About UsParents play an important role in our cooperative preschool program as they complete their cooperative jobs, volunteer to help in the classroom, or assist in the school's administration. Just as the program at Cloverdale invites parents to participate by bringing their interests and talents into the classroom, we also work to create a cooperative and collaborative culture among the children within a multi-age group, much like a family structure that includes children of different ages. Children learn from one another by observing and emulating their peers. This provides the opportunity for leadership, inclusion, empathy, and responsibility.
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The Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care recognizes that multi-age grouping can enhance social and emotional development and encourage cognitive development for all participating children. Older children can be role models for younger children as they increasingly express their ideas and feelings through words while younger children may experience more social participation maximizing opportunities for language and interaction. Here are some quotes from pioneers in the field of early childhood education:
Lev Vygotsky ~ "What a child can do in cooperation today, he can do alone tomorrow"
Lillian Katz ~ "It's beneficial for children to stay with the same teacher for more than one year. Mixed age grouping provides a variety of levels of social and intellectual competencies"
Maria Montessori ~ "When children teach one another, it helps a child to understand his or her own skills and knowledge even better"
Mildred Parten ~ "Through observation and participation, it helps children move through the stages of play from being an onlooker to cooperative play"
Lev Vygotsky ~ "What a child can do in cooperation today, he can do alone tomorrow"
Lillian Katz ~ "It's beneficial for children to stay with the same teacher for more than one year. Mixed age grouping provides a variety of levels of social and intellectual competencies"
Maria Montessori ~ "When children teach one another, it helps a child to understand his or her own skills and knowledge even better"
Mildred Parten ~ "Through observation and participation, it helps children move through the stages of play from being an onlooker to cooperative play"
School Hours |
Four-hour program: 8:30-12:30
Seven-hour extended day program: 8:30-3:30 available for 2, 3, 4 and 5 days. Optional 8:15 drop-off and 3:45 pick-up. School is in session from September through mid-June. |
Days Available |
2 days: M/T or TH/F
3 days: M/T/W or W/TH/F 4 days: M/T/TH/F 5 days: M-F We offer a Buy-a-Day option for an extra morning and a Walk-in option for extended day. |
Our History |
In 1949, a group of mothers formed a small play school in the home of one of the parents in the Cloverdale section of Florence. In 1952, Anna Russell, a long time professional in the field of Early Childhood Education, was hired as the teacher in the newly created Cloverdale Play School, a building off the home of a friend on Carolyn Street in Florence. As the numbers of children increased, a teacher was hired. In 1954, a building was constructed and parents began to take a more active role in the classroom with the teacher, who advocated that parents, a child's first teachers, should be actively involved in their children's first educational experience apart from home; thus establishing the first cooperative preschool in the area. The school has also taken residence in Northampton while located in People's Institute on Gothic Street, St John's Episcopal Church on Elm Street and at the YMCA on Prospect Street. It has enjoyed its current location at the Florence Congregational Church since 1975. After 62 years, it continues to thrive as a parent cooperative and families remain an integral part of their children's early childhood educational experiences away from home.
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