When Jordan Todaro graduated with a master’s degree from The College of New Jersey in 2023, she was ready to apply for her first teaching job. Each interview, however, was missing something – a spark she had felt only during her time as a student in the Bound Brook School District.

“I was feeling connected to other school districts, but not in the same way as I felt at home in Bound Brook,” Todaro explained. “Here, I felt supported and wanted to give back to the community that raised me.”

Todaro then saw a pre-kindergarten teacher opening at LaMonte Annex Elementary School – and the rest is history!

She is one of three teachers in the district’s new full-day pre-K program for three-year-olds. While Bound Brook School District has long had pre-K for four-year-olds, the 2023-24 school year is the first time the district offered the program for younger students.

“We have 35 students currently enrolled in three classes, and it’s been amazing to see how much progress our students have made since September,” said LaMonte Annex Principal Hipolita Hernandez-Sicignano.

Research has shown that public preschool programs can be highly beneficial for students. One long-term study found that students had higher achievement in language/literacy, math, and science if they participated in a preschool program, and that those effects were even more pronounced if the children had two years of preschool.

Todaro agreed that starting preschool earlier can make a big difference in a child’s life and future academic success. She is excited to help shape and grow a new program for the district.

“It’s a wonderful thing to be able to start the foundation process for these new students,” she said.

Todaro herself recalls going to LaMonte Annex as a first grader and then progressing through all Bound Brook schools. In high school, she excelled in athletics — cheerleading, basketball, tennis, and softball. Both her parents also attended Bound Brook School District, as well as her brother and sister.

“I always felt supported here,” she said. “The teachers checked in on me constantly.”

She graduated from BBHS in 2018 and earned a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education and psychology from The College of New Jersey. She then completed a master’s degree in urban education in May 2023.

On her first day back at LaMonte this September, she said it felt like coming home.

“It was a comforting experience,” she said. “I work right next to my former softball coach and am coworkers with my kindergarten teacher. Honestly, being a first-year teacher, it was helpful to see familiar faces.”

In her classroom and the two other three-year-old pre-K classes, students learn through play, which is developmentally appropriate for that age. They explore classroom materials and are learning social-emotional learning, such as how to share and how to talk about feelings.

Hernandez-Sicignano said the district hopes to continue the program in the future. Students must be three years old on Oct. 1 to qualify for the program.