Smiles In West Orange As Childhood Learning Center Opens (See Photos)

WEST ORANGE, NJ — A landmark preschool expansion in West Orange’s public schools took another step forward this week.

On Wednesday, school officials and community leaders held a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of the West Orange Early Childhood Learning Center at the Community House on Main Street.

Here’s why it’s a big deal, according to a news release from the West Orange Public School District:

“With the recent announcement that the West Orange School District would receive annual state aid to establish a preschool program, the Community House is one of the partners that will house four general education preschool classrooms to accommodate 60 students in the first year of the school district’s five-year plan. Children from the Hazel and Washington neighborhoods are the first to be placed, with the expectation that all of the projected 900 preschool-aged children in West Orange will be enrolled by or before the five-year goal.”

The full-day classes are set to begin on Sept. 28, district administrators said. Read More: West Orange Will Start 'No-Cost Preschool' Before October

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