Hopewell Valley Regional School District (HVRSD) is gauging resident interest for full day universal pre-school.
This district has released an anonymous survey and has asked people with young children who will be eligible for pre-school in the next five years to participate.
The survey can be found on the school district’s website with a deadline by Jan. 30.
The school district is seeking to determine the community’s interest as the state continues to provide funds to expand or establish full day preschool programs.
In October 2024, Gov. Phil Murphy and Acting Education Commissioner Kevin Dehmer announced about $20 million in state funds to 18 school districts in 2025 to expand or establish full day preschool programs in the 2024-25 school year.
The programs that were awarded funds opened programs by winter. The counties of the awarded school districts included counties in Burlington, Monmouth, and Ocean.
The funds supporting school districts across the state with full day preschool programs were part of the 2025 fiscal year budget. According to the govenor’s office, there are now full day preschool programs in 293 school districts.
The next month in December, Murphy and Dehmer additionally announced the award of $42 million in federal grant money to 22 school districts from the federal American Rescue Plan Act to build and expand preschool facilities.
The funding announced late last year is the second round of Universal Preschool Facilities Expansion Grant funding. In the first round, $74 million had been delivered to school districts across the state for projects expanding facilities.
HVRSD currently has a Preschool and Early Education for Children Hopewell (PEECH) program.
PEECH is an integrated preschool program that serves 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds, which has classes held at Bear Tavern Elementary, Toll Gate Grammar School, Stony Brook Elementary, and Hopewell Elementary School for school district residents.
Classes for the 3-year-olds are held in the morning and the 4-year-old classes take place in the afternoon.
According to the school district, the PEECH program was created to provide a preschool setting where typically developing children and children with developmental differences can learn together.
“Until we have more information, families who are interested in the PEECH program for 2025-2026 school year, should continue to fill out the 2025-2026 PEECH application,” the district wrote before the start of the google document survey.
For more information and to participate in the survey visit www.hvrsd.org.
