FAQ
Co-op Overview
Our Preschool is a place for children and parents to learn together! We are play-based; we believe children learn best when they create, explore, build, make believe, and problem solve using real, diverse materials. We practice positive discipline, look for the good in each other, and work to grow cooperation, respect, kindness, and curiosity. Many parents participate daily, so our environment is language rich. Our supportive environment keeps families coming back year after year.
Shoreline Cooperative Preschool is affiliated with Shoreline Community College. This partnership ensures that we meet rigorous standards for our teachers, director, and policies. Our community of families offers a diverse learning environment for our kids to play, learn, and grow. Regular parent education enriches parents as they grow in their changing role as adults and caregivers. And because families participate in the work of our school, both inside and outside the classroom, co-op tuition is quite affordable.
Member Responsibilities
As part of the SCP community, our families commit to having one parent or caregiver:
- Work as an assistant teacher on one set day per week
- Attend parent education meetings one evening per month
- Participate in fundraising at our annual fundraiser
- Help set up the school (one hour in September) and 2 clean up days (Board members are exempt)
- Have a co-op job (usually a commitment of no more than 1-2 hours per month) or hold a board position (Adventurer and Wonderer families are optional)
*Our board is made up of parent volunteers, and is an (optional) wonderful opportunity for interested parents to have a deeper role in shaping and running our school in conjunction with the director and teachers.
Affiliated Co-ops
Shoreline Cooperative Preschool is one of seven local cooperative preschools in the Shoreline Community College Parenting Education Program. When a child is enrolled at our preschool or any of the member co-ops, their parent or caregiver becomes an enrolled student at SCC. This includes all the benefits offered to any SCC student. Parents earn credits through learning about child development in classroom work days, discussion, and monthly parent education. Our teachers are employed as faculty of SCC.
Land Acknowledgement
Shoreline Cooperative Preschool acknowledges that we are located on the unceded land of the Duwamish People, the first people of Seattle, and honors the Duwamish Tribe, their ancestral heritage, and the land with gratitude. If you are so moved, you may pay rent to the Duwamish at https://duwamishtribe.networkforgood.com/projects/35157-real-rent-duwamish. To begin learning more about the Indigenous land you personally live on, please visit www.native-land.ca.
Green School
Preschool is the perfect time to engage kids in learning “green” habits, while they’re forming an understanding of their relationship to — and impact on — the world. Additionally, we have the ability to reach parents through our family involvement, and to benefit from the green habits of our member families to seek safer products and reduce our waste.
Green habits we’ve implemented:
- Composting our food waste
- Replaced cleaners and soaps with organic, non-toxic products
- Reduced our waste by using BPA- and phthalate-free reusable cups and bowls
- Removed toys with toxic paint and harmful plastic
- Performed lead, radon, and BPA tests on school materials
- Created a green committee to identify and implement green practices, and to teach children and parents green habits in everyday life
- Moved our website to a green host that offsets 100% of its data center energy usage through the purchase of Renewable Energy certificates
Check out this video with more information about our green school practices.