Established co-op preschool offers continued support

Lab coordinator Elli Martin encourages students at Stanwood Cooperative preschool to develop social and emotional skills during play. Kids. They grow up fast.

Parents involved in the Stanwood-Cooperative Preschool get to savor the process through structured, ageappropriate play.

Operated by families in the Stanwood, Camano Island, Arlington and Mount Vernon areas since 1976, the co-op preschool focuses on growth by everyone involved.

Educational discussions and participation in day-today activities allow parents “to grow with their child,” said Elli Martin, lab coordinator.

In addition to spending time with their children, parents are required to volunteer in the classroom, help maintain school grounds, attend parent education meetings, assist with fundraising and participate in administrative decisions.

But, it isn’t always work.

Parents, grandparents and guardians also lose themselves in the midst of interacting with the children. Each day is organized around a variety of projects and hands-on activities to develop the children’s social and emotional skills.

“Through dramatic play and interaction with their peers, the children begin to understand that actions have consequences,” said Martin. “We encourage the children to solve problems through compromise by advocating for themselves with words.”

Fostering choice in a positive atmosphere, combined with a low child to parent/teacher ratio, allows children in the co-op to develop the foundational tools of learning prior to kindergarten, said Martin.

A new facility with its own kitchen, bathrooms and outside play area doesn’t hurt either.

The preschool’s newest digs, a remodeled house behind the Stanwood Food Bank, was donated by a former parent in the program.

Now in their second year at the larger facility, the preschool offers more options for parents and teachers to engage the children.

“I’ve seen a lot of preschools,” said Leslie Foss, family life instructor at the co-op. “This is by far the best facility.”

Alumni support and involvement in the program after their children have moved on is not uncommon.

Former parent participant Kathleen Buchanan said, “This school is vital to the community. I wouldn’t be the parent I am today without this support system. It’s something you can’t put a price tag on.”

Tight family budgets may have something to do with declining enrollment recently. A financial assistance program, based on individual cases of financial hardship rather than income, is in place to make the preschool accessible to families in the community, said Martin.

Being a non-profit organization, all tuition fees go directly to operational expenses.

Formerly sponsored by Everett Community College’s Parent Education program, the preschool is now operating on its own.

“In June of 2009, when the college budget was approved, cooperatives were not funded,” said Sandra Fowler-Hill, Ed.D., vice president of instruction at the college. “Due to significant budget cuts, we could not continue the parent education classes at each of the cooperatives; therefore, the affiliation was terminated.”

Despite recent changes, the preschool will continue to offer education classes with their own funding.

Martin said the concept of a co-op preschool may be intimidating to some people. However, the benefits of the program, for children and parents, including life-long bonds of friendship, far outweigh any initial trepidation, she said.

“We have a unique preschool,” she added. “I think, a fabulous one.”

For more information about the Stanwood Cooperative Preschool or to schedule a visit, call 629- 3155.

Staff Reporter Adam Stewart: 629-8066 ext. 115 or astewart@scnews.com.