Programs

Little Vikings

Program Description
Peer Process & Application

Program Description

We are excited to connect with everyone in our community, recognizing that each of you is a Little Viking, whether you are part of our program located at Sussex Consortium, enrolled in one of our high-quality community childcare centers, or learning at home!

Little Vikings offers special education support for students starting at age 3, and we invite typically developing peers to join us as well. Our inclusive classrooms celebrate the growth of every child through developmentally appropriate, engaging play. We believe all young children, with or without disabilities, deserve access to high-quality early childhood programs that provide individualized support to meet high expectations. Children with identified disabilities will receive free special education services through our program. The Cape Henlopen School District also selects typically developing peers for enrollment in Little Vikings, with applications available each January 1st and selections starting in March.

Whether you’re joining us at the start of the year, mid-year, or in Kindergarten, we welcome you with open arms. Little Vikings is dedicated to laying a strong educational foundation for all our young learners, setting them up for future success in the Cape Henlopen School District.

Peer Process & Application

The Cape Henlopen School District will enroll peers into the Little Vikings Program, which is required under the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA).

The Peer Application will open on January 1, 2025.

2025-26 Little Vikings Peer Application

Procedures & Eligibility

Eligibility for Typical Peer Students

Eligible students include any child that turns 3 or 4 on or before August 31st of the current academic school year. The student must meet established criteria and not already have an identified special education need. Little Vikings will offer full-day and half-day programming. Programming will be free, and provided five days a week, following the District calendar. Peers will be required to meet attendance policies. Applications will open on January 1st, before each academic school year.
A separate application must be submitted for each student including siblings of a student already enrolled in Little Vikings.
Students who are part of the Little Vikings 3-year-old program will continue to be enrolled in the 4-year-old program unless determined otherwise by the preschool team. If you wish to decline your peer slot, you must notify the school by July 31st.
Families who applied for a Little Vikings peer slot when their children were three, but who were not invited/accepted, must reapply each year.
Parents/Guardians must agree that the information submitted via the Peer Application is true and/or correct. Providing information that is not correct will result in a Peer Application being removed from the applicant pool or the child being placed at the bottom of the waitlist.
The Cape Henlopen School District may choose to enroll children who are District residents and have been evaluated for special education but do not qualify for services and do not fall within categories 1-7.

Guidelines for Consideration of Applications

Applications will be considered in the following order:

Children who attended Little Vikings as students with identified disabilities and have been dismissed from special education services and are a Cape Henlopen School District resident.
Siblings of a peer student currently enrolled or accepted for the upcoming school year in Little Vikings who are children of permanent, full-time Cape Henlopen School District employees and are residents of the Cape Henlopen School District.
Children of permanent, full-time Cape Henlopen School District employees and are residents of the Cape Henlopen School District.
Siblings of a peer student enrolled or accepted for the upcoming school year in Little Vikings who are children of permanent, full-time Cape Henlopen School District employees who are not residents of the Cape Henlopen School District.
Children of permanent, full-time Cape Henlopen School District employees who are not residents of the Cape Henlopen School District.
Children who meet the weighted criteria based on the Head Start Program Performance Standards. These are called State Funded slots and are ranked by a point criterion.
Children who reside in the Cape Henlopen School District who are between the ages of 3 and 4 by August 31st.

If there are more applicants than slots available in any one category in either the 3- or 4-year-old program, a lottery will be held from the pool of applicants in that category for the available slots as they open. Siblings of students enrolled or accepted into the Little Vikings will be accepted before the lottery pool is formed. Siblings in a single lottery pool will be considered linked and as one entity. If any information on your application changes (e.g. district of residence or Cape employment status), you must notify Little Vikings administrators immediately. Please note that such changes may result in the revocation of your peer slot at any time during the school year.

All students selected to serve as a peer within Little Vikings must have submitted all registration documents and completed the online Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) as a developmental screening within ten days of selection. Not completing this requirement will result in the forfeit of your typical peer slot.

Timeline for Approval

Approval or non-approval of the applications meeting the deadline will take place by the third Friday of March for the students who will begin at the start of the following school year.

The District will communicate within the week of program selections, the outcome of the enrollment process and/or lottery in writing to the parent/guardian for each application submitted. The communication will state whether the child was accepted and, if not, the numerical position the child is on the established wait list.

Preschool acceptance will be based on capacity. Therefore, at the start of any year, there may be more or fewer peers than prior years, but this will be based on the projected capacity for that year when including the students with special needs.

Applications for programs where there is no capacity but meet the requirements for approval will be placed on a waitlist in the order they were received, in each of the categories.

The waitlist applicants will be accepted as needed to maintain at least 50% ratio of peers to students with an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) in our regular setting classrooms.

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