So, you're thinking of moving to New Jersey from NYC. But you have a young child and aren't sure if passing up on NYC's free Pre-K 4 All (UPK) program is worth it. After all, in most cases it'll mean having to pay for Pre-K 3 & 4, which is upward of $7k - 10K per year in most districts. And if that child has a late birthday between October 1 - December 31, they will enter Pre-K a year later in NJ than they would in NYC, so that's up to THREE YEARS extra of either fee-based preschool (or staying home). And let's say you have twins with late birthdays. You're looking at an extra $60k in schooling / child care for those 3 years. I know. It's a lot to take in. We've been hashing over it for years now. And I'm here to give you the info I've gleamed!! **There may be mistakes in here - please let me know if you find any errors or outdated info!!
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UPK in NYC:
My twins are currently enrolled in an amazing free Pre-K program here in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Getting in is a bit stressful as it's a lottery, but in NYC you are guaranteed a seat, though the location could end up being far from your home. We got lucky for all 3 of our kids getting seats at programs less than a mile (walkable) from our home. And nearly everyone does get into a school not too far away, though many avoid the stress by paying for their child to go to the 3's preschool program at that school, so they'll have first priority to get the free UPK seat. The rest of us simply list our top 12 schools in February and cross our fingers! The good news is you're waitlisted at the schools you ranked below the one you were offered. In our case this past year with the twins, we were offered our 11th school. But by September we'd been called by every single school we listed to be offered a seat! The program is amazing, even includes free lunch and snack. Unfortunately, due to Coronavirus, the school year got cut short by over 3 months early and we're pretty devastated. The teachers are still providing regular materials and activities for us to work on at home, and even calling to chat with my girls once a week.
Redshirting in NJ vs. NYC
NYC does not allow redshirting, i.e. delaying entrance into elementary school. Simply put, if you live in NYC, your child enters kindergarten in September of the year they turn 5 (i.e. birthday cutoff of December 31). So if they were born December 31, they will be 4 when they enter Kindergarten and the baby of their grade. My son was born on December 25 so he started Pre-K at 3 years old, which was amazing as far as free child-care goes, but emotionally, he struggled big time in Pre-K and K. If you don't want to send them to Kindergarten, no problem, but they'll start 1st grade with that same cohort that they would have started Kindergarten with. You can't simply enter them into Kindergarten a year later. It appears New Jersey is more flexible here and many choose to send their child a year later. Most New Jersey districts set a minimum age of 5 years old by October 1 to start Kindergarten (list of later cutoffs coming below!). But let's say your child was born in September - you can discuss with that school to have your child wait to start Kindergarten the next year, when they're 6 years old. This minimum age continues through 1st grade, so if you're transferring your late birthday child from NYC, they would get held back for Pre-K, K, and 1st grade. After completing 1st grade (or is it 2nd? sorry I'm not 100% sure), it becomes a discussion with school administration as to whether you want to hold your child back or continue at their current grade level, knowing your child is likely 1-2 years younger than their classmates. It's not a huge deal in the younger grades, but once you get to middle and high school, emotionally and physically, I've heard across the board it's kind of a big deal and worth considering holding them back when they're younger.
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NJ Towns with Late Birthday Cutoffs:
The state has recommended a universal birthday cutoff of October 1, and nearly every school district in New Jersey has put this into effect. However... there are a handful of towns that have slightly later cutoffs, which is worth considering if you're desperate to get your kid into Kindergarten instead of having to pay for Pre-K. This may not be all-inclusive because I could not find a list, anywhere!!! This is a list I've personally compiled after researching, alot (please do comment below if you know of a town to add, or remove): 5 years old by October 31: 5 years old by October 15:
NJ Towns with Universal Free Pre-K:
This 2019 list is compiled from Pre-K Our Way, where the towns are listed by county; ALL 3 and 4 year olds in these former Abbott and Expansion Districts can attend free preschool. From NJ Monthly: "Abbott districts—now referred to as “former Abbott districts” because the rules have been updated—are typically urban districts where poverty is commonplace and the education system found to be constitutionally inadequate. Extra state funding is pumped into the districts, from preschool through grade 12. The communities that have universal, free preschool include the 31 former Abbott districts, whose schools the state is required to fund under the Abbott rulings, and four additional districts—Red Bank, Little Egg Harbor, Fairfield and Woodbine—approved in 2003."
