Lincoln Park Cooperative Preschool is a school that includes teachers, children, and their caregivers in a way that provides an education for the children, a resource and support system for families, and a community where all can thrive.
At Lincoln Park Cooperative preschool, skilled preschool teachers provide a nurturing, comfortable, creative environment in which to play, observe, and experience new things. They provide space for kids to explore and get messy with art, to run and climb. There is a daily schedule for the children with smooth transitions and a routine that the children learn to follow and expect. There are classes for the just walker, up to the 4 and 5 year olds preparing for kindergarten.
At Lincoln Park, parents are teacher’s assistants, too. As the year goes by, fall into spring, the children develop rapidly. Together, we sing songs, tell stories, read books, build structures, imagine and create. We model behavior and focus on whole family involvement. Their language skills improve. They become more self-confident. It is remarkable to experience this growth with the kids. Because of parent involvement, the adult to child ratio is high -- and this keeps costs reasonable.
Lincoln Park Cooperative preschool is affiliated with South Seattle Community College. The college provides us with parent educators that help us to understand our children and give us the information we need, whether it is how to talk to our children, to show them how to interact with other children, or how to deal with the daily struggles that being a parent. There are also free educational seminars provided by these teachers to deal with specific issues.
Lincoln Park is fortunate to also offer a Spanish program for the 3 to 5 year olds. Once a week the children create art, sing, and dance with our Spanish teacher, and are given the gift of enjoying learning another language.
Lincoln Park Cooperative preschool provides a community where children feel safe and parents feel supported. As parents work in the classroom and at jobs for which they have volunteered, they interact with other parents and children, both ages finding life-long friends as they move up and on into elementary school.