Increasing Enrollment in High-Quality Early Childhood Education

Background

According to the 2025 Childcare Supply and Demand report published by Reinvestment Fund, 1,200 new high-quality seats were added in Philadelphia, between 2024-2025. As a result of this increase, 50% of the city’s early childhood education seats were in early learning programs with a high-quality rating. This represents dramatic growth from a decade ago when only 25% of all seats were rated as high quality.  Still, with more than half of the city’s ECE seats not yet rated as high quality, there is much work to be done.

Issues such as insufficient teacher preparation and ongoing training, lack of funding for high-quality curriculum and classroom materials, high staff turnover due to inadequate compensation, and other issues challenge the local sector’s ability to ensure that all ECE settings are high quality.

Opportunity Overview

The Foundation seeks to support efforts that increase enrollment of children (birth-5) in Philadelphia’s high-quality early childhood education programs. Funding will be directed toward efforts that help early learning programs to increase the number of high-quality seats, transform existing ECE seats from lower quality to high quality, and/or help providers to achieve and maintain full enrollment in existing high-quality classrooms.

Keystone STARS is the Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) for Pennsylvania’s early childhood education programs. Through the QRIS system, programs are assessed using evidence-based program quality tools. Programs that are rated STAR 3 or 4 are considered high quality. The QRIS also helps to inform caregiver selection of early learning programs, helping families to identify the highest quality programs. William Penn Foundation relies upon STAR 3 or 4 ratings as representation of high quality.

As noted above, we recognize that there are many different tactics that can help to advance this objective. Some examples could include projects that improve workforce recruitment, retention, and training to ensure needed staffing is in place to implement high-quality programs, loan or re-grant funds accompanied by technical assistance to help programs achieve high-quality ratings, training or technical assistance that directly leads to improved STAR ratings, efforts to decrease suspension and expulsion in high-quality programs to ensure that all high-quality seats are used, or helping families choose and enroll in a high-quality program that meets their needs.

Projects eligible for funding must:

• Improve opportunities for children from birth to age 5
• Focus solely on ECE programs in the city of Philadelphia
• Advance the objective stated on page 2
• Use STAR 3-4 ratings as the indicator of high quality

Several types of efforts are not eligible for support through this RFP:

• research/data analysis projects that are not directly related to a quality improvement initiative
• projects that impact a single ECE program or provider
• projects that use indicators other than a STAR 3 or 4 rating as the indicator of high quality
• statewide advocacy activities

We are requesting proposals for up to three years of funding. After reviewing proposals, WPF will conduct site visits and gather additional information from a limited number of organizations.

Organizations that propose projects in partnership with other applicants will be considered on their individual merits. However, the Foundation recognizes that making significant progress on the objective is difficult and encourages organizations to include partnerships that leverage complementary strengths, resources, and expertise to reach proposed goals.

The Foundation recognizes that there are many different tactics or approaches that could be used to advance the objective stated above. All proposals that meet the review criteria described below are encouraged.

WPF has $4.5 million available to advance this objective through this RFP. There is no minimum or maximum amount of funding that organizations may request. The grant amount requested should be commensurate with the contribution that the project will make to the overall objective. However, grant requests under $1 million will be most competitive.

At least $500,000 of the total amount awarded under this RFP will be reserved for grants to organizations that have budgets under $1 million per year and/or are led by individuals who are members of groups with a history of discrimination or exclusion.

Full Request for Proposals (RFP) and Application 

Download the full RFP packet for more information about this opportunity including eligibility, review criteria, learning and insights, budget, and link to an application template.

All applications must be submitted through the Grants Portal.

Webinar

Interested organizations are invited to participate in an optional informational webinar on Wednesday, March 25, 2026 at 1:00 PM ET. Following the live webinar, a recording will be posted to this page.

Register for the Webinar