Manchester Schools To Receive Preschool Facilities Grant

MANCHESTER, NJ — The Manchester Township School District will be receiving a grant from the state Department of Education for a facilities project to support its preschool expansion, state officials announced Thursday.

The grant is one of 30 facilities grants to 23 school districts, totaling $51.9 million in federal funding, state officials said.

The Manchester Township Schools began offering free preschool in the 2022-23 school year, and aims to expand access for township families.

The grant announcement says it is for a preschool addition to Ridgeway Elementary School. The exact amount of the grant was not announced.

"This funding will enable more districts to expand their capacity to offer full-day preschool programming to more students, building upon our efforts to provide every 3- and 4-year-old child in our state with access to high-quality pre-K," Gov. Phil Murphy said in the grant announcement. "Equitable access to early childhood education across the board is key to ensuring the long-term success of our children and our state as a whole."

The 30 projects that qualified for these preliminary grants had a total need of nearly $113.5 million in estimated project costs; the state's grants will cover about 40 percent of the need.