Parent involvement is the foundation of our cooperative preschool. Parents rotate as in-class teacher helpers. It is marvelous to be in the classroom experiencing the school day through the eyes of your child. All of our students know the parents of their peers by name. After the first day in the class, parents learn the routine just as the children have. Parents who like to bake might lead us in a bread activity. Everyone shares their talents as we create community together.

The school is run by parents working together to create a meaningful experience for their children’s education. Parents are required to participate through yearlong parent jobs, fundraising activities, and work parties. The parent job assigned to each family ranges from President of the Board to Enrollment Coordinator to Snack Purchaser. Some jobs require small frequent time commitments and others require larger time obligations less often. We take part in three fundraisers each year that occur respectively in the fall, winter, and spring. Work parties occur one Saturday a month for three hours. If two family members attend two work parties, the work party requirement has been met. Children are always welcome at work parties.

Infant siblings are welcome in the classroom on your parent helper day. Toddler siblings are in a different developmental stage than our students and are unable to use their words or play cooperatively. For this reason, we ask that you find alternate care for toddler-aged siblings on your parent helper days. Often families in the co-op with similar aged younger siblings will combine efforts to help in this endeavor, arranging play dates and swapping childcare. The church that houses our school has an empty nursery available for our daytime use. This makes it easy for families sharing childcare duties to work in the classroom and still be available to meet the needs of a younger child.