March 23, 2017: The North Branford School District has been awarded Smart Start Grant money to establish a pre-kindergarten program for approximately 15 of the district's youngest learners. The school district will be receiving $215,689 over the next two years in capital and operating funds to support a Smart Start Pre-school Program classroom at Jerome Harrison Elementary School.

The goal of the new pre-school program is to provide experiences that will promote social, emotional, physical, language, and cognitive learning and development through a differentiated and integrated program.  Superintendent Scott Schoonmaker describes the Smart Start Program as an entry point to North Branford's coherent PreK-12 continuum-- a continuous, sequential, progressive, aligned set of learning experiences designed to provide students with the foundational knowledge and skills that are ultimately necessary to be prepared for college and career and be a responsible 21st Century citizen of the world.

Children born after January 1, 2013 and before January 2, 2014 who are residents of the Town of North Branford are eligible to apply. This program will meet five days a week at Jerome Harrison Elementary School (JHS) following the North Branford Public Schools (NBPS) calendar (181 days) and JHS school-day (9 a.m. – 3:25 p.m.).  The program itself will be provided by the school district at no cost to parents.

Applications will be reviewed and considered according to Smart Start requirements:

Children in the following circumstances will be high priority for enrollment:  poverty (children who are from families with incomes at or below 75% of State Median Income or receive free or reduced lunch), homeless, migrant, refugee, violence and neglect (DCF involved, in foster care), developmental delays, and/or challenging parental circumstances (teenage, incarcerated, in treatment for substance abuse, active military service).

After priority students are offered a required percentage of enrollment, any available enrollment will be determined and offered based on an application lottery system.

To be considered for this early childhood program, an application must be completed, postmarked or hand-delivered by 4 p.m. by April 28, 2017. More information on the NBPS Pre-school Program and Application Process can be found at the district's website here

Application and information sheets are also available at NBPS Central Office (1332 Middletown Ave. Northford) or Jerome Harrison Elementary School (335 Foxon Road North Branford).

If parents have any additional questions after reviewing the available information, contact NBPS Office of Curriculum and Instruction at (203) 484-1477.