Victoria Sullivan

vicky.sullivan@rutgers.edu

609-365-5027

Ingrid E. Campbell, EdD (interim)

ingrid.campbell@rutgers.edu

856-537-2322

NJ Birth to Three Standards- Event ID 132807 (for I/T staff and FCC)

NJ Preschool Teaching and Learning Standards- Event ID 132809 (for preschool staff and FCC)

Behind the Scores: The Why Behind the ERS- Event ID: 150700 (all staff and FCC)

Access evening trainings to continually grow!

Grow NJ Kids is New Jersey’s quality rating and improvement system. With this system, New Jersey is creating universal standards of quality for all child care and education programs (Head Start, Child Care, Preschool, etc.). Grow NJ Kids provides you with training and incentives to improve your program and communicate your level of quality to the public.

Based on a rating system, Grow NJ Kids provides the framework for you to continue to meet high-quality standards in [five quality standards], which have recently been updated to reflect today's best practices.

These new 2025 quality standards are the result of a collaborative effort to create standards that are more progressive, more inclusive, more relevant, and more supportive of the critical work happening every day in early care and education settings across New Jersey. (GNJK website)

Programs serving children from infancy through age five become eligible to participate in Grow NJ Kids after completing one full year of licensure. This includes all program types committed to supporting early childhood development and quality improvement:

• a child care center;

• a school- or center-based preschool program;

• a Head Start/Early Head Start program; and

• a registered family child care educator who cares for children in his/her home.

HOW do I start?

You can contact your county’s Quality Improvement Specialist (QIS) to help you start your exciting voyage.

• monthly Directors’ Roundtables,

• how to gain support for your infant/toddler program with the assistance from the county-wide Infant/Toddler Specialist (ITS);

• helping you connect with a rated program to see how the Grow NJ Kids process works for local programs; and

• review how you and your staff can enhance professional development to advance quality programming.