HOME ABOUT OUR CO-OP TEACHERS / CLASSES CALENDAR NEWSLETTERS / PRESS TUITION/SCHEDULE POLICIES REGISTRATION FORM SUMMER CAMP MUSIC WITH ZARA TESTIMONIALS SUPPORT THE CO-OP CONTACT US 71 Mount Hebron Rd Upper Montclair, NJ 07043 Phone: 973-783-4535

Watchung Cooperative Preschool Where you can be part of your child's preschool experience QUICK SEARCH:     Home How our co-op works Advantages of a Co-op Preschool School philosophy History Class Descriptions Teacher Profiles Testimonials Newsletter School Calendar Tuition and Class Schedule (2012-13) Registration Form Board of Directors Music With Zara Ill Child Policy School Closing Information Summer Camp Press Releases Support the Co-op Contact Us About Our Co-op Go ahead to: Program & Staff; Role of Parents Go ahead to: Advantages of a Co-op Go ahead to: History of Our Co-op School Philosophy At Watchung Co-op, we encourage learning through hands-on, child-guided play experiences. We emphasize children’s social and emotional well-being while nurturing their love of learning and individual learning styles. Watchung Co-op truly belongs to the parents and children who attend it. Parents are actively involved in how our school works, from classroom participation to family jobs to Board membership. Through your involvement, you enjoy the privilege of sharing your child’s first school experience while easing the transition from home to school. The effort and ingenuity of each family is integral to Watchung Co-op’s operation and tradition. Our school grows and changes with each new group of children and parents who shape its present and build its future. Program and Staff Since 1967, Watchung Co-op has been dedicated to the cooperative framework and providing a rich, positive first school experience. In 2004, the Co-op earned accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). NAEYC accreditation is a testament to the excellence of our program, the developmental appropriateness of our curriculum, and the quality of our staff and their interactions with our children. Watchung Co-op is staffed by caring, committed teachers certified in early childhood education as well as experienced teacher’s assistants. Parents comprise the school's Board of Directors, which sets policy and plans for our school's future. A professional Director works closely with the Board and administers the educational program. Role of Parents Watchung Co-op parents contribute in two main ways. On a rotating basis, about every 4 to 6 weeks depending on the class, parents take turns co-oping in their child’s classroom. Each class has its own daily routine and each teacher will communicate that to parents. In general, the co-oping parent brings a healthy snack; plays, reads, and helps with activities; cleans tables, floors, and art materials; and most of all, enjoys a great time spent with his/her child. In addition to co-oping, each family chooses a family job from a variety of administrative, communication, maintenance, and fundraising tasks required to help run the school and make it a fun, well-informed, functional community. With the variety of choices, there is a job that meets every family’s time and schedule preferences. Besides individual family jobs, every family participates in the school’s year-end cleanup. Advantages of a Co-op Preschool Your regular participation in the classroom helps your child make a more gradual transition from a home-centered to a school-centered life, and may ease separation anxieties. Time spent in the classroom also gives you a natural opportunity to observe your child at school. You will understand what and how your child is learning, and will see first-hand how your child interacts with other children and adults. Working side-by-side with the Co-op’s experienced staff gives you insight into child development, enriching your perspective as a parent. Getting involved in the school and attending family events also give you a chance to meet and work with other parents. For you and your child, new friendships may develop that extend beyond the classroom. History of the Watchung Co-op In September 1967 the school began as the Watchung Church Cooperative Nursery School, located within that church at 143 Watchung Avenue in Montclair. In the mid-70s, after a fire at the church and sale of the property, the school was relocated to its present location at 71 Mt. Hebron Road, leasing space from the Montclair Heights Reformed Church. The school was renamed the Watchung Cooperative Preschool and ceased to have a religious affiliation. Ours is one of the longest-operating preschools in Montclair. The national news that flickered across TV screens in 1967 was a turbulent, raucous mix of politics and pop. Massive anti-Vietnam War demonstrations surged through New York and San Francisco. Riots rocked Newark, Plainfield and 125 other cities across the country. Janis Joplin tore up the stage at the Monterey Pop Festival and a surgeon named Christian Barnard performed the world's first heart transplant. A new magazine, Rolling Stone, hit the newsstands. That was the world at large the year Watchung Cooperative Preschool opened its doors for the first time. Its name was slightly different -- Watchung Church Cooperative Nursery School. But the mission has remained constant through 35 years of teaching small children that school can be a pretty fun place -- and helping parents become part of their children's first school experience. Watchung Co-op began under the auspices of the Watchung Congregational Church, which was located at 143 Watchung Avenue. The church was nestled into a residential area, with no other churches or nursery schools nearby at the time. It had Church School facilities, but no preschool program. Many of its members thought a weekday nursery school would be a nice idea, not only for the church itself but for the neighborhood as a whole. In September 1967, the first class of four-year-olds entered the Watchung Cooperative Nursery School. Their teacher was Betty Bailey, and they attended class four mornings a week. After two successful years, the school added a three-day-per-week afternoon class, taught by Marsha Brock. The way the Co-op was run was similar to the way it's run today. An executive board of school parents administered the school. But the early board also included delegates selected by the church, because the school was then a branch of the Watchung Congregational Church's youth ministry. The school was financially self-supporting, however, and determined its own policies. In the classroom, parent involvement was absolutely key. What an early school brochure called "the cooperative framework" was essential to its philosophy. "It enables [the child] to make a gradual transition from a home-centered life to a school-centered one, with a parent or caretaker frequently present and participating in his nursery school," the brochure explained to parents. Co-oping in the early days was more intensive than today, recalled Betty Bailey in a 2001 interview. There were often two or three parents in the class at a time with the teacher, and no paid assistants. The teacher trained the parent volunteers. In classwork, the Co-op reflected a new but growing awareness that not all children learn in exactly the same way -- and that young children in particular might benefit from a more flexible approach to learning. The curriculum represented a true departure from the 1960s norm. The children weren't forever being asked to sit still and listen up; they moved about the classroom, learning through play, experimentation and interaction. Although this doesn't sound strange or surprising now, it was very cutting-edge for 1967, said Bailey. A great deal of music and art was integrated into the classwork. Bailey liked to play the guitar for her students -- it allowed her to face the children, unlike playing the piano. "It was a really rich program," she said. A fire at the church in the mid-'70s marked a turning point for the school. After a transitional period, the Watchung Congregational Church dissolved; many of its members joined the Union Congregational Church (where Betty Bailey later served as an associate pastor). Meanwhile, the nursery school found a new home a few miles north at Mount Hebron and Valley Roads, in the Montclair Heights Reformed Church. The Watchung Cooperative Preschool ceased to have a church affiliation, and continues to be a nonsectarian institution. Through the '80s and '90s, the Co-op continued its mission of introducing young children to the school experience in a positive, nurturing way, with an emphasis on parental involvement. Our current director, Christi Porter Johnson - in addition to being a certified early childhood teacher, is a former Co-op parent. The Watchung Cooperative Preschool looks forward to helping more children see learning as a wonderful new adventure. And the Co-op will continue to evolve, because its identity remains intertwined with the goals and dreams of its families. "The school is not a finished product," wrote its governing board in the 1960s. "It grows and changes with each new group of children and parents who shape its present and build its future." DID YOU KNOW... The building at Mount Hebron and Valley roads that now houses the Watchung Cooperative Preschool is in an area once known as Speertown, named for the Speers, a Dutch family who arrived in Essex County in the 1600s. The church land was part of a cow pasture from an 18th-century homestead owned by Peter Speer, whose house still stands at 612 Upper Mountain Ave. The picturesque stone church was dedicated in 1901, and the Parish House, where the Co-op's facilities are located, was dedicated as a separate building in 1913. Renovations in the 1920s and 1940s eventually linked the two buildings. Go back to top