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The parents of the Lake Forest Cooperative Nursery School understand the demands of a family’s daily life and that is why we have voted in some important changes, in which parent participation is at a minimum, but learning still remains at a maximum. The Lake Forest Cooperative Nursery School is a non-profit organization formed and operated by its members to provide nursery school education for their children. It is a NJ State Licensed Facility with a Certified Teacher.

Classes meet from Tuesday-Thursday. Our 3 year old program runs from 9:15 - 11:45 and the 4 year old program runs from 12:30-3:00. School opens Tuesday, of the first full week in September, and closes Thursday, of the first full week in June. School vacations coincide with the Jefferson Township Public School dates including closing of school due to inclement weather.

Special values accrue to parents as well as to children in this type of nursery school: a new appreciation for each parent for his/her own child as a person; a new insight about supporting his/her own child’s sense of adequacy while grooming him/her emotionally for comfortable social living; new understanding of the patterns of child growth; a sense of comradeship with teachers; skills in group membership; and community service that is integrated with family life. Cooperative nursery schools have the unique feature of being organized and administered by the parents who in turn employ qualified teachers to direct the educational program. In cooperatives, parents can assume some of the responsibilities. Mothers, fathers, and other family members take the place of teacher’s aides. Being a part of the classroom as a helping parent has been a much loved part of our program for parent and child. This cooperative environment enables discussion and exchange with other parents and the teacher regarding child development, family/child relationships and access to the larger community and its resources. This function will continue on in the same manner it has in the past, requiring parents to be in the classroom on a rotating basis. With 10 children in each class parents would need to be available for 1 school week out of every 10 weeks. Our Parent Handbook outlines the duties of The Helping Parent, and can be found for your review on our website.

The most exciting change will be to Hire A Moving Team to complete move in and move out. Parents will only be required to attend a move in/out on a rotational basis. With 20 children enrolled in the program the requirement would be about an hour, 1 day every 10 weeks. Parents are responsible for getting the key to let in the moving team and lock up after the job is complete. Parents completing Move In will also be responsible for vacuuming and cleaning a section of the school to meet our maintenance requirements. The school will be broken into 4 sections with one section to be cleaned each week. The Move out parent will be responsible for mopping and wiping down the windows.

Committees will be disbanded and a Volunteer List will be handed out at the first meeting. Parents will be asked to volunteer for one job on the list. Some jobs include the planning of one class trip or fundraiser, planning a portion of Graduation etc. More difficult jobs will require 2 parents and jobs that must be performed each month will have more than one parent assigned. Jobs will be created based on the need for the school and enrollment.
In an effort to ease the stress of monthly trips and excessive fundraising, we will limit trips to 4 xs per year and run 4 specific fundraisers.
Parents will only be required to attend meetings every other month, instead of monthly. Additional communication will occur through our website and via email.

Lastly, we will continue to ask parents to donate maintenance supplies (paper towels, cleaning products) to the school on a rotating basis as well as party supplies (snacks, drinks etc) for the four parties we will have during the school year.

We appreciate your time and thank you in advance for helping us make the Lake Forest Cooperative Nursery School a continued success.

If you have any questions or are interested in attending the school please contact us at 973-668-0824, or email us at LFNursery@lfyc.org.

We look forward to educating our community’s children and preparing them for a successful introduction to Kindergarten.