VIRGINIA COOPERATIVE PRESCHOOL COUNCIL

About Cooperative Preschool


A cooperative preschool is owned, operated or both by a group of parents and staffed by professional teachers. Parents help the teachers in the classroom and may do some of the daily work necessary to operate a successful school.


The cooperative school recognizes that parents are the primary educators of their children. It encourages mothers and fathers to share their interests and talents in the classroom, on a Board of Directors, or on committees. These direct parental efforts and involvement make the cooperative a unique educational opportunity. The children grow in mind, body, and spirit as they are nurtured with acceptance and kindness by teachers and other parents.

Activities include art, music and movement, science, language arts, fine motor play, dramatic play, and outdoor play as part of a planned curriculum the community of teachers and parents deem developmentally appropriate. Parent education is stressed in cooperative preschools so that both children and parents receive the best education possible.  Communication with teachers and other parents, along with helping in the classroom and observing children as they play, learn, and grow, gives parents and children the best education possible.

What to Look For Benefits to Children  |  Benefits to Parents