Parent Responsibilities

The Northwest Co-op Preschool is owned and operated by its members, the families who have enrolled their children in classes. Each family fulfills roles in the preschool to ensure the best education for our children and to secure the continuity of the preschool for the community.

The preschool is designed for families who want to participate in their child’s education in a unique way. The Co-op approach is enriched with the presence of parents observing and participating in daily class activities. Positive parent-child interactions boost self-esteem, as well as, promote problem solving and curiosity.

Parent responsibilities include:

  1. Classroom participation: Each class period will have two parents in the classroom. Parents will fill this role on a rotating basis. Depending on enrollment, parents can expect to be in the classroom once every two weeks. Parents’ work and personal schedules are taken into consideration when creating the schedule. Healthy snacks are provided to the class by one of the working parents. This is also assigned on a rotating basis. Healthy snack ideas are available. Parents who will be participating in the classroom MUST be cleared through the DHS Central Registry.
  2. Participating on a committee: Each family should plan to devote between 10-20 hours to committee participation per year. During enrollment, parents can request assignment to a particular committee position. All positions are filled, combined, or eliminated at the discretion of the board based on the greatest needs of the school and students.
  3. Maintaining the Classroom: Each family is required to participate in two cleanings per school year. Cleaning and disinfecting the classroom is important to the health and well-being of our students. This important task occurs approximately once every six weeks and takes approximately three hours. Parents selecting the cleaning committee will clean four times per year. Board members clean once per year.
  4. Fundraising: Families are asked to participate in fundraising each year. Money made from a variety of fundraisers helps to offset traditional tuition costs, while still helping to provide additional funds to support school programs and supplies. Past fundraisers have included a Hike-A-Thon, soup and sub sale, flower sale, carnival, and more.
  5. General Meetings: Two general meetings are held each year. The September and January meetings MUST be attended by at least one parent from each family. The meeting in September offers an introduction or review of policies, procedures, safety information, fundraising, and curriculum. At the January meeting, an update on school activities and fundraising is presented and there is a speaker offering useful information. Our new Board of Directors is elected at the April board meeting.