26 schools in New Jersey provide full day pre-K, part of the state's stepped up commitment to early childhood education that is available to 3,500 3 and 4-year-olds.
"It's probably the smartest investment we can make," said Murphy. "It's a hard one to convince people because it pays off over decades. But that doesn't make it less worthy."
Gov. Murphy wants full day pre-K in every school district. Jamesburg applied for a grant over the summer, won it in September, and hit the ground running.
"We had a month to buy everything, hire teachers, hire aides, hire a supervisor of early childhood," said Jamesburg Superintendent Brian Betze. "It was a remakable turnaround. It took a village to get this program off the ground and running."
That included transforming a former media room at JFK Elementary School into a classroom. It was a big expansion from what JFK offered before the grant.
"We had two teachers teaching half day pre-school to about 44 students," said Principal Pamela Hernandez. "And since then we are up to close to 90 students."
A full day that includes learning Spanish, and Spanish-speaking students learning English in open and inclusive classrooms.
The district already has a waiting list for the next school year.
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