WHAT IS A COOPERATIVE PRESCHOOL?
- Like other types of cooperatives, a co-op preschool is owned by its members.
- In a cooperative preschool parents become members upon enrollment.
- The preschool is managed as a partnership between the parents and a team of professional educators.
- The school's Director and educators are responsible for meeting the educational needs of the children and providing the parents with support and resources.
- The Director and parent Board Members are responsible for meeting the financial and organizational needs of the co-op.
- All members of the co-op are required to fulfill specific work and financial commitments.
- Each cooperative preschool is unique and has its own required number of membership commitments.
- Some parents may volunteer to work on a committee or special projects, or become Board Members.
MEMBERSHIP REQUIREMENTS
In addition to paying tuition and adhering to health-related state laws, each family is required to do the following as members:
- Participate as a workday parent at ANS two to six times per month.
- Provide snack once a month.
- Attend two to three parent education events each school year.
- Participate in one workshop for every two months of school enrollment.
- To participate in the annual ANS Orange Sale Fundraiser.
- To attend the mandatory Back-To-School Night in September and one Orange Sale Meeting.
PARENT WORKDAYS
Why it’s important
We cannot emphasize enough how important parent workdays are to the experience your family will have at ANS. We believe mothers and fathers have much to share with their children and with each other. ANS recognizes that parenting is a complex and dignified vocation; a skill to be actively developed. And as much as the children learn from seeing their own parent actively participating in their school day, parents also learn from the carefully designed, loving environment at ANS. This shared experience builds pathways of understanding and communication naturally between parent, child, and teacher.
How it works
As members of the co-op, each family contributes by working as teaching assistants (a.k.a. Workday Parents) a certain number of days per month. Parent Workdays are calculated using a few Excel formulas that take into account a) the number of days your child(ren) attends per month, b) total number of school days per month, and c) the total number of children attending per month. The formula also accounts for fluctuations in enrollment or for extenuating circumstances, (e.g. maternity or emergency medical leave).
We cannot emphasize enough how important parent workdays are to the experience your family will have at ANS. We believe mothers and fathers have much to share with their children and with each other. ANS recognizes that parenting is a complex and dignified vocation; a skill to be actively developed. And as much as the children learn from seeing their own parent actively participating in their school day, parents also learn from the carefully designed, loving environment at ANS. This shared experience builds pathways of understanding and communication naturally between parent, child, and teacher.
How it works
As members of the co-op, each family contributes by working as teaching assistants (a.k.a. Workday Parents) a certain number of days per month. Parent Workdays are calculated using a few Excel formulas that take into account a) the number of days your child(ren) attends per month, b) total number of school days per month, and c) the total number of children attending per month. The formula also accounts for fluctuations in enrollment or for extenuating circumstances, (e.g. maternity or emergency medical leave).
Workday Schedule
On your workday morning:
Newly Attending Children & Maternity Leave
On your workday morning:
- You will be expected to arrive between 8:30 and 8:45 a.m. to help with set-up, and to stay until approximately 12:30 p.m. to finish cleaning.
- Upon arrival you will drop off your child in the Bonus Room where the children start their day. Then you will see where you will be working that day and put on an ANS apron and pick up the corresponding job description (the cards outline the duties for each working parent’s position).
- The teachers will explain to you anything above and beyond the duties on your on your job description.
- Two parents work per day per classroom for a total of six parents.
- In extenuating circumstances, parents can trade days and hire parent substitutes to work in order to meet the demands of busy schedules. Parents may hire subs for 1/3 of their workdays.
- Grandparents who have had the required TB test and proof of immunity to MMR and TDAP (state law for adult volunteers) may work at school.
Newly Attending Children & Maternity Leave
- Parents of newly attending children will not work for the first four weeks of their children's attendance.
- Maternity leave excuses the family from parent workdays for 6 weeks. Families are expected to fulfill their other co-op commitments such as snack, workshops and the Orange Sale.
- If you are excused from workdays for a newly attending child or maternity leave, you are not expected to "make up" those days over the rest of the year.
SNACKS
Every day at ANS, the children share in a Snack Time. Two families (a.k.a. Snack Families) provide a fully prepared snack each day which includes a balance of food groups.
Even this everyday event has proven to be a special activity with the children. Snack is a nice transitional time between their outside play to their classrooms where they sit together and are encouraged to use table manners appropriate to their age. As the children grow through the school year and on through their time at ANS, so do their social graces at the snack table.
