What We Do
Mission
Oneonta Cooperative Nursery School is dedicated to building a diverse and supportive community where a partnership between teachers and parents nurtures children to be confident, compassionate, and curious in their life and learning endeavors.
Philosophy
OCNS recognizes that above all we must continuously work to ensure a Co-Op community that is welcoming, inclusive, diverse, and operating from a place of equity. This is achieved through thoughtful conversations that inform policy and curriculum rooted in anti-bias practices.
We believe that each child brings uniqueness to the preschool experience. We honor this individuality by creating space for each child to develop on a social-emotional level at their own pace.
As a relationship-driven community we believe that the roles traditionally seen as Teacher (Contributor) and Student (Learner) are actually dual-existing roles. Teachers and parents learn together, from each other, and from the children. Similarly, children learn from parents, teachers, and their peers. Finally, the environment, often referenced as the third teacher, plays a pivotal role in a child’s early development. With this in mind we utilize an experiential learning, child-led, play-based approach.
OCNS students are the guiding force of their early education. They learn collectively and develop secure feelings about their contribution to a community, value different perspectives, explore new opportunities, and have a broader lens for learning- all while playing.
Anti-bias Curriculum
OCNS is a space, a collective of families and teachers who come together to support children in nurturing, adventurous, organic yet purposeful learning experiences. As a Co-Op school we recognize that everyone in our community adds strength and value. We foster an environment where children (& their grown ups) are encouraged to share about their family make-up, culture and traditions, special moments, language, abilities and strengths, passions and motivations. Our classrooms are thoughtfully curated alongside our students to be reflective of our local community and larger society. This can be seen through the books in our library, music we listen to and songs we sing, language we use, events we host, and more!