THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, January 31, 1995 TAG: 9501310035
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH SIMPSON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 197 lines
KEN WOLF has more to do at his son's preschool than a quick kiss during drop-off this particular Tuesday.
He has to comfort a sobbing 4-year-old who missed his turn at show-and-tell; set out snacks for 14 kids; send out a search-and-rescue team for a missing tennis shoe on the playground.
The preschool day ends at 3 p.m., but the nearly exhausted Wolf isn't finished yet. That night he'll help figure out if the preschool's income is covering expenses, consider boosting tuition rates and make sure the curriculum is living up to the school's tradition.
You might call Wolf, who normally works at Colonial Williamsburg, an involved parent.
But no more involved than the parents in the other 106 families with children in the Williamsburg Parent Cooperative Preschool. The parents form the board that runs the preschool. They do the hiring and firing, set the budget and even help the teachers run the classes.
Not just once in a while. Every day.
And you think getting to your day-care center by 6 p.m. is tough.
If the idea of packing so much into a vacation day is overwhelming, consider what Wolf gets in return.
He knows the names and faces of his children's friends. Knows how his sons act with peers. Picks up tips from the teachers on how to keep a lid on whining and tantrums. Knows - doesn't just guess - what his kids do in school.
In short, he is vested in his children's education.
The Williamsburg co-op is the only one of its kind in Tidewater. There are at least 32 other parent co-ops in the state, mostly in Northern Virginia, and at least 1,000 in the United States and Canada.
Although parent co-ops, defined as preschools owned or administrated by parents and staffed by professional teachers, have been around for decades, the '90s have been a time of evolution.
One of the main requirements of a co-op are parents with time and flexibility, so the advent of the harried two-income family has put a hitch in the movement.
Fewer families today have time to pitch in. At the Williamsburg school, for instance, parents must agree to assist the teacher an average of two classes a month, plus make what's called a ``major commitment'' a year, which could be serving on the 21-member board, helping with the annual spring clean-up or organizing fund raisers.
And for all of that, there's no break in the cost to attend the non-profit school.
Another drawback for working parents is the daily schedule. The preschool classes only last three hours a day, up to three days a week, which doesn't add up very well if you need child care to cover a full-time job.
Yet, there's a clarion call out there that's breathing new life into the idea of parent co-ops.
It can be summed up in two words: parental involvement.
Across the country, educators, politicians and social reformers are urging parents to get more involved in their children's education. Unprecedented efforts are being made to boost the role of parents in public schools. And studies say the child of an involved parent is a successful child.
So what better place to start than at the beginning.
``We don't create parents who are interested in their children's education; they come that way,'' said Susan Axtell, director of the Williamsburg co-op for 17 years. ``But we do give them the sense that they need to know what's going on in class.''
Dawn Quinn could be a teacher in this primary-colored room but for the fact that one brown-haired, brown-eyed boy looks exactly like her and is practically Velcroed to her side.
That would be 5-year-old son Daniel. He's the third Quinn to come through the preschool - two brothers preceded him - and his mother is a firm believer in the co-op philosophy.
``It makes you feel protected and supported,'' said Quinn, who also works as an emergency room nurse. When one parent is sick or has a family emergency, another family steps in to help. Not only do parents know children in their kids' class but they also know their parents too, because they're bound to have worked together in class or on a school project.
On any given day, there could be a carpenter, a doctor, a lawyer, an artist or a college professor helping out the usual slate of five preschool teachers.
Title makes no difference to the children, though. What they see are Dan's mom and Ian's dad, Ethan's dad and Hannah's mom.
And when it's your mom or dad, it is a very, very big deal.
That's because you get benefits. You get to be line leader for the day. Or snack passer-outer. You get to show off your parent. You get a nice soft lap to sit in at circle time. And if you're Dan Quinn, you get to talk about it for days in advance and days after.
You do have to share - a definite drawback - but at the end of the day, mom is yours again.
Dan snuggles up next to his mother and holds her hand as teacher Emma McMillan talks to the 14 children about Martin Luther King. She asks them all to stand.
``Are you going to like me even if I have blue shoes on and you don't?'' McMillan asks.
``Yesss,'' the children chorus.
