Business Administrator, Kara Huber, and I attended an informational session yesterday on the New Jersey Department of Education Pre-School Expansion plan. The initiative was first revealed as part of the new funding formula presented early this school year.
Woodbury is a school district that in a category that will allow us to offer full-day pre-school programming to all three- and four-year-olds in the city. The state’s plan provides per-pupil funding that covers nearly all costs associated with running the program.
The requirement is for districts to plan for this pre-school expansion during the upcoming school year and then begin implementation during the 2009-2010 school year. The idea is to have a five-year phase in process with an end goal of serving 90% of the children in the city in the program.
For Woodbury, a significant issue will be space. The state’s plan allows for you to run the program in-district, with outside providers, or by partnering with existing Head Start operations.
I will be putting together a planning team to work on Woodbury’s pre-school expansion. If there are any blog readers who have a special interest in this area, let me know; you can send an e-mail directly to me. I will look to involve as many interested parties as possible.
This is an exciting opportunity. You can read more on the section of the NJDOE website dedicated to early childhood. It is my understanding that more of the current information being shared as these informational sessions will be added to this site.
NJDOE Early Childhood Education
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With the up coming expansion plans, has Woodbury looked into the possibility of purchasing St. Pat's former school property for an early childhood facility???
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