Choosing a Cooperative Preschool

In a word, choosing a cooperative preschool is all about involvement. Parents are in the classroom supervising, interacting, and participating on a regular basis. It quickly becomes less about making snacks and homemade playdough and more about making memories, friends, and a personal investment in your child’s education.

In a cooperative preschool, the students won’t be the only ones learning in the process; more often than not, it’s the parents who come home with new approaches, new skills, and a fresh take on a challenging job. As it turns out, “learning through play” isn’t something you outgrow.

Thank goodness.

What is a cooperative preschool?

A cooperative preschool is owned and run by its member families. At Annandale Cooperative Preschool, a parent board of directors oversees the school, every family serves on a committee or the board, and parents take turns in the classroom as the teacher’s aide. The teaching is done by experienced, professional teachers; the parents are the extra hands, the eyes on the playground, and the community around the classroom. The school has run this way since a group of parents organized it in 1947.

Is a co-op the same as daycare?

No. The difference is the hours. Annandale Cooperative Preschool is a half-day preschool: classes meet from 9:00 am to 12:15 pm on their assigned days, from the second week of September to the end of May. Each class is led by a professional teacher, and family members take turns helping in the classroom, so every class is small, teacher-led, and full of familiar faces. If that is the kind of morning you want for your child, you are in the right place.

How much time does it take?

Family members co-op in the classroom roughly once every three to four weeks, a little more often during the first weeks of the 2s and 3s classes. Families also rotate school-aide days, serve on a committee or the board, and attend three general membership meetings a year, held on weekday evenings in September, February, and May. Co-oping schedules are made two to three months in advance, with your blackout dates built in, so you can plan with your employer, and any family member can fill the role. Full detail is on the parent participation page.

Can we join if both parents work?

Many co-op families juggle work schedules, and the school works to make participation manageable: schedules are set two to three months ahead around the dates you give the scheduler, and families can pay for a substitute to cover some or all of their school-aide days. Classroom co-oping is still a real commitment, but it is not only for parents: any family member can take the co-op day, and the school loves having grandparents, aunts, and uncles in the classroom.

What do children get out of it?

Classes for two-year-olds, three-year-olds, and Pre-K, each led by a professional teacher, with an adult-to-child ratio that meets or exceeds Virginia Department of Education and NAEYC guidelines. A curriculum built on learning through play and aligned with the Virginia Early Learning and Development Standards. Accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children, held continuously since 1987. And a classroom where the grown-ups are their friends’ parents.

What is the next step?

Schedule a tour, read the parent FAQ, or come to an open house in mid-January, when registration opens to the general public.