``OK. Put your arms out and look at your sleeves. Do everybody's sleeves look the same? Do you like Mr. Wolf even though he has white sleeves?''
``Yesss.''
``Do we all have the same color eyes?''
``Some of us do,'' one boy offers.
``Some of us do. But not all of us,'' says McMillan.
``Roll up your sleeves. Let's look at our skin color. I have darker skin than Hannah, but do you still like me?''
Hannah nods her blond head.
The co-op started 26 years ago when a group of mothers whose husbands worked at the College of William and Mary wanted a preschool that would develop both strong children and strong parents.
About 30 families enrolled the first year. Most of the mothers didn't work outside the home in the beginning years, but now most do. Many of the parents work part time, however, or have schedules that are flexible enough to allow them to spend time at the preschool.
``Parents have gotten very creative about the ways they manage it,'' Axtell said. One mother, for instance, works the night shift at a grocery store and comes in after she gets off work. Another family has a grandmother sub for them when the parents can't make it. Others use vacation days and comp time to work out their time.
``It takes a special kind of family,'' Axtell said. ``It takes some juggling, but it appeals to people who like learning themselves.''
The school has had a waiting list most years - they hold a lottery at the beginning of the year for classes with more applications than slots - but recently openings have popped up. They hope it's not a harbinger of things to come.
The history of parent co-ops across the country goes back much further than the Williamsburg school. Kathy Mensel, who runs a national organization called Parent Cooperative Preschool International, places it as far back as World War I, when mothers formed play groups for their children.
The groups not only gave children time to socialize but also gave mothers time to volunteer at the Red Cross.
The number of parent co-ops has grown steadily through the decades, with strongholds in California and Canada. While many co-ops have closed recently because more parents are working, some are changing to meet the needs of those working parents.
Some have gone from half-day to full-day schedules. Some allow nannies, au pairs, baby sitters and relatives to substitute for parents in the classroom. In some schools, parents can even buy their way in without serving time in the class. Axtell is quick to say the Williamsburg school doesn't allow that, adding, ``It's not our philosophy.''
Marshmallows and toothpicks for mini-sculptures.
Check.
Neon-colored Play-Doh.
Check.
Gerbils fed. Check.
McMillan and another teacher, Sue Swadley, are getting ready for the second shift of classes while parents pick up morning kids and drop off afternoon ones.
Far from feeling like they work each day with their bosses, the teachers feel a sense of camaraderie with the parents who troop through these art-festooned rooms. Parents bring different perspectives to the classroom.
There was the Jamestown employee who brought in archaeological samples. The musician who played guitar during story time. The builder who gave a field trip to a construction site - and then kept doing it every year even after his kids graduated from the co-op.
``You always have to be `on,' but I don't think that's a bad thing,'' said Swadley, who's been teaching at the co-op for 16 years. ``It keeps you honest as a teacher.''
Parents often find public schoolteachers a little more resistant to their showing up at the classroom. Wolf talks about friends whose kids recently moved from co-op to public schools: ``It was like they were almost depressed. The co-op had been so nurturing, and public school just couldn't be like that. There's no way you could be as involved.''
Maybe the children have the best take on what's good about a co-op.
McMillan poses a few questions for the children before they leave for the day. Why do their parents come to school? And what do the kids like about having them here?
``They make stuff with you,'' says Kalie Johnson.
``We like it because we love them,'' says Tyler Berry, throwing his arms in the air.
``And because they're special,'' chimes in Margaret Lowry.
And finally, little Joan Wu, her brow furrowed in concentration, offers what may be the most convincing explanation for why parents come to the co-op:
``Because they want to play too.''
If they would only admit it. ILLUSTRATION: BETH BERGMAN/Staff color photos
Parent Ken Wolf joins the kids on the floor of Williamsburg Parent
Cooperative Preschool, where he contributes time to help the
teachers.
Above: Teachers like Emma McMillan share a sense of camaraderie with
parents children. Right: Youngsters listen attentively during
storytelling time. Joan Wu, foreground, says parents like the school
``because they like to play too.''
Photo
BETH BER[G]MAN/Staff
Elyse Blunt, center, and Robert Ackley, on the stump, have a playful
moment while Ken Wolf volunteers at the co-op day-care center in
Williamsburg.
KEYWORDS: DAY CARE CENTERS by CNB