Big Beginnings at NJCDC’s Paterson Family Center Preschool
August 21, 2026
In our short reel, PFC teacher Ms. Jackie shares what six years at PFC has meant to her.
Enroll your Paterson 3- or 4-year-old: Call 973-321-0674 Mon-Fri 9:00 AM–3:00 PM to schedule an appointment (limited capacity remains as of Mid-August 2026).
For preschool teacher Ms. Jackie, one of the best signs that she’s made an impact can be as simple as a former student stopping by to say hello. One student did just that nearly every day after moving up from Ms. Jackie’s classroom at NJCDC’s Paterson Family Center (PFC) Preschool.
“He would come just to say hi,” she remembers. “I guess he felt comfortable. He felt like he wanted to see us again, and I just felt like he had grown. You see the growth from when they were with me to now.”
It’s a small moment that captures much of what Ms. Jackie hopes children take away from their time at PFC.
“I want them to know that they’re amazing little people and that they can do anything,” she says. “I want them to feel confident, and for the feeling they had being here to be something they’ll never forget.”
As PFC prepares to welcome another 105 three- and four-year-olds for the 2026–27 school year, those first preschool experiences — and the relationships built along the way — are about to begin for a new group of Paterson children.
Learning Inside and Outside the Classroom
Since 2003, PFC has provided Paterson families with free, full-day preschool, combining an evidence-based curriculum with plenty of opportunities for children to learn through play, exploration, and new experiences.
Over the course of a school year, that can mean welcoming more than 40 community volunteers into the classroom for Read Across America Day, getting into the holiday spirit, or setting off with classmates on field trips to destinations like the Zoo.
Families share in many of those experiences, too. Community events, like PFC’s joint Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Domestic Violence Awareness Month gathering, bring parents and neighbors together to connect, learn, and raise awareness around important issues. PFC’s I Love You Valentine’s Day Breakfast brings children and their loved ones together for a morning of pancakes, while an International Women’s Day luncheon celebrates the mothers and other important women in students’ lives. And by June, families gather for one of the year’s biggest milestones: celebrating our families at the Parent Appreciation Luncheon and watching PFC’s three-year-olds move up and four-year-olds graduate and prepare for kindergarten.
That emphasis on family extends to what happens outside of celebrations and special events. “We’re here for the whole family,” says PFC Director Maria Camacho. “When parents and caregivers have what they need, children thrive.”
PFC offers after-school programming to support working families, while family workers help connect parents and caregivers with resources for needs including housing and healthcare.
Six Years of Growing Together
Ms. Jackie knows firsthand how much growth can happen at PFC. She arrived six years ago after a friend who worked at the preschool encouraged her to apply. “She said, ‘You’ll love it. It’s a great place,’” Ms. Jackie remembers.
She did.
“I really loved the atmosphere and the people,” she says. “It felt like a family. That’s the reason I’ve stayed, because I feel like it’s my second home.”
Today, she tries to create that same sense of comfort for the children entering her classroom. “I have a warm approach with the children,” she says. “I try to make them feel comfortable and like they’re part of the classroom. I want them to feel like they’re part of our family.”
Over six years, Ms. Jackie has also watched PFC itself evolve, with new materials, classroom furniture, and other changes she says have made things easier for teachers and students. She credits Ms. Maria’s leadership and the support teachers receive from one another with creating an environment where “you feel like everybody has your back.”
And while Ms. Jackie has watched countless preschoolers grow, she says they’ve helped her grow, too.
“There were things I didn’t think I could do before I came here, and I did them,” she says. “You see the growth in some of these students, and you feel like you did make a difference. You realize you have it in you to be that teacher you always wanted to be.”
Start Your Child’s PFC Story
With the new school year on the horizon, PFC is currently filling its final slots for three- and four-year-olds for 2026–27. The program is free and full-day for Paterson families, and children must turn 3 or 4 by October 31st of the enrollment year.
For this year’s newest preschoolers, graduation may still seem a long way off. First will come new teachers and classmates, books and field trips, celebrations and discoveries — and countless little moments of learning and growing.
And through it all, Ms. Jackie hopes they’ll discover what she already knows: that they’re “amazing little people” who can do anything.