Advice about Parent Co-op Preschools
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October 2006
I am looking at the El Cerrito Preschool Coop and the Albany
Coop Preschool for my child for next fall, and I was wondering
if current parents at these schools could share their
experiences about having to ''buy out'' of their participation
duties. I love the coop philosophy and am eager and excited to
participate in the programs, but we are hoping to have another
child in the next year or so, and I could see how I might need
to opt out for a while (I assume this could be a somewhat common
situation?). But I hate to sign up for a coop and not be able
to pull my weight; I wouldn't be applying if I didn't value
their philosophy and the way the program works. So, my question
is, is it relatively easy/flexible to buy out (full or
partial?), or take on extra family jobs or something to make up
for maybe not being able to work at the school during the week?
How do families where both parents work full time do it? (or do
they just go elsewhere?). thanks for your help!
anon
I am a parent at Albany Prescool and I wanted to let you know
there are several options for you... first, the afternoon
program at APS is not parent participation. You are still a
member of the Co-op and you still have family jobs and share in
the community but you don't need to work at the school during
the program times. Also, many people who can't do their work in
the morning program either ''buy out'' of working full-time or
just hire a sub on the days they can't work. We'd love to have
you at our school!
candace
I was a parent of a child in the morning program at Albany
Preschool. I ''bought out'' of my morning participation on several
occassions. Basically what it meant was calling a sub from the
list and paying them the fee directly. I think if you want to buy
out on a permanent or even semi-permanent basis, you can pay an
additional tuition fee. However, if your concern is only being
away from the program after giving birth, they do have a version
of ''maternity leave'', I believe, and in addition, you are allowed
to bring your baby with you to participate, up to 5 or 6 mos of age.
Good luck in your decision. anon
Feb 2003
I'm wondering what a coop preschool is like with a second baby as
I'm thinking that we may have one when our son is in preschool.
Have you done it? If so, where and how? How did it work out for
you? Would you do it again? I've heard that some preschools let
you bring your baby with you--is this common?
thanks for any advice that you have...
It has been many years since I was a co-op parent with a
new baby (my kids are now 16 and 13!), but I remember it as
a wonderful time. When the babies were little, our co-op
(Skytown) allowed them to be ''worn'' in a front or back
pack. When mine got too big, I would trade off with
another parent who also had a baby--I would watch her baby
on her participation day, and she would watch mine when I
worked. Our babies became fast friends! One of the best
parts of the co-op situation for me was the sense of
community it encouraged, and this was just another example
of that experience.
Judy
Our co-op had a "sibling care" day 1-2 times a week depending
on demand. The afternoon care teacher would provide this care
at pre-determined times and the parents who had babies would
sign up for their co-op duties on those days. Worked pretty
well. Parents were asked not to bring their babies when they
were working at the school unless they were using sibling
care, which allowed them to more fully participate.
This was Bancroft Co-op which is no longer around.
G.
Hi. I have a daughter in a small coop and a 7 mo. old son.
I've decided not to bring my son, though I could if I needed
to. Most of the bigger coops do allow you to bring an infant
up until they can crawl. But, I don't feel that I can have my
attention on the preschoolers *and* my infant at the same
time. I've brought him for an hour or so until my husband
could pick him up and I felt completely crazed. Unfortunately,
the money that I'm spending having him watched while I
work the coop is almost as much as the discount I get from
being in a coop. Oh well. Best of luck.
anon
Hi. I have a daughter in a small coop and a 7 mo. old son.
I've decided not to bring my son, though I could if I needed
to. Most of the bigger coops do allow you to bring an infant
up until they can crawl. But, I don't feel that I can have my
attention on the preschoolers *and* my infant at the same
time. I've brought him for an hour or so until my husband
could pick him up and I felt completely crazed. Unfortunately,
the money that I'm spending having him watched while I
work the coop is almost as much as the discount I get from
being in a coop. Oh well. Best of luck.
anon
I co-oped with 2 children and have many friends that do so, one
with 5 children! The way we managed it was to hook up with one
another at the ice cream social our school puts on before
school starts. (If your school doesn't have a social get
together before school starts you could ask for the class list
and phone people and make playdates so that you can meet each
other).
