Three Rivers Co-Op Preschool

About

A cooperative preschool serving 3-5 year old children

Story

A cooperative school is owned and run with the help of our parents. We have a well qualified staff with many years of teaching experience. Each class has a teacher and a teacher's assistant. Our families also provide an additional person to work with the class each day. This gives our students many hands to assist them as they learn.

Mission

Description
The Three Rivers Co-operative Preschool, Inc. was founded in 1969 as a non-profit organization with a very simple philosophy: children, parents, and teachers attend school together, all learning from each other.

Five basic principles help shape our school:

Individual Acceptance

Each child is accepted as an individual, and is helped to develop his/her full capacities at his/her own rate of progress. Positive self-images are tenderly nurtured.

A Child Size World

Children need to find themselves in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere where they can explore, share, play, and communicate with other children their own age.

Freedom Within Limits

Children need to understand and accept limits. They need order to their day and freedom in their play. Teachers maintain a safe, healthy, carefully supervised environment.

Meaningful Curriculum

Our classroom activities challenge children to move forward at their own rate of success. Our integrated curriculum fosters learning and development through guided learning, experimentation, and cooperative play.

Parent Participation

Parents come to the school regularly to work and observe. Through close association with a professionally trained teacher, the parents acquire specialized skills and a greater understanding. They learn about other children; they see their own child from a different perspective. A shared commitment between the child, parent, and teacher facilitates the child's adjustment to later school experiences.

Class Size and Schedule:

There are no more than 16 children (generally 4 and 5 year-olds) in each three-day class and no more than 14 children (general 3 and 4 year-olds) in each two-day class.