Our New School!

This is going to be a short and sweet post today. I'm heading out soon to a preschool fair hosted by the Moms Club of Seattle NW where the North Seattle Community College cooperative preschools will have a table. Ordinarily, I don't attend these events, but this year is different in that the Woodland Park community has decided to add a 5's program for the coming fall and I want to be there personally to talk with parents about it.

The idea of adding a 5's program to our community of schools has been percolating since we moved to the Center of the Universe last June. A group of us have decided to take the plunge and enroll a class of 17-20 for the 2012-13 school year. This will be a 4-day-a-week afternoon program for kids who turn 5 on or before December 31, 2012, and whose parents want to take a transitional year before kindergarten. We also know that there are some families whose children are enrolled in morning half-day public school kindergarten who want to supplement that with an afternoon play-based program. This also might be a good choice for those who have been home schooling through these preschool years and are now looking to explore school with their child in a community of like-minded parents. 

The class will be taught by yours truly.

If you happen to be a reader in Seattle and think this sounds like it might be right for your child, click here for more information. If you're new to cooperatives, please make sure to take a good look at the section labeled "Parent Participation includes." We are a low tuition, high parent commitment kind of operation: it's the strength of our schools. If you want more detailed information about how our cooperatives work, you might want to click over to my "Cooperative Nuts and Bolts" series (read the articles from the bottom up).

I'm excited about this for all kinds of reasons, not the least being that for some kids at least, I will now be their teacher for 4 full years, meaning I also get to keep their families in my life for that extra year. I'm jazzed about the creative process of building a new school with these families and their kids, shaping a learning environment and curriculum perfectly tailored to who we are together. But mostly, I think, I look forward to introducing new families to our loving, dynamic, get-it-done community and the kind of progressive, play-based learning experience we offer at Woodland Park.

I put a lot of time and effort into this blog. If you'd like to support me please consider a small contribution to the cause. Thank you!