We would trade off in baby sitting - this works well but it is
a commitment if you are co-oping 2-3 times per month because
you also have to baby sit in return for the same amount of
time. Having said that, it is a wonderful way to build
community with in your school - something coops are renowned
for.
Being in your child's classroom on a regular basis is a gift.
It is a time that never comes again and is so brief. As they
get older you have less opportunity and they also may not want
you there.
I really encourage you to find a baby sitting trade and stick
with it - it is worth it!!!
anon
Feb 2002
I would like to put my child into a coop preschool in fall of 2003. Recently
I have become a stay at home mom to spend more time with him, and
would like to take advantage of this to be as involved as possible with his
experience in preschool as well. My one concern is how much time a coop
actually calls for in commitments and juggling possibly having a second
child in year one or two of the program.
And advice or experience on this, or recommendations of specific
programs - we live in Oakland - would be most helpful. We looked at
MCPC in Montclair but there is only one posting on the website about it
and it is from 1999.
I send my 3.5 yo son to a co-op preschool and I have a 17 month old as well.
The most common way to secure child care for your younger child is to swap
with other parents in your preschool. My retired neighbor watches my
daughter on my work day, which works out great because I don't have to drop
my daughter off anywhere -- no extra stops. I was committed to a co-op
environment before I even knew what I was going to do with daughter and I
just felt that it would somehow work out. And it did.
Every co-op is different, but generally you have a set amount of hours to
work each week (usually one preschool day/week), plus you have meetings to
attend in the evenings, fundraising activities, and a committee job. My
school has maintenance days once/month, general meetings once/month, board
meetings every 6 weeks (I think?) and committee meetings three times/year.
So yes it is a lot of work but then again you're involved in your child's
school and community. I love the co-op environment and can't imagine sending
my kid to any other kind of school.
My child is enrolled in a co-op preschool, and there is quite a bit of
participation involved. Because he only attends three mornings a week, I
work only every other week for one morning (9-12). (He also spends
afternoons there, but they are not part of the cooperative.) On
participation mornings I have an assigned duty (art table, cooking table,
yard, etc.) It's not that much, but if he were enrolled five mornings, I
would have to work one morning a week, which would be too much for me (I
work outside the home).
Aside from the morning of participation, I attend a monthly evening meeting,
take part in fundraising events, handle a ''family job'' that takes a little
time and effort, and my husband will go in for two mornings this year to do
clean-up. It's not terribly demanding, particularly if you don't work
outside the home. But if you do, and/or if your partner is not interested
in helping, you may find it a burden.
One issue that has come up for me is my feeling that women who work outside
the home are at a bit of a disadvantage; because many of the mothers are at
home with their kids, I have sometimes been made to feel that I don't spend
enough time with my child (''wow, your child spends a lot of hours in
school,'' ''your son doesn't really need play dates -- he needs more time
with his parents'' etc.) I am not very patient with long meetings, where
other people seem to have all the time in the world. But perhaps this is
just my guilty conscience speaking.
On the whole, despite my grumpings about working outside the home, we have
been very happy with the co-op situation. We have met some interesting
parents and our child now knows some of the kids he will go to kindergarten
with. And the cost is much more reasonable than other kinds of preschools!
Good luck with your decision.
Co-op mom
I sent both my children to MCPC and it was a wonderful experience. My second
daughter was three months old when my oldest daughter started. The school
has a maternity leave program where you get 6 weeks off once you have a
baby. Lots of mothers trade childcare on the days they work at the school,
so it's usually not too difficult to find someone to look after your infant.
There is nothing like working in a coop. You grow very close to the children
and parents and grow to love and appreciate the community. The best part of
MCPC is working with the kids. There is a lot of extra work, however,
especially in the 2nd year when you sit on the board and run the school. But
I found the work rewarding and looked at it as an opportunity to develop new
leadership skills.
