Gonzales Preschool is a parent participation preschool that employs both an ECE and an ECE Assistant. The additional support of the ECE Assistant provides consistency for the children, as well as more one-on-one care and support from qualified teachers. It also allows the school to better meet the needs of busy families by allowing for fewer duty days (though caregivers are always welcome in the classroom).
Our progressive cooperative model, with its parent involvement, helps children establish warm and trusting relationships with other adults who care, thus facilitating a smooth transition from home to school. It also helps parents in establishing friendships with other neighboring families. This holistic approach to early learning is one that benefits children and their families.

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Playing & Learning Together:

Our program provides experiences that promote the intellectual, physical, social, emotional, aesthetic and artistic development of the child.  Our objectives are to:

• Expand the children's range of experience, through exploration of a wide variety of materials, equipment, and situations.
• Encourage the child's sense of self-worth, providing situations where he/she can be successful.
• Develop the child's sense of responsibility through tasks and routines appropriate to his/her level.
• Develop physical skills appropriate to the child's developmental level.
• Foster the child's awareness of, and sensitivity to, the environment.
• Encourage imagination, creativity, curiosity, initiative.
• Increase the child's ability to communicate through language development, listening skills and social interaction.
• Encourage the development of social skills, consideration for the rights and feelings of others, sharing, taking turns, and cooperation.
• Help the child to handle emotions in positive and constructive ways, encouraging the development of self-discipline.
• Keep alive the wonderment and awe that are natural in children.

A Co-operative Commitment:   

This is a wonderful chance to be involved in your child’s education and to see your child interacting with others in the classroom.  Parents gain invaluable knowledge from being a part of the classroom, learning from the ECE, as well as participating in monthly parent education sessions. Parents also get the opportunity to meet and collaborate with other parents in and out of the classroom. Each family is required to participate in a variety of ways: as a duty parent, by fulfilling a job within the school, by attending monthly meetings, and by participating in fundraising. Classroom requirements or duty days will be approximately once per month assuming full enrollment. Gonzales also offers limited-participation roles whereby families would only be required to participate in fundraising.

Involvement and Participation:

• May – Welcome Orientation and Shadow Duty Day for new parents.
• June – General Meeting and Social.
• September Orientation.
• Duty days - approximately once a month.
• Each full participation family holds a ‘job’ for the school.
• Each family participates in one major clean-up of the classroom each year (winter holidays, Spring Break, or June).
• Each child must be represented at the monthly general meetings which include a Parent Education guest speaker (2^ndThurs, 7:00 - 8:00 p.m.), with business meetings from 8:00 - 9:00 p.m.
• Each family participates in fundraising.

Our Staff