Build communication skills
• Develop fine and gross motor physical skills
• Develop pre-academic knowledge and skills
• Engage in purposeful and productive play experiences that foster memory development, symbolic thinking, positive approaches to learning, positive social and language skills, math skills, and self-regulation instruction.               
• The Handwriting Without Tears® curriculum draws from years of innovation and research to provide developmentally appropriate, multi-sensory tools and strategies for your classroom. The program follows research that demonstrates children learn more effectively by actively doing, with materials that address all styles of learning.

The Creative Curriculum for Preschool is based on five fundamental principles. They guide practice and help us understand the reasons for intentionally setting up and operating preschool programs in particular ways. These are the principles:

• Positive interactions and relationships with adults provide a critical foundation for successful learning
• Social-emotional competence is a significant factor in school success.
• Constructive, purposeful play supports essential learning.
• The physical environment affects the type and quality of learning interactions.
• Teacher–family partnerships promote development and learning.
• Our instruction is aligned to the Arizona Early Learning State Standards developed by the Arizona Department of Education.

Contact Gilbert Public Schools Community Education Office

480-892-9089 x0
Email: communityedbusinessdept@gilbertschools.net
Office Hours: Monday–Thursday 8:00 am–4:30 pm & Friday 8:00 am–12:00 pm (closed Fridays in June/July)

Note: Gilbert Public Schools Community Education Department has computer terminals available to use at our office at 6839 East Guadalupe Road in Mesa, Arizona, for preschool enrollment for families without online access.