What is a Cooperative Preschool?

Parents are actively engaged in their child’s education in a cooperative preschool. At Escuela Cooperativa, each family pledges to volunteer four hours a week to provide support to the teachers. They are responsible for general cleaning, sharing their expertise such as teaching English, providing lunches and walking the children to the playground. Their contribution is significant as they bring their experience and expertise to the school through their different skill sets. (If a parent is not able to commit to four hours per week, there is a small tuition of 1900 pesos a month and four hours a month to serve on committees and the Parent Advisory Council.)

Community and Communication

There’s a dedicated WhatsApp stream where parents and teachers communicate daily. The teachers post pictures of the children as they engage in the day’s activities. Families use it to post invites to birthday parties and update the others on community and family events.

The teachers assign each family to a team. The teams come to the school, often with their children, biweekly to clean the classroom and maintain the grounds by raking, weeding, sweeping and repairing equipment as needed.
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Monthly, all parents come together for an evening meeting with the teachers to share updates and discuss any issues.

Testimonials

"Me gusta se ven felices los ninos. "
(I like the kids are happy.)
 
"Mil gracias que Linda se ve mi nina feliz! Aligual ques los demas peques. "
(Thank you that Linda is my happy girl! Like the other kids.)

"We just love the fact that its Spanish families and locals and the Montessori bit and the fact that he can learn Spanish. There’s different elements, whether it’s the art or the music. I think you could tell that the teachers all really love the kids, especially the first year. I feel like Jasper would come home with lipstick kiss marks every couple days. Lots of love for sure."

"But you know, it really helped him a lot. He wasn’t very social with other kids when he went in and now he’s just like, over a year later, and he’s totally a different boy. So I think that’s kind of the most important thing about school at that age, the social interaction."