June 1 was a big day for many young learners in Philadelphia!

Nearly 1,000 pre-K students and their parents and guardians came together at Please Touch Museum to celebrate the first full school year of PHLpreK, the city’s free, quality pre-K program open to all children ages 3-4. The day also marked the opening of enrollment for next school year.

Mayor Kenney, Councilman Derek Green, Chief Education Officer, Otis Hackney, PHLpreK Director, Julie Beamon, and City Representative, Sheila Hess all stopped by to congratulate the young learners! Nearly 1,200 students will move up to kindergarten in the fall.

Take a look back at some favorite moments from the day:

1. Pre-K graduates began arriving at the Please Touch Museum for their celebration. With many activities planned for them, you could feel the excitement in the air.

2. Please Touch Museum staff played a crucial role in encouraging students to explore all of the Museum’s fun and engaging activities. Thank you for the fun programming, which the students clearly loved!

3. Mayor Kenney came by to congratulate the students, of course.

4. Mayor Kenney also praised the program’s success, and announced that 2018-2019 PHLpreK enrollment is officially open!

5. What’s the best way to spend your time at the Please Touch Museum? By playing! And that’s exactly what the graduates did.

6. Councilman Derek Green also stopped by, and was excited to meet students and try out some of the activities.

7. This is PHLpreK’s third celebration at the Museum, and we always appreciate Patricia Wellenbach President & CEO of the Please Touch Museum for being a great host!

8. These students are off to do some amazing things next year in kindergarten, and we can’t wait to welcome the next group of PHLpreK students in the fall!

Congratulations PHLpreK students and graduates, and thank you to all who attended this year’s PHLpreK Celebration!