As each family is required to sign up for about one snack day per month, this can be a great educational time for the children to work together with their parents to decide on what healthy snack they want to share with the other children at the school. If, they want to bring a snack that is a new taste experience for many of the other children, that child becomes an ambassador for their family snack tradition. Since two Snack Families work together to provide snack this becomes another opportunity for families to establish relationships within the school.
Often children have allergies or lifestyle choices in regards to food. The staff and parents are diligent in monitoring and assisting children in making healthy choices at Snack Time. We do not abstain from any food item unless it poses a significant health risk to a child or parent or is a choking hazard. Instead we ask that parents of said children bring in healthy alternatives to keep on hand for the days the snack provided does not have enough healthy choices for their child.
This information and more about snacks, including ideas and guidelines for food prep can be found in our helpful Parent Handbook!
Even this everyday event has proven to be a special activity with the children. Snack is a nice transitional time between their outside play to their classrooms where they sit together and are encouraged to use table manners appropriate to their age. As the children grow through the school year and on through their time at ANS, so do their social graces at the snack table.
As each family is required to sign up for about one snack day per month, this can be a great educational time for the children to work together with their parents to decide on what healthy snack they want to share with the other children at the school. If, they want to bring a snack that is a new taste experience for many of the other children, that child becomes an ambassador for their family snack tradition. Since two Snack Families work together to provide snack this becomes another opportunity for families to establish relationships within the school.
Often children have allergies or lifestyle choices in regards to food. The staff and parents are diligent in monitoring and assisting children in making healthy choices at Snack Time. We do not abstain from any food item unless it poses a significant health risk to a child or parent or is a choking hazard. Instead we ask that parents of said children bring in healthy alternatives to keep on hand for the days the snack provided does not have enough healthy choices for their child.
This information and more about snacks, including ideas and guidelines for food prep can be found in our helpful Parent Handbook!
PARENT EDUCATION
The most important and dynamic parent education ANS offers is the time you spend as a working parent during your parent workdays. As our history and philosophy reflect, we are committed to being a place of enrichment and education for the entire family. While your children are gently guided toward greater confidence and independence, you can also take advantage of the Parent Education opportunities we offer to enhance your parenting toolbox.
We offer:
We offer:
- Workshops provided by our Director and outside professionals on various and relevant topics.
- Teacher Talks - One hour classes, on various topics, presented by individual teachers during the school day.
- How We Talk Matters - a two hour workshop, held twice a year that explains our school's language from the perspective of the teachers and the Director.
- Annual state wide convention hosted by CCPPNS for parents and teachers.
WORKSHOPS
Becoming a member of our co-op nursery school is becoming a member of a community responsible for looking after our school in much the same way that we look after our children. In order to maintain our school and keep our equipment in good repair, it is necessary that every family participate in workshops during the year. As with so many of the choices Altadena Nursery School has made about guiding the community, serving our school in this way not only keeps tuition costs down but helps us to link community members through time spent working together with a common purpose.
- One workshop will be expected for every two months of school enrollment per family, not to exceed four workshops per year. In the case of a single-parent family, one workshop will be expected for every four months of school enrollment, not to exceed two workshops.
- Workshops are held on Saturday mornings from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. At the beginning of the year, you may sign up for the workshop dates which are most convenient for you.
- There will be a list of things to do: anything from washing windows, painting, repairing old toys to working in the garden.
- Since it is very difficult to accomplish this kind of work with small children around, you may not bring your children with you on workshop days. Our members have found workday childcare solutions such as trading babysitting with another couple from the school or for only one parent to work each of the four workshops. Of course if childcare is not an issue, both parents may work the same day which would count toward two of your workshop credits.
FUNDRAISING
The Orange Sale
Each year ANS holds The Almost World Famous Orange Sale, our Orange and Grapefruit Sale—our only mandatory fundraising event. Every January, the entire membership pulls together to sell four tons of citrus. This lucrative fundraiser has come to represent us as a community and helps us to meet 35% of our annual operating budget goals. In addition to the hard work every family puts into this sale, it is our continued tending of relationships with our alumni, local neighbors, and businesses that has made this event successful since 1953.
Each year ANS holds The Almost World Famous Orange Sale, our Orange and Grapefruit Sale—our only mandatory fundraising event. Every January, the entire membership pulls together to sell four tons of citrus. This lucrative fundraiser has come to represent us as a community and helps us to meet 35% of our annual operating budget goals. In addition to the hard work every family puts into this sale, it is our continued tending of relationships with our alumni, local neighbors, and businesses that has made this event successful since 1953.
789 N. Altadena Dr. Pasadena, CA. 91107
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