The district’s full-day preschool program will provide a rigorous, play-based curriculum structured to meet the social, emotional, physical, communication and cognitive needs of students.
Come September, Washington Township schools will offer an integrated full-day preschool for all 3- and 4 -year-olds in the district.
That’s the plan, said Gretchen Gerber, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, during a Jan. 22 preschool parent information session on the significant expansion of the district’s early-childhool education program. The expansion is contingent on the district maintaining its dedicated Preschool Education Aid funding from the state Department of Education’s Division of Early Childhood Education (DECE).
“That comes out during the governor’s address,” Gerber explained, noting that with new Gov. Mikie Sherrill now in office, the timetable may shift.
The district’s full-day program, funded by the state’s Preschool Expansion Aid (PEA), provides a rigorous, play-based curriculum structured to meet the social, emotional, physical, communication and cognitive needs of students. The developmentally appropriate approach embeds key skill areas throughout the learning day.
Students at all preschool locations will attend Monday through Friday from 8:45 a.m. to 2:55 p.m., which includes an allotted nap time. All locations will follow the school district academic calendar.
The program in each location will follow the same curriculum, allowing typically developing children and children with special needs to learn together in the same environment. When the district first got funding several years ago, school officials looked at how they could offer universal preschool in five years.
“We first started with just quick classrooms,” Gerber said. “We never in our wildest dream imagined that we’d be serving over 900 students.”
The time has come.
“We are excited to deliver a high-quality educational experience for all eligible children in our community,” Gerber noted. “Since the launch of our integrated program in the 2021-’22 school year, we have been intentionally building toward the ability to offer preschool to all 3- and 4-year-old residents.
“Reaching this milestone represents a significant achievemnt for our district.”
The district is planning to utilize the following preschool locations for the 2025-’27 school year:
- Grenloch Terrace Early Childhood Center, 251 Woodbury Turnersville Road, Sewell
- Kindle Elementary School, 211 Washington Ave. Pitman
- Little Achievers, 115 Johnson Road, Turnersville
- Tutor Time, 123 Egg Harbor Road, Sewell
- Cadence Academy, 315 Fries Mill Road, Sewell
- Kid Academy, 444 Hurffville-Cross Keys Road, Sewell
- Goddard School, 3 Plaza Drive, Sewell
- Head Start, 35 Sewell St., Glassboro
- Washington Township High School, 529 Hurffville-Cross Keys Road, Sewell
- Wall Elementary School, 320 Grant Ave., Pitman.
The district entered into a lease with Pitman in the summer of 2025 to transform Kindle, which will provide 13 rooms. The Walls Elementary School lease will provide 16 rooms.
Online open registration began on Monday, Feb. 2. All registrations completed in full by April 15 will be eligible for preschool location preference. Once registration is complete, parents will be sent a link to a Google form to rank their location preferences and the lottery will determine the order of those placements.
The location preference lottery will be conducted after the governor’s budget address, which finalizes the program’s funding. Families will be notified of their child’s placement location shortly after the lottery, which is expected in May.
Students will not have the option of going part-time; it’s is a full-time commitment, Gerber pointed out. Students must be 3 or 4 years old on Oct. 1, but do not have to be potty trained, officials said. School staff will help with that.
For more information about the registration process, contact Matt Pesyna in the district registration office via email to mpesyna@wtps.org or call (856) 589-6644. The district’s website, www.wtps.org, has frequently-asked questions.
