Chester School District to offer universal pre-kindergarten program in September

The Chester School District has announced, that thanks to funding secured by New York State Senator James Skoufis, it will offer a universal pre-kindergarten program starting on Sept. 1.

This full-day program will be available for any district resident who will be four-years-old by Dec. 1, 2021. The program will be staffed by a certified teacher and two teacher aides and will follow the Chester School District calendar.

There will be no cost to families for this program and busing and meals will be provided.

According to the website for the Urban Child Institute, “Pre-K programs have been shown to boost school readiness. An ongoing independent evaluation has found that during the year before kindergarten, Pre-K children develop literacy, language and math skills faster than non-participating children.”

There will be only 18 seats in the program so a lottery will be used to select students if the district receives more than 18 applications.

Applications are available at chesterufsd.org.

Applications may be dropped-off at the Chester Elementary School main office between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. Mondays-Fridays, emailed to lindsay.iannuzzi@chesterufsd.org or mailed to:

Attn: Lindsay Iannuzzi

Chester Elementary School

2 Herbert Drive

Chester, NY 10918

Completed applications must be received by 3 p.m. on Thursday, July 29. The universal pre-kindergarten lottery will be held at noon on Friday, July 30, and can be viewed in-person at Chester Elementary School or online at the Chester School District website (chesterufsd.org).