Woodland Park Community Preschool, located in the Fremont Baptist Church building, has just announced its new 5’s program, the latest addition to its community of cooperative schools. Classes will meet Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 1-4 p.m. The school will enroll students due to turn five on or before December 31, 2012.
This program works ideally for students who are:
- taking a transitional year before starting kindergarten
- enrolled in half-day morning kindergarten
- turning five by December 31st and ready to start Pre-K
The Woodland Park 5’s program can best be described as a progressive, play-based curriculum, one that starts from the premise that children learn best when given the opportunity to freely engage with the world around them, pursuing their own passions and curiosities in a community setting.
“Teacher Tom” Hobson, Woodland Park’s teacher since 2002, thinks of the school as a community in which families choose to raise their children together. Just as earlier generations learned everything they needed to know from neighbors and their neighborhood, Teacher Tom strives to create a classroom in which children are stimulated to explore the world beyond their own homes in partnership with the adults who love them.
A cooperative school, Woodland Park Community Preschools is owned and operated by the families of its students. Parents take on essential roles both inside and outside the classroom, serving as assistant teachers and fulfilling other roles in the school from executive to janitorial, with the teacher being the sole paid employee. The powerful dynamic of parents working shoulder-to-shoulder with the teacher helps insure a unique and vibrant learning experience for each child.
For more details, and enrollment information, please visit the 5’s Program website. The Pre-3’s and 3-5’s classes in the Woodland Park Community Preschools are part of a network of independent cooperative preschools run through North Seattle Community College, and are also enrolling students for the 2012-13 school year now. Find out more about those programs on-line as well.