NJ Towns with Free Pre-K for Some (via lottery):
** this 2019 list is compiled from Pre-K Our Way, where they're listed by county **
NJ Towns with Half Day Kindergarten:
But wait, there's one more thing to take into consideration... some New Jersey towns don't have free full day kindergarten yet!!! Over 90% of NJ districts offer free full day kindergarten, but about 40 districts hadn't converted yet and only offer half day for free!!! Some people may see this as a plus, but most don't. Unfortunately, it's very difficult to tell from their websites alone, so we've researched and asked around and put together this very unofficial and incomplete list of some of the school districts that haven't converted to (free) full day programs yet (each year, more are converting to full day - 76% of schools had it in 2012 and 94% had it in 2019, so be sure to double check with the district):
Other Things to Consider:
31 Comments
Sue E
4/15/2020 03:27:19 pm
I don’t live in New Jersey & here school aged kids, but if I did, this list would be worth it’s weight in GOLD! This is so informative that I had to pin it! Thank you for sharing!!
Hannah Chase
4/15/2020 05:50:58 pm
I don't live in NJ but these are awesome resources for anyone who does with preschool and kindergarten aged children. I think it's great that there are so many districts that offer free pre K.
Abby
5/18/2020 07:56:59 am
Thank you so much for this. I am currently on the fence, we want to move to NJ, but oldest birthday is after the cutoff date, and she would have already gone to Pre-k in nyc. This was super informative.
Abby Too
5/31/2021 03:58:28 pm
This is ether same exact issue we are having, did you ever move? If you did, did she have to repeat pre-k? Or did you find a workaround? We moved but stayed within NY state so our twins could go to Kindergarten, ironically enough we decided to keep them home and delay starting K a year due to pandemic. While outside of NYC, districts are very open to delaying starting K, they all seem to be VERY strict of meeting the deadline of being a certain age before entering K i.e. you cannot enter early.
Kristina
7/19/2020 03:36:23 pm
Thanks so much for compiling this info! Super useful and very relevant! I just wanted to let you know that both the East Brunswick and South Brunswick school districts have October 31st cut-off-dates as well. (we moved to SB last year for this very same reason!)
anu
1/17/2021 12:28:35 pm
Hi...i also need info of nj districts with kindergarten cutoff after 1st oct. You mentioned moving to s brunswick...when should one move to that district for getting admitted to kindergarten for that school year ? 1/17/2021 12:35:13 pm
Hi Anu. You'll need to call the districts directly. They vary - NYC has already had their K-application deadline pass. Where we are in Hudson Valley applications aren't til March. So, it varies greatly by town!
Yvelore
10/2/2021 12:19:01 pm
We live in NJ, and my child will be 5years old on oct 3. But because she didn’t turn 5 on October 1 . They still let her stay in pre-K. I don’t want her to stay in pre-K I want my baby to be in kindergarten. She already completed pre-K while she was in daycare. Who do I contact in order for them to put her in kindergarten?
Mannan
1/12/2023 10:14:11 pm
Hi, I am on same boat. If you have any leads please share.
Rob
12/22/2021 02:37:20 pm
Woodbridge is another school district that has an October 31st cutoff date to enroll 5 year olds in kindergarten. I moved there because my son was born on October 20th. 1/6/2022 03:18:06 pm
The good news is you're waitlisted at the schools you ranked below the one you were offered. In our case this past year with the twins, I truly appreciate your great post!
