Registration Dates Set For Chatham Kindergarten Lottery

CHATHAM, NJ — Registration for the School District of the Chathams' tuition-based full-day kindergarten lottery program for the 2023-2024 school year is now open.

Parents of any Chatham child turning five by Oct. 1 may enter their child in the lottery between now and Mar. 1.

The lottery will have 20 slots available in each of the three elementary schools – Southern Boulevard, Washington Avenue and Milton Avenue.

Chatham, which provides half-day kindergarten to all students, launched its full-day kindergarten lottery system in 2019. In the current school year, the district has 80 full-day kindergarten students who pay $7,000 in tuition.

Registration and information on the full-day kindergarten lottery can be found here.

Lottery registration will close on Mar. 1, and lottery drawings will take place at each school on Mar. 9.

Chatham Superintendent Michael LaSusa proposed a possible reconfiguration plan last fall that would allow for the implementation of a full-day kindergarten program in the 2024-2025 school year.

"There are very few districts left in the state of New Jersey that don't run a full-day kindergarten program, and the reason for that is that a full-day kindergarten program is superior to a half-day program," LaSusa said.