What is Co-op?

Cooperative preschools like ours are run primarily by current parents.

We are an independent, non-profit entity run by the parents of current students, along with our paid preschool teachers, and parent educators who come to us from North Seattle College (NSC).

Because we are run by parents, being a co-op member requires an extra bit of time and commitment. One adult from each family volunteers in the classroom once a week. We see parents, grandparents, nannies, and au pairs participate in this role. Each family also volunteers for an important cooperative job within the school. Your job might be a class job, like Class Scheduler, or a leadership role, like Chair of the All School Board. We also come together as a community to organize school events, like our beloved Spring Carnival, and clean and maintain the school building.

In return, families reap a whole host of rewards.

These include:

• A high-quality preschool with a high adult-to-student ratio

• Lower tuition rates than other models

• Early childhood education for parents and caregivers

• Getting to be with your child in the classroom once a week and watching them grow and form relationships at school

• Professional parenting support from your Parent Educator

• Community support from fellow families and close relationships with other parents

Our families provide much needed support for each other, which often leads to lifelong friendships. Parents often arrange childcare swaps and help each other out during the struggles of daily life. Each class holds several family events each year to build community and the school at large holds a handful of community events for families and friends. Classes also rally around families that need extra support — providing meal trains when new babies arrive or a family encounters challenging times.

Children and parents play, learn, and grow.

The children play and learn every school day in the classroom with their Teacher. Each family sends one parent or caregiver to join the class once a week as an “assistant teacher.” They fill important roles in class, such as helping children with art or writing activities, joining in imaginative play with the children, or providing snack for the class. Parents and caregivers also get to know one another, and each other's children, very well by working as assistant teachers together.

Parents also socialize and learn once a month in an evening meeting. One hour of this monthly meeting is led by their Parent Educator, who brings discussion topics about child development, parenting challenges, parenting wins, and other topics as requested by the current group. Parents have a chance to learn from and build community with each other. The second hour is dedicated to class business. We hear updates from the teacher, organize fundraising or community events, and discuss ideas for improving the flow of the class or the school at large.

We hope you will become a member of our community.

The support, friendships, and joy of playing and learning that many of us have found at Victory Heights Co-op is a gift that we want to share with you, as well. Contact us if you would like to schedule a visit or if you have any questions.

Read more about the Co-op Model on the North Seattle Co-ops website.