Chris Lacenere, director of Kids Corner Cooperative Nursery School in Plainsboro, said two nursery schools nearby had each canceled one class because of low enrollment. She, however, expects enrollment to be full next year, but only because the school has done extra promotion.
To counter its 20 percent drop in applications, the Transitional Learning Center in New Rochelle is relying on advertising special events, Ms. Mirabile said. Those events include extracurricular activities like pottery and tae kwon do classes and a breakfast for students and their fathers last Tuesday during which several parents stressed the importance of preschool to better prepare children for future schooling.
“We see the extra value of what is provided here,” said Anthony Frazia, whose 5-year-old daughter, Jessica, is enrolled in the school.
Still, some parents find it unaffordable, particularly now. Mary and Rob Gibbons, of Hastings-on-Hudson, sent the first three of their five daughters to private nursery schools but did not send their fourth daughter after Mr. Gibbons was laid off from his sales job. “It became an easy decision to make,” Ms. Gibbons said.
Other schools pointed to the necessity of meeting parents’ changing needs. At the Alcott School in Scarsdale, enrollment is full for the fall, but its waiting list has shrunk to 20 families from 40 to 50. Alcott has extended the afternoon session for preschoolers by a half-hour, said the school’s executive director, Beth Farkas.
Alcott has also expanded after-school programs including soccer, golf and tennis classes. “We have had to think creatively, reassess programs and be more flexible,” Ms. Farkas said.
Gauging parents’ needs can be tricky. Bruce Schnittman, owner of Crestwood Country Day School in Melville on Long Island, said it decided to offer an afternoon program that was significantly cheaper than the morning program. “But only two people signed up,” he said, and those children will become part of the full-day program.
Still, for administrators hoping to maintain staffing levels, this year has caused worries.
To counter that, Ms. Platt of the Community school said she was putting into place a couple of firsts: an open house on April 26 that she hoped would draw more applications and help avoid having to cut staff. She also posted a sign outside the school to advertise openings. That sign joins two others just down the road from her, advertising space available at two separate schools.
Ms. Platt attributed that visual clue to a changing time. “We all expanded to meet the demands of the population these past years,” she said. “Now we have to figure out how to deal with a contraction.”