Princeton Public Schools officials put plans for redistricting elementary schools on hold for 2023-24 academic year

Students attending elementary schools in Princeton won’t have to move to another school for the 2023-24 academic year. Redistricting will be put on hold until after the upcoming school year, school officials announced Tuesday

“As we navigate increasing enrollment pressures across our district, especially at the elementary levels, I wanted to thank you all for your time and thoughtful attention. Every decision we make is with the best interests of our students, our children, in mind,” reads an email from Superintendent Carol Kelley.

“As a mother of two, I certainly understand how important it is to foster a love of learning along with a sense of community and stability. In an effort to minimize disruption, and to successfully manage the transition, we will pause on moving any students between our schools for the 2023-2024 school year while we partner with our school community on how to best move forward with long-range planning for 2024-2025 and beyond,” Kelley wrote. “My team and I will be hosting community meetings throughout the spring to share ideas and solicit your feedback about possible future enrollment solutions. I look forward to partnering with you as we face this challenge together as one community. I will be sharing more information soon. Thank you for your continued partnership in support of our children. “

Redistricting has been contemplated for some time to alleviate current and future potential overcrowding at some elementary schools. Community Park Elementary and Riverside Elementary have extra classroom space, while Johnson Park Elementary and Little Brook Elementary’s student populations have swelled.

At a school board meeting last week, Kimberly Tew, the assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction for the Princeton Public Schools, discussed various scenarios for future redistricting that would mean some students are moved from their current school to another elementary school, stressing that no decisions have been made yet and that school officials are examining various options.

One proposal district officials were considering previously for 2023-34 was to move about 15-20 Institute for Advanced Study students from Littlebrook to Johnson Park, and to have about 60 Community Park-zoned students who attend Johnson Park shift from Johnson Park to Community Park. Rising 5th-grade students and their siblings would remain at Johnson Park, as would students in the district’s learning language disability program and their siblings.

Under such a proposal, the Community Park School, which hosts the district’s English-Spanish dual language immersion program could potentially share building space with an English-only learning track. The dual language program is also available at Princeton Middle School and will expand to Princeton High School in September.

District officials are also considering another potential proposal for the future that would create a buddy school program. Two elementary schools would become grade K-2 schools, and the other two would become grade 3-5 schools.