We are a Cooperative
Prairie Flower Children’s Center is a cooperative of families with a passionate commitment to providing educational programming in which children’s hearts, hands and heads are nurtured at each stage of their development, and to building a community where families are strengthened by their involvement.
What is a Cooperative?
A cooperative education model integrates parents into the program, giving shared responsibility along with the teacher and the board of directors. Parents are involved in different aspects of operating and sustaining our programs. Together we build a village – one in which our children are surrounded by caring adults, the sharing of traditions and the protection and celebration of the magic of childhood.
Why the Cooperative Model?
The cooperative model has many benefits.
Commitments
Enrollment in Prairie Flower’s Preschool Cooperative involves the following commitments from parents (or their designee—e.g. parent, teen-aged sibling, grandparent, close friend/godparent, etc.) in addition to tuition:
Committees
Teacher’s helpers Building & Grounds Maintenance
Seasonal Festivals Marketing/ Publicity/ Website
Fundraising
Prairie Flower Children’s Center is a cooperative of families with a passionate commitment to providing educational programming in which children’s hearts, hands and heads are nurtured at each stage of their development, and to building a community where families are strengthened by their involvement.
What is a Cooperative?
A cooperative education model integrates parents into the program, giving shared responsibility along with the teacher and the board of directors. Parents are involved in different aspects of operating and sustaining our programs. Together we build a village – one in which our children are surrounded by caring adults, the sharing of traditions and the protection and celebration of the magic of childhood.
Why the Cooperative Model?
The cooperative model has many benefits.
- Benefits for the children: Children understand the importance their parents place on education by seeing them contribute their time and talents to their children’s school. This parental involvement allows children to share their experiences with the most important people in their lives – their parents.
- Benefits for the parents: First hand understanding of the rhythms and beauty of Prairie Flower; Ability to share your ideas, voice, and talents to help the community; Become a part of the Prairie Flower “village.”
- Benefits for the program: Teacher gets to know families better; More consistency in handling issues between school and home due to regular interactions with parents; lower staffing needs keeps tuition and fees low.
Commitments
Enrollment in Prairie Flower’s Preschool Cooperative involves the following commitments from parents (or their designee—e.g. parent, teen-aged sibling, grandparent, close friend/godparent, etc.) in addition to tuition:
- Serving on at least one committee—this includes attending a monthly committee meeting and delegating and performing tasks associated with the committee’s responsibilities.
- Sign up for volunteer jobs outside of committee work—Many hands make light work. Each family is expected to provide volunteers for several opportunities per year. (e.g. cooking/baking for an event, staffing an activity table at a festival, making crafts for sale or working at a fundraiser, etc.).
Committees
Teacher’s helpers Building & Grounds Maintenance
Seasonal Festivals Marketing/ Publicity/ Website
Fundraising
