Middletown BOE preps for full-day pre-K
District will house classes at schools and Hazlet YMCA
BY JAMIE ROMM Staff Writer

The Middletown School District unveiled plans for full-day preschool for eligible students in the 2009-10 year and plans to expand to full-day kindergarten in the future.

Tracey Maccia, assistant superintendent of pupil services and educational research, gave an hour-long presentation to a group of parents who filled the library at High School North on Nov. 12.

"It really stems from the School Funding Reform Act of 2008, which made major changes to school funding," Maccia said.

She said the state law calls for expansion of high-quality preschool to incomeeligible 3- and 4-year-olds in districts throughout the state.

"This isn't just Middletown, this is impacting every district in the state of New Jersey," she said.

She said funding for the preschool expansion comes from state Department of Education preschool education aid, which is based on projected enrollment and provides $12,092 per-pupil.

All 3- and 4-year-olds whose families meet the income guidelines would be eligible to attend the preschool program.

Income guidelines are: a maximum of $19,240 annually per one-person household; $25,900 for a two-person household; $32,560 for a three-person household; $39,220 for a four-person household.

There are two classifications the DOE uses. Universal preschool will be offered to all students in districts where at least 40 percent of students' households are income eligible.

All other districts that do not meet the 40 percent guideline are classified as "targeted" and offer free pre-K to students who meet the income-eligible standard.

The state calculates the targeted population by using a formula based on the number of students receiving free and reduced cost lunch in the district.

"We are a 'targeted district' and we have to target that number," Maccia said, adding that the projected number of eligible students for the 2009-10 school year is 139.

She said that the preschool classes will consist of the income-eligible students, preschool students with disabilities and tuition students, who are 3-year-olds currently in the program.

The total number of preschoolers, including all three categories, would be 255 and would require 17 classrooms.

Nine classrooms will be at the Hazlet branch of the Community YMCA on Poole Avenue, five at New Monmouth School, one at Bayview Elementary School and one at Nut Swamp School, with one site to be determined.

The district currently has eight preschool classes of 3- and 4-yearolds.

The DOE's preschool expansion goal, which would be fully implemented over a six-year period, would add 30,000 more children, bringing preschool enrollment to 70,000 children in the state, according to Maccia.

State funding would increases by $330 million, bringing total preschool funding by the state to $850 million.

The DOE hopes to reach at least 90 percent of the eligible population of preschoolers in all districts within six years, she said.

"We are currently in the planning phase," Maccia said. "We still have five more years to implement this plan."

Under state guidelines, the preschool programmust have small class sizes of about 15 students, certified classroom teachers and teacher assistants, coaching and mentoring that would involve a master teacher, a comprehensive preschool curriculum, and social services such as a social worker and outreach programs.

"We are going to go above and beyond the Abbott districts, which have one teacher and one paraprofessional," Maccia said. "We will have one teacher and two paraprofessionals for our program."

She said that the costs are covered by state funding, which provides for 10 teachers, a master teacher, support staff and a nurse. Also covered are furniture, materials, technology and supplies, as well as lease of facilities.

"The costs for the district administration of the preschool program are covered," Maccia said. "Also transportation to and from school for the income-eligible and preschool disabled preschoolers as well as professional development.

"We will be able to do all of these wonderful things due to the state aid," Maccia said. She said that to be eligible for the funding, the district must reach the target number of students for the program.

"We really need to get that number or we have to give the state aid back," Maccia said. "So it's very important to get as many people as we can to sign up that are income eligible."

Registration will take place the second week of January.

She said that the district would use a program called Creative Curriculum, which, according to Maccia, is an "innovative early childhood approach with strategies to develop … reading."

The focus areas include literacy, early reading, cognitive learning, language, early writing and math. Science, social studies, the arts and technology are also included.

Maccia also said the program will include community-based instruction, which would have the preschoolers go on a field trips in the community.

She said that one of the most important components of the preschool program is the parents' role.

"Parent meetings will be held to focus on child and family expectations and services in the preschool setting," Maccia said. "Topics will include the parent's role, curriculum and family services."

She also said that all classrooms will include preschoolers with disabilities with the ultimate goal to integrate all of the preschool children with disabilities into general education preschool classrooms to the maximum extent appropriate.

The projections for New Monmouth in 2009-10 are a total of 40 income-eligible students, 25 preschoolers with disabilities, and 10 tuition students, totaling 75 preschoolers.

At Bayview and Nutswamp there will be five income-eligible students, with the same number of preschool disabled and tuition paying.

At the YMCA the district expects to have nine classes with an enrollment of 72 income eligible students, 56 preschool disabled and seven tuition preschoolers.

Tuition students are chosen via a lottery, and their families pay $100 a month in tuition, according to the district's Web site.

According to Maccia, the YMCA is fully equipped with classrooms that are already prepared for a preschool environment.

The district would supply the staff.

"For the district to actually go out and find the facilities, it would take five years or beyond to do that," Maccia said. "We really wanted to educate these children as quickly as possible, as you can see with our lofty goal of 90 percent a year. We are basically leasing the facilities and we are hiring our own professionals."

At the meeting, a parent asked what the district's plans are for full-day kindergarten, a topic that Superintendent Karen Bilbao addressed.

She said that the district is targeting the 2010-11 school year as a start date for fullday kindergarten and that the classes would be accommodated by converting some of the district's computer labs into classrooms.

"The first facilities that we are looking at are our computer labs in the elementary schools," Bilbao said. "When we started on the elementary level, it was very important to have a separate lab. But districts across the nation have started to do away with their computer labs because children have become computer literate and come into school already knowing how to use the computer."

She said that phasing out computer labs are already part of the district's strategic plan and that it fits into the full-day kindergarten plan as well.

Contact Jamie Romm at

jromm@gmnews.com.