Affordable pre-school?

My kids went to Hopkins Child Development Center (pre-school) after visiting/speaking to majority of preschools in Berkeley and Albany. I paid less than $1000, daily meals were included. Both school districts of Albany and Berkeley run their own preschools, I mean  Child Development Centers. Information is online: https://www.berkeleyschools.net/schools/early-childhood-education/ . Applications are free, but there is a waiting list. Albany has one site and Berkeley has 3. There were 2 field trips: one inside Berkeley and one outside Berkeley. There were weekly enrichment classes-PE and speech development. My youngest child is in 3rd grade, things might have changed...

I don't know your location, but if you're looking in Berkeley, my child's preschool offers tuition assistance. It also happens to be an incredible place, the teachers are wonderful, and it's play based. It's called Monteverde, and is located in the Elwood district on College.

Children's Community Center (CCC) has a unique equity tuition model where families can select the tuition "bucket" or rate that fits their budget. We love it at CCC and highly recommend! Not sure of your child's age, but the school has a few openings for 4 year olds for the Fall. 

Have you looked into co-ops? There’s a parent involvement piece which can be tricky depending on your time resources but also lovely. We are at mcpc in Montclair and love it: mcp kids.org