Town Of Dunellen Getting Free, Full-Day Pre-K By January

DUNELLEN, NJ — On Oct. 18 the NJ Department of Education announced that Dunellen borough will receive $444,180 in state funding for free, full-day pre-K.

The state announced a new round of 26 towns total to receive the funding, and Dunellen was on the list, which you can read here.

And it's going to go into place fast: The pre-K classes for all towns on that list are required to start by January 2024, said the Department of Education this week.

Gov. Murphy has a goal to provide every three- and four-year-old child in New Jersey with free, full-day pre-K. The state has been adding more and more towns that qualify: The DOE used to only fund free pre-K in cities and low-income communities. In the past few years, the state started expanding that to middle- and upper-income towns.

In fact, 2023 marks the first time any school district has been able to apply for free preschool-expansion funding from the state of New Jersey. The 26 towns that got it in this round were all towns that applied.

As recently as last year, the application process was available only to districts with 10 percent or more of student enrollment from low-income families.

“With the cost of childcare reaching a critical point, expanding pre-K adds to the long list of legislative investments in affordability for our working families,” said Assembly Majority Leader Louis Greenwald. “We know the cognitive and social benefits of early childhood education have a profound and lasting impact on the future success and wellbeing of our children, and with this funding, more families than ever before will have access to these vital programs."