The North Branford Public Schools Preschool program was launched for the 2017-2018 school year and is housed at Jerome Harrison Elementary School.

The NBPS Preschool Program is partially funded through the CT Smart Start initiative, which is primarily designed to meet the needs of preschool-aged children at-risk due to economic, cultural or other disadvantages. Teaching and learning will be driven by the Connecticut Early Learning and Development Standards (CTELDS) and guidelines from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). The goal of this early childhood program is to provide experiences that will promote social, emotional, physical, language, and cognitive learning and development through a differentiated and integrated program.

Program Specifics:

• The program is housed at Jerome Harrison Elementary School.

• The four (4) year old program currently offers participation for 15 students per classroom.

• At this time, we hope to offer three (3) full day classrooms for four (4) year old students, in the NBPS Preschool program, with 30 priority placement openings per Smart Start criteria.  

• The four (4) year old program follows the school-year calendar and JHS school day (181 days, 9:00am-3:25pm).

• A half-day (½ day) program will be offered for three (3) year old students, four (4) days per week.  The AM session runs from 9:00-11:35 and the PM session runs from 12:50-3:25. 

• The three (3) year old program follows the school-year calendar, Tuesday - Friday (147 days). 

• Children are expected to attend full sessions each day.

• Transportation will be provided according to the district’s bussing guidelines.

• These integrated classrooms are led by PreK certified educators with paraprofessional support.

• Snacks and lunch will NOT be provided by the district unless the student is eligible for free and/or reduced lunch.

For those families requiring additional childcare, they may apply to our NBPS Family Resource Center for before-school and after-school care for their preschooler (availability dependent on program enrollment and space)

The Family Resource Preschool, a member of the NBPS Preschool Program, is our program that is housed in the Stanley T. Williams building in Northford. This program is a full day preschool program for children ages 3-5 years.

• Curriculum based program - teaching and learning is centered around the Connecticut Early Learning and Developmental Standards (CTELDS)

• Strong focus on social/emotional development

• Children learning through play-based activities

• Foster all children’s independence

• Intentional teaching - Teachers are facilitators of the children’s learning

• Assessment - ongoing system which is linked to curriculum and planning.  Children are assessed using a variety of tools and sources.

• Developmental Screenings are provided for all families - Ages and Stages 3 (ASQ) and Ages and Stages Social Emotional Questionnaire (ASQ-SE), provided by our Parent Educator.

• Accessible now through the Sparkler App

• On-site 7- or 8- week summer camp program for preschoolers and incoming kindergarteners.