Jeff Novick
1/18/2022 12:33:56 pm
My son was born on 12/1 and in NYC where we live today, he can start Kindergarten in September. We want to move to NJ but we would need a district that would enroll a 12/1 child in 9/22. Any suggestions? 1/18/2022 01:06:16 pm
Honestly, I was thrilled for my kids to start as soon as possible because it was basically free child care. My son started UPK in NYC at 3.5 years old!! But now I realize it was too early. We're in NY state now and held him back so he would be with his peers, and we held our twins back as well. Now they'll all be "proper" age in NJ and the rest of the country. NYC cutoff is just so so so late, without ability to "redshirt" which is quite common elsewhere. I've heard once you get to puberty age the age gap can make the younger kids struggle even more so...
Tonya V
4/7/2022 10:59:21 am
Hi, we live in Springfield Township, we have universal preK 4 half days (morning or afternoon) and universal full day Kindergarten. PreK families are asked to just pay $500 for the year.
Kimberly S
5/17/2022 02:39:58 pm
Just wanted to post an update about Wayne Township. They now offer full day Kindergarten! It started September 2021.
SAMM J
6/14/2022 10:35:27 am
looking to move to NJ by October 2022 or December 2022. My daughter is 3 and will start 3k in NYC in September. Not sure which town would be best for us to start looking as we are trying to move closer to the city around 30-40 mins away. Can anyone recommend any schools. I really do not want to pay for pre school again, I think I've paid a Harvard tuition in NYC this past year.
Hanika
7/11/2022 02:07:47 pm
My twin biys are 4 year ..how do i apply fro free pre-k
Sims
8/20/2022 01:14:19 am
Hi, can anyone please confirm if Berkeley Heights in NJ has universal free pre k 3 and pre k 4 program. If yes, is it half time or full time?
Molly
8/22/2022 04:39:30 pm
I'm unclear about what I can do with my daughter who was born September 14? We live in NJ (Jersey City). I want to redshirt her so that she starts kindergarten when she is 5 (almost 6) instead of 4 (almost 5). How would I go about coordinating this with the school district? Is this allowed?
J
9/17/2023 03:37:59 pm
It is possible. If your child has made the birthday cutoff but you still feel the need to hold her back you can just talk to the school district and let them know about that concern.
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10/3/2022 10:08:25 am
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Neha
11/6/2022 01:47:28 am
Super helpful. Thank you.
Alexandra
5/25/2023 01:00:24 pm
This was INCREDIBLY helpful, thank you. Exact questions that have been on my mind (we are brooklyn based with a nearly 4 year old and a 1.5 year old)!
J
7/28/2023 02:55:48 am
Honestly the cutoff should just be October 31st. It just seems more reasonable to be honest.
T
9/15/2023 09:11:04 am
That’s what it use to be in many cities in Passaic county, now it’s changed to October 1st. And that’s even up for debate. I moved from Paterson to Hawthorne a couple of years back after my youngest completed his two years of PreK . He should have been starting kindergarten that following year. But because Hawthorne cut off date wasn’t October 15th like Paterson my son missed the date by five days. So we ended up keeping him home that year as he already completed PreK 3 and 4. The crazy thing is I didn’t leave Passaic county I moved to the next town over which is literally a five minute drive yet each school district had different cut off dates. I called Trenton to try and figure out how each school district different cut off dates in the same county, I was told it was up to the schools discretion.
Danice
9/21/2023 01:34:15 am
This is an amazing post. We just moved from nyc and My sons bday is October 30th and in our current county he has to do pk3 vs pre k in nyc! He's also in the 99th percentile for height and is the biggest in his class.! Guess we will be moving / enrolling in a town with oct 31st cut off!
christina
2/13/2025 01:52:35 pm
did you figure out a list of oct 31 cut offs ?
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About ME:I'm a NYC metro area mom blogger living in NJ with my Japanese husband & our 3 kids (twins + 1), focusing on fun and honest product and travel reviews, helping busy parents find the best for their families! Find what you need in the menu bar or search section above! 
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