Dandelion Nursery School

Welcome!

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Welcome to the Dandelion Web site! Here you will find information about our wondereful parent cooperative preschool. If you have any questions that aren't answered here, please click here to email us and we'll get back to you.

Enrollment and Tuition

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Dandelion accepts children aged 2 years 11 months through 5 years for fall enrollment. Dandelion will hold an Open House for Fall 2012 enrollment on Saturday, October 29 from 10 am to 12 pm.
This is an adult-only event and is an opportunity to see the school and meet the teachers. To RSVP please email dandelion.enrollment@gmail.com or call (510) 725-4304. Inquiry forms will be available at the Open House or by mail afterward, and will be due along with a $15 application fee by Dec. 1, 2011. Upon receipt of the Inquiry Form by the Enrollment Officer, you will be placed on a list. A balanced roster is created from the list with consideration for balancing age, gender, and diversity. Beginning in February, tours of the school are given to families for whom we have a space.

Dandelion maintains an equal opportunity admissions process and does not discriminate on the basis of ethnic/cultural background, national origin, religion, income or sexual orientation.

Hours

Monday Through Friday, 9 a.m. to noon
Extended care available from 8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. and noon to 2 p.m.

Family Participation

Parents participate in the following ways:

*Participating in the classroom beginning with set-up at 8:45 a.m. and finishing with wrap-up at 12:30 p.m. We maintain a 4:1 ratio. The number of times a participating adult works in the classroom depends on the attendance schedule, i.e. if a child attends 3 days/week, his/her adult works in the classroom 2 - 3 times a month.

*Attending and participating at the parent evening meeting the first Monday of every month. The first part of the meeting involves Dandelion business and the second half includes parent education and discussion.

*Contributing to the functioning of the school by holding and performing a Family Job, i.e. purchasing, classroom animals care, gardening.

*Working on two Saturday mornings a year to clean and maintain the school.

*Fundraising, which includes scrip and two or more fundraising events each year.

Tuition for 2011-12

Child attends      Monthly tuition       Participation
  3 days/wk              $269/mo            ~3 days/mo
  4 days/wk              $360/mo            ~4 days/mo
  5 days/wk              $448/mo             1 day/wk

Our Teachers

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Abby Pletcher, Director/Teacher

Abby Pletcher is the new teacher/director at Dandelion. She comes to Dandelion with 14 years of early childhood teaching experience. Abby started her career in 1995 in St Louis, Missouri after earning a B.A. degree in Psychology at Washington University in St. Louis. At her first job she quickly discovered a passion for working with young children and continued her teaching when she moved to the Bay Area in 1996. After spending four years as a lead teacher in preschools Abby decided to pursue more education. She attended Mills College and in 2002 earned her Masters degree in Early Childhood Education. After graduating from Mills Abby became the Associate Director at BlueSkies for Children in Oakland where she enjoyed her role as both a classroom teacher and an administrator. Abby is also adjunct faculty at Mills and has extensive experience teaching teachers at the community college level.

Abby is the proud parent of a three-year-old. When not working she enjoys spending time with her family, hiking and reading a good book.

Sonia Rawal, Teacher

Sonia Rawal is the new teacher at Dandelion. She has worked in the field of Early Childhood Education for over 20 years, both in the capacity of a childcare provider, and for the past 9 years as a teacher in the preschool setting. After moving to North America from the U.K. she studied in the field of Child Development, obtaining a BA degree from New College of California in 2004.
For the last 8 years she has been a teacher at Aquatic Park School in West Berkeley where she gained experience in the Reggio Emillia philosophy, held the role of parent education facilitator, maintained and expanded the school library, and coordinated the school garden.
She is the mother of two young sons who keep her busy when she is not at school. Her other interests include gardening, working on various art projects with her sons and spending time in the great outdoors, especially hiking in Point Reyes.

The Coop Experience

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Transcript of a video created by Bonnie Hester, Director of Dandelion Nursery School

In a good co-operative nursery school parents and professionals collaborate to provