OUR SCHOOL

**Our Philosophy**

The Garden Preschool Cooperative (GPC) is a parent-run nonprofit preschool that seeks to provide high-quality progressive early childhood education in a nurturing atmosphere. Founded in 1995, the school was envisioned as an alternative to parents who sought an enhanced level of involvement in the education of their young children and who believed a cooperative community would provide an ideal setting for early childhood education.

The Importance of Play in Education

Young children learn best through play — by actively thinking, experimenting, exploring and manipulating their environment — to make sense of their world, to understand and negotiate relationships, to develop creative thinking and to build a positive sense of themselves and their significance to a community. Child-directed, teacher-facilitated play is central to all aspects of the GPC curriculum. According to our nation's leading educators, a key indicator of quality is the significance of play in a program's philosophy. Play provides the important foundations for academic learning in the later years and is central to all aspects of a child's social, emotional, intellectual and physical growth.

Through art, cooking, singing, building, gardening and engaging in pretend play, children — with teacher guidance — build on their knowledge of emergent literacy, math and science concepts. Child-directed, teacher-facilitated play is central to all aspects of the GPC curriculum.

Our Program

The program at GPC is based on the well-researched and well-proven educational philosophy of developmentally-appropriate practice. GPC faculty employ the developmental-interactive approach inspired by Reggio Emilia to teaching students.

Intrinsic to this philosophy is the recognition that a child's natural curiosity about themselves and the world around them is the motivating force for their learning and their ability to create meaning. It stresses the child's desire and need to engage actively with the environment — to make sense of experience through hands-on participation with open-ended materials and through interaction with peers and adults — as a necessary aspect of human growth. It also stresses children's play as an important vehicle for maturation and development particularly in these early years.

Being Part of a Cooperative

Being part of a cooperative school provides parents an unparalleled opportunity to be involved in their child’s early educational experience. At Garden Preschool, parents staff the board, assist the teachers in daily educational activities, and participate in all aspects of running and maintaining the school. This cooperative structure not only reduces costs but builds a supportive environment and a sense of community.

Parent Involvement

Parents play a central role in running the school and the education of our students. Parents help enrich the curriculum, offer guidance to our teachers, assist in the classroom once monthly, and staff essential school jobs and leadership roles on our Board of Directors.

POD

Every day a parent is present at the school as the “Parent of the Day” (POD) to assist the teachers with educational activities, provide and serve healthy snacks, supervise at the park, and play with the children.
Families can expect to spend approximately one day per month as POD. In the event of scheduling conflicts, parents can swap POD days with another parent.
Being POD is a wonderful opportunity to engage with your child, their classmates, and their teachers during the day.
COOP JOBS

Parents also contribute through cooperative jobs that are organized and assigned by the Board.
The commitment for the cooperative roles varies to accommodate busy schedules.
At Garden Preschool, we do our best to match cooperative jobs with parents’ and guardians’ time commitment, interests and skills.
BOARD MEMBERSHIP

Garden Preschool Cooperative is governed by a Board of Directors, which is comprised of current year parents who are elected by the previous year’s membership.
The Board works closely with teachers, staff, and parents to ensure the smooth management of the school. The Board meetings are held once a month and all parents are welcome to attend and participate in decision-making.