Q: What are the dates and location for the 2026 National P-3 Institute?
A: The Institute will be held October 28-30 in Princeton, New Jersey.
Q: What makes the National P-3 Institute unique?
A: The Institute provides intentional, in-depth time for teams of 5-8 people to examine ways to strengthen their vision and approaches to supporting the continuum of learning from pre-school through 3rd grade. Guest speakers and team time focus on improving organizational and systems strategies in ways that meaningfully support young children’s learning and development. Enrollment is limited to 100 people. Locations for the Institute are selected to provide a retreat-like setting, encouraging teams to invest in relationship-building, sustained strategic planning, and time to reflect on their shared work.
Q: Can I attend as an individual?
A: No, only teams may attend.
Q: How many people should be on a team?
A: We’ve found that a team size of 5-8 people is big enough to ensure broad representation of diverse perspectives, but not so big that the team becomes unwieldy and unproductive. We do not accept teams with more than 8 members. Overall Institute enrollment is limited to 100 people, which means we accept 13-14 teams.
Q: We are a very small, rural school district. Should we apply?
A: Yes! We accept teams that represent all kinds of different scopes and scale of P-3 work.
Q: How does the competitive review process work?
A: We usually receive 2-3 times more applications than we can accept. A set of 3 experts independently review all applications received by the due date, using a rubric that aligns with the questions in the application. The review group meets to compare ratings and to discuss the full slate of applications. In addition to accepting teams with the highest ratings, we also strive to ensure that there are “pods” of teams that share certain characteristics and will be able to learn from one another. For example, we usually accept 3-4 state-level teams; 3-4 large district teams; 3-4 small district teams; and 3-4 regional/multi-district teams.
Q: Is it acceptable for a team member to attend only a portion of the 3-day Institute?
A: No. We request that all team members be able to attend the entire Institute. The Institute is designed to be an intensive professional learning and strategic planning experience. In the past, participant evaluations have highlighted how invaluable and critical the intentional, extended, and semi-structured team time was.
Q: We’d like to invite people to join our team who we haven’t worked with before. Is this appropriate?
A: Yes. The team application requires outlining how the team has both a history and a future of working together on P-3 alignment. If you include new partners on your team, please be sure to describe how they will be involved in your future P-3 efforts.
Q: Is it appropriate for our entire team to come from just one agency/district?
A: Yes, but only if both early learning and the early grades are represented. We know that cross-sector work can be necessary within a single agency/district (e.g., when PreK is governed by separate standards and managed by a different department on the org chart than are the K-3 grades). The review team will ensure that accepted applications meaningfully attend to bridging traditionally disparate programs and sectors.
Q: What are the costs to bring a team?
A: There is an $850/person registration fee (this includes all meals and Institute materials, except one dinner on-your-own). Teams are responsible for paying their own travel and hotel costs. A hotel room block at a group discounted rate has been secured. The hotel reservation information will be shared with accepted teams.
Q: What is the application process and timeline?
Q: Where can I find the application?
A: You can find the link to the application here as well as on our website.