My Schools Newark announced today that it will host a school fair this Saturday, May 21st, from 10am-2pm at Military Park. The fair will assist Newark families planning for their child to attend a Newark school for the 2022-23 school year but have not yet participated in the city’s school enrollment system. As data suggests that as many as half of all preK and kindergarten students may not have selected a school yet, the fair will provide valuable information on the many diverse school options available throughout the city. The fair will also give families the ability to register for school for the 2022-2023 school year right there. Available for all who attend will be food, parking, and promotional “swag” items.

My Schools Newark launched in March as an add-on to the the Newark Public Schools District’s cumbersome enrollment system: a survey found that parents described the district system as “hard to use.”  Nearly half of parents in Newark say that they or someone they know had a hard time finding whom to contact for support or questions and 92% wanted a better option to help them choose where to enroll their child. In response, the non-profit New Jersey Childrens Foundation funds and maintains the free online research tool and mobile-friendly website which operates as a kind of school-finder Zillow, offering more streamlined, easy-to-access information.  “My Schools Newark,” explains Kyle Rosenkrans, Executive Director of NJCF, “was uniquely developed to serve the specific needs of Newark families and centralizes all school-based data and information to help those families navigate the city’s full menu of private, parochial, charter, and district school options.”  As such, it serves as a centralized suite of service-oriented resources that showcase needed information for every school in Newark.

Parents can register for this free event here (registration is recommended in advance): https://www.eventbrite.com/e/my-schools-newark-22-23-sy-all-schools-fair-tickets-330759068277 

“Coming out of two years where the pandemic has impacted schools and enrollment, it is more important than ever to support Newark families,” stated Octavia Thompson, Lead Project Manager for My Schools Newark.  “My Schools Newark’s mission is to ensure information and opportunities about all Newark schools are proactively shared with every parent in our city, so they are provided with the needed tools to make the best education decision for their families.  The fair this weekend will be an important moment to ensure every Newark family is supported and that every child is enrolled for the new school year this Fall.”

This weekend’s in-person outdoor fair is the first of its kind since the COVID outbreak.  In February, My Schools Newark hosted a virtual school fair to assist families during the Newark Enrolls application period, including representatives from over 20 schools from the district, charter, and pre-k sectors in Newark.  More than 250 parents and family members are registered to attend the event.   

For more information on My Schools Newark, visit https://www.myschoolsnewark.org/ or visit the school explorer tool at https://explore.myschoolsnewark.org/.

• WHO: Parents and families who still need a school for their children for the 2022-23 school year

• WHAT: In-person school fair for Newark schools hosted by My Schools Newark

• WHEN: Saturday, May 21st, 10am – 2pm
• WHERE: Military Park, 51 Park Place, Newark, NJ 07102 (View Map)