Also, the director and teacher are fantastic and the curriculum is
innovative and fun. My daughters loved the place and so did I.
Frances
My two older children both attended a co-op preschool. I expect the baby
will be in a co-op too. I think they all have very similar practices. I
really liked being able to participate sometimes, and also I liked having so
many other interesting adult role models (parents) around. I have two
comments to add to what others have already said: 1) many co-ops will let
you ''buy-out'' all or part of your work requirement. This way you could
still enjoy the benefits of co-oping sometimes but with a lesser time
demand. The best feature of co-ops is the opportunity to meet other parents
and observe other children the same age as yours, so I wouldn't choose a
co-op if I NEVER wanted to participate, but I agree that the weekly
participation is difficult for working parents. The cost of co-ops is
usually lower than other pre-schools so even if you buy out, you may still
be coming out ahead cost-wise. 2) Hours are required of parents at many
(most?) other private schools, not just co-ops. Weekend clean-ups,
fundraising, and mandatory parent meetings are common. So you may find that
any preschool you choose will have some level of required participation. It
could be that the only additional time expenditure at a co-op is the
one-morning-a-week participation, which you might be able to partly buy out
of.
G.
What's it like in the Coop world?
Oct 2002
Hi. I have spent 10+ years working as an extra curricular
teacher in preschools but up until now didn't have a child in
preschool myself. I'm very interested in the Parent Coops in
this area, specifically Peter Pan and El Cerrito Coop. My
question is whether not having more than one or two 'daily'
teachers is tough on the kids or not. Do the children get
used to having lots of different grownups around all the
time? Also, I'm conflicted about whether all the time required
of the parent in the coop is a benefit or a detraction - I see
that there's the obvious financial benefit, but what's it really
like to attend so many meetings and 'work weekends'? I'd
love to hear why you joined a coop, or why you've left a coop.
Thanks for your input!!
A possible coop parent
We had our son in a co-op (Albany preschool) for one-and-a-half
years, and we felt that it was a very positive experience. The
children do not seem at all bothered by the presence of many
adults; in fact, it was a bonus to have so many willing hands to
help, and I think even the small kids developed a sense of real
community. We did not find the requirements for participation to
be a big drain on our time -- but I switched off with my husband
on the participation day. The extras (family job, weekend work
days) were not at all time-consuming. Generally you can make many
decisions, great and small, about how much you want to do. You
can choose a family job that fits your schedule and doesn't make
unreasonable demands, or you can throw yourself wholeheartedly
into the process and volunteer to be fundraiser or some such. I
would highly recommend the co-op situation for getting to know
people in your community, for establishing ties that will last as
your child starts school, for having close-up experience with your
child's education and socialization, etc. In short, we found it
to be a good thing.
Good luck with your decision,
a satisfied co-op parent
I'm the President of Broadmoor coop in San Leandro. I can't
speak for the two coops you asked about, but I'll be happy to
answer some of your questions.
... (see Broadmoor Parent Coop for the
rest of this review)
May 2002
I'm a concerned parent of a small cooperative preschool in
Berkeley, where we are having trouble breaking even every month
due to our current low enrollment. Since going to mornings only
from full days last fall, the school has been really struggling
to make ends meet. As it's a parent cooperative, we are all
involved/distressed by the idea the school may have to close.
Does anyone have any ideas how we can best get our numbers up? I
have posted the opening all over this site, we've handed out
flyers and are considering paid advertising, though our budget
is obviously limited. I am refraining from listing our school
name because I don't want to seem desperate or for it to appear
that we're not good enough! Any advice or referrals for folks
looking for p/t preschool would be appreciated. thanks
anon
In checking out preschools recently I was eager to try a small
parent cooperative based on the description in the NPN Preschool
Directory. When I called to make an appointment to visit the
school, however, I learned that the school had changed its
schedule to mornings only. This was a big disappointment, as I am
a single mother and must have a full-day program. I'm sure a
great deal of thought went into the decision to change to mornings
only, but it does limit the number of families that can take
advantage of the program. Perhaps it should be reconsidered.
Robin
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