JERSEY CITY -- Today's cold, slushy weather didn't deter parents from continuing their days-long wait in line to snag their children spots at an acclaimed Jersey City preschool center.

Preschool registration for the 90 spots at Concordia Learning Center doesn't begin until 8 a.m. tomorrow, but this morning dozens of parents were sitting inside tents on a sidewalk along Summit Avenue, braving the elements for their 3-year-olds.

The line stretched from the entrance to St. Joseph's School for the Blind, where the preschool operates, almost all the way up to Troy Street, nearly 400 feet.

Nermeen Hanna-Avegno, a 35-year-old guidance counselor, and her husband have been watching their No. 2 spot on line since 4:30 a.m. Thursday. Hanna-Avegno said the couple did not want to risk that their 3-year-old daughter, Michaella, would not get a spot in the preschool closest to their home in the Hilltop neighborhood.

As the couple wait on line, various family members are taking turns babysitting Michaella, including the girl's great-grandmother.

"We got the whole family involved," Hanna-Avegno said. "We've had the grandparents involved, the great aunts involved, the uncles, the uncles' girlfriends ... everybody's involved in this."

Concordia is one of 37 private preschool programs under contract with the Jersey City school district this year.

Migdalia Viole, Concordia's director, stressed that the school not only doesn't encourage parents to line up for spots, it would rather they did not. The line of parents, tents and chairs on the Summit Avenue sidewalk isn't helpful for St. Joseph's blind students, she said.

Asked why she thinks Concordia's preschool is so popular, Viole credited positive word of mouth.

"Parents enjoy coming here, their children have a good experience, their parents have a good experience," she said. "I have a good staff."

Another reason for Concordia's popularity: it's free for parents. Some private Jersey City preschools charge around $16,000 for full-day programs for 3-year-olds.

St. Joseph's has hosted the Cocordia program since 2009. Viole said parents began to line up first on Friday nights, then Friday afternoons and now on Thursday mornings before the sun has risen.

Hanna-Avegno said she will be sure to explain to her daughter the lengths she and her husband went to for the girl's preschool education.

"Going through this cold, we're going to let her know," she said.

This afternoon, with the line stretching around the corner on Troy Street, the parents won a reprieve with the help of Councilman Michael Yun, who convinced Concordia officials to take down the parents' names in order and let them go home.

Yun said he didn't think it was fair to allow parents to sleep outside in the winter so they could get their kids into a prized preschool program.



"Especially tonight the temperature's going to drop to 19 degrees," Yun said.

Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.