Preschool Expansion & Annual Lottery
Preschool expansion through PEA funding will be occurring over the next five years to increase opportunities for general education and additional integrated classrooms. The district received notification from the state on October 3, 2024 that the ETSD application for preschool education aid was approved. The goal of PEA funding is to provide free full-day preschool to all ETSD families that are interested by the 2028-2029 school year (click here to view the approved PEA application). ETSD provides a mixed delivery of preschool classrooms utilizing in-district schools, as well as private providers. All private provider classrooms will follow the same requirements as ETSD and provide a common educational experience in terms of length of school day, calendar year, teacher certification, and curriculum implementation.
The district has developed a lottery process to accommodate a predetermined number of students each year that will grow annually based on district classroom space and partnerships with local private providers over the five year period. The lottery system process will open in early February annually, with the actual lottery being held the first week of March.
Only new preschool families that are age eligible and interested in attending our free full-day program at one of our designated sites should access the ETSD Preschool Lottery Form annually and submit one entry for each eligible child. All students currently in our three-year old program, whether in-district or at a private provider site, if they remain age eligible, are able to remain in the program as a four-year old and do not need to enter the lottery.
Information on expansion will continue to be posted here on our district website and sent out to ETSD families and local community resources as it becomes available. See below for more information next year's scheduled expansion, as well as the current school year. Please also see the Frequently Asked Questions document as it continues to be updated periodically. If you have questions that are not answered on the FAQ, feel free to reach out to Danielle Magulick, Director of Curriculum and Instruction/Preschool Program Coordinator at [email protected].
2026-2027 PEA Program & Expansion (lottery link to be posted below 2/1/26)
The 2026-2027 school year is considered year three of expansion. Preschool programs will continue to occur at Chesterbrook Academy, Inspire, The Learning Experience, Malvern, MPC, and Rice. The program will be expanding to include the Evans Preschool Center, which will be located in the front wing of Evans Elementary/Yale School, as well as Kiddie Academy next year. Expansion in both in-district and private provider settings will allow for an additional 150 preschool students to be served. The lottery system was again be utilized for both district and private provider classrooms with placement determined by attendance zone in alignment with district K-8 policy. The lottery system process opens February 1st and will remain open throughout the month for all interested families to enter. Only one entry per child will be accepted. The actual lottery form will be posted here, so check back as of February 1st. The lottery itself will take place on Thursday, March 5th and notification of placement will be scheduled to go out Friday, March 6, 2026.
2025-2026 PEA Program & Expansion
The 2025-2026 school year is considered year two of expansion. Preschool programs continued at Rice, Malvern, and Inspire (formerly Under the Sun). The program expanded to include the Marlton Preschool Center, formerly Teddy Bear Academy, as well as Chesterbrook Academy and The Learning Experience. This allows for an additional 130 preschool students to be served. The lottery system was utilized for both district and private provider classrooms with placement determined by attendance zone in alignment with district K-8 policy. The lottery system process opened on Tuesday, February 4th and remained open throughout the month for all interested families to enter. There were approximately 400 entries received. The actual lottery took place on Wednesday, March 5th and families were notified of acceptance in the program or placement on a waitlist on Friday, March 7th.
Unfortunately, the district continues to have a waitlist. As a reminder, families are notified if and when space becomes available based on the order of initial lottery placement should an opening arise. If your family is new to the area or missed the March lottery and you would like to be placed on the waitlist, please contact the curriculum office. Families added to the waitlist after the lottery occurs annually are placed at the end of the list based on the date of request to be added. The waitlist remains in place until the spring of 2026 where it expires. Any family currently on the waitlist must re-apply to the new lottery annually if your child remains preschool age-eligible.