Preschool Advantage Names Three Area Schools “Acorn Worthy"

BERNARDSVILLE, NJ - May 16, 2018 -- When Preschool Advantage was founded 20 years ago with the mission of sending area children to preschool who could not otherwise afford to attend, it partnered with just a handful of schools. As that number grew to 24 schools, the need for a more rigorous definition of a “quality preschool” became essential. In response, the Morristown-based non-profit formed a School Committee, whose members include current and former preschool directors, teachers, and others in education-related fields. School Committee members visit the organization’s partner preschools on a three-year cycle to ensure that the quality of their programs is maintained.

Partner schools must maintain excellence in five key criteria: teacher-child interaction, curriculum, family involvement, staff qualifications and professional development, and school management. Once a school has been determined to meet these standards of excellence, Preschool Advantage recognizes its achievement by bestowing its Golden Acorn Award for exemplary quality in preschool education.

Bernardsville is a new and growing community for Preschool Advantage, which has recently partnered with three local preschools: The Palmer School, Saint John’s Nursery School, and The School of Saint Elizabeth. All were honored to receive the organization’s Golden Acorn award this spring. As Jeanne Williams, director of St. John’s Nursery School explains, Preschool Advantage has allowed the school to serve members of the Bernardsville community who might not otherwise be familiar with this excellent school tucked into the bucolic Bernardsville Mountain. “Our setting, while idyllic, is not necessarily a convenient drop-off for the average working parent,” says Williams. “Partnering with Preschool Advantage has increased out visibility within the greater Bernardsville area.”

Sharon Lynch, Director of Recruitment and Development, The School of St. Elizabeth, notes that her school’s work with Preschool Advantage “aligns with our mission to impact the world positively by nurturing children with Christian values in a Catholic tradition of academic excellence.”

Preschool Advantage is proud to add these well-respected schools to the list from which its scholarship recipients may choose. The partnership benefits all parties, including all Bernardsville children whose peers will have had the advantage of a quality preschool education when they come together as kindergarten classmates and friends.

Preschool Advantage has provided families with financial assistance for high quality preschool education since 1995, with nearly 1,400 tuitions paid throughout the organization’s history. Information about the organization can be found at preschooladvantage.org or by calling (973) 532-2501.

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Left to right: Jessica Lubow, Preschool Advantage Board of Trustees and Child Committee member; Shannon Vincent, Director, The Palmer School

Left to right: Christina Dorando, Preschool Advantage Board of Trustees and Lauren Diemar, Director of Curriculum, St. John’s Nursery School

Left to right: Sharon Lynch, Director of Recruitment and Development, the School of St. Elizabeth and Jill Lasser, Founder, Preschool Advantage