PREPARING FOR A PARTY: Princeton Nursery School (PNS) on Leigh Avenue is getting ready to celebrate its 96th anniversary on Friday, along with the birthdays of its oldest two alumnae, Marilyn Yates, who will be 94, and Barbara Banks, who will be 95. Pictured above are PNS teachers and students with community partner Shirley Satterfield (seated) and PNS Executive Director K. Leanna Jahnke (standing center). (Photo courtesy of Princeton Nursery School)

By Donald Gilpin

With a parade through the Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood on Friday, March 7, carrying balloons and decorated signs, the 48 students of Princeton Nursery School (PNS) and their teachers will be celebrating the birthdays of PNS’ oldest living alumnae, along with the 96th anniversary of the founding of the school.

First stop for the parade will be the home of Barbara Banks, who lives right behind the Leigh Avenue school, then the parade participants will continue down John Street to the home of Marilyn Yates.

At each home they will sing their school song (“I love you Princeton Nursery School”) and “Happy Birthday.” Friday’s celebration day is mid-way between the date of the school’s January 14 anniversary and the shared birthdays, 95 for Banks and 94 for Yates, coming up on June 1.

“Two phenomenal women,” wrote Yates’ daughter Paige Walden, and their friendship has continued since their days at PNS. “My fondest memory of growing up in the Princeton community and attending Princeton Nursery School on Leigh Avenue is meeting my best friend, Barbara Banks,” said Yates according to notes Walden took in a recent conversation with her mother. “Barbara and I have had the best friendship for over 90 years.”

The parade will continue to the Mary Moss Park on John and Lytle Streets. In 1992 the park was named for Moss, who was the nurse at PNS and also supervised the children on outings to the park.

“We have been really reconnecting with our Witherspoon-Jackson history here,” said PNS Executive Director K. Leanna Jahnke, “so we’re celebrating being here in Witherspoon-Jackson for 96 years, we’ll be connecting up with our alumnae at the homes of Ms. Banks and Ms. Yates, and we’ll stop at the park to recognize the connection with Ms. Mary Moss.”

Jahnke noted that enthusiasm for Friday’s events is running high. “I heard them practicing their songs,” she said. “Any time you mention birthday parties, they’re all on board.”

Banks, who lives close enough to the school to hear the children on the playground, shared a few of her memories of her days at PNS with her granddaughter Ashley Hightower, who reported that Banks remembers her teacher Ms.Etta and Ms. Etta’s son, who lived at the school and were “the nicest people you would ever meet.”

Banks also remembers that PNS was originally a two-story building, but smaller than it is today, and that additions were added later. She also remembers that there was no age requirement for children to attend.Parents could even send babies that she called “sleeping babies.”

According to Walden’s notes, Yates remembers Ms. Miller, Ms. Moss, and Ms. Eda, who was the cook. “We loved going to school each day to play with our friends and learn,” said Yates. “More importantly, the love of the community was everywhere. The friends that you made at nursery school also became your friends in the community. We grew up in a neighborhood where everyone knew one another and if you acted up you would get chastised by whoever noticed your ill behavior and then when you got home you would get in trouble again!”

She continued, “I remember several family and friends in our close-knit community,” mentioning the Owens, the Yancys, the. Moores, the Marshalls, the Fletchers, and the Youngs.”

After PNS, Yates attended the School for Colored Children on Quarry Street. Her grandfather was the first justice of the peace in Princeton, her step-grandmother was a hairdresser, her father Ralph Jerry Mitnaul owned a mechanic shop in Princeton, her Uncle Junius owned the barber shop on Quarry and John streets, and her aunt owned Lillie’s Beauty Salon on Quarry Street.

Yates worked for more than 35 years at Princeton University in the English Department, raised her family on Clay Street in public housing, and in 1989 purchased her first home with Affordable Housing on John Street.

Jahnke, who came to PNS as executive director in 2022, described Friday’s festivities as part of “a countdown to our 100-year celebration,” one of a number of small celebrations leading up to the 100-year anniversary in 2029.

“Here at Princeton Nursery School our mission has really stayed the same since we were founded in 1929,” she said. “At the time it was to support working mothers, working Black mothers in Witherspoon-Jackson who were supporting the larger Princeton community with their jobs in town and at the University.”

She continued, “They had this challenge of quality child care for their children, and we still have that challenge today, quality child care for working parents. It’s very hard to find, especially if you consider that an affordable childcare center does not always mean quality.”

Jahnke pointed out that the three parts of PNS’ mission include exceptional early childhood education, supportive family services, and making sure that the school is affordable for all.

“This year in particular we’ve worked with Shirley Satterfield and others here in Witherspoon-Jackson to recognize that the support Princeton Nursery School is providing families in Witherspoon-Jackson has positively impacted all of Princeton,” said Jahnke. “Our support really extends beyond our walls. As we near 100 years, there are so many alumni and so many legacies, grandparents and their grandchildren here, parents and their children here.”

About 90 percent of families at PNS get some financial assistance either through the state or through a sliding tuition rate adjusted based on their income. “We offer a tuition rate that meets them where they are,” said Jahnke. She went on to mention a new focus on generational change for PNS families “so that a family that grew up here in Witherspoon-Jackson can maybe see themselves in a different place than their grandparents were and breaking cycles of generational poverty and making sure that all families are able to thrive.”

She added, “We’re almost 100 years old. Princeton Nursery School is the jewel of Witherspoon-Jackson, so what we’re trying to do is make our jewel a little bit brighter so that everyone knows about us.”