Takoma Park Cooperative Nursery School was shaped by generations of families who believed in collective care, meaningful work, and children’s deep connection to the natural world. Our DNA is rooted in cooperative traditions, social change movements, and early childhood philosophies that view learning as relational, place-based, and deeply human.
A Cooperative Tradition of Collective Care
The history of our school is rooted in powerful movements for social change, born of the need to respond to profound societal upheavals and a shared desire to nurture children, support families, and rebuild communities. Founded in 1942 as a parent cooperative to collectively care for children, to teach and uphold mothers in the pursuit of careers or support for their careers. The school’s educational foundation stands on principles forged by the mothers and women who founded cooperative schools who all understood that education is not just a private good but a communal act of care and resilience.
Educational Influences That Shape Our Practice
Our school’s roots lie in powerful movements for social change, inspired by the work of parent cooperative school traditions, by Friedrich Froebel and slow pedagogy, in certain aspects of the Reggio Emilia schools — but mostly in those intentions found in communities which find the need to rely on each other, to become part of their surroundings, and to care for self, others, and place. All walk toward social change, uplifting parents, partnering with trained teachers, nurturing children in their most natural state, and connecting with the place we find ourselves.
We see, as so many before us, education as an act of collective care, empowering parents and children to heal and thrive.
Nature as Relationship, Not Resource
Today, our school carries this legacy forward. We are redefining early childhood education through a nature-based, community-rooted model built from the outside in. Our newly renovated indoor classroom was designed in direct response to our outdoor environment. We have created an architectural reflection of our belief that the landscape is the first teacher.Together, we create a space where education is shared, families are supported, and children are inspired to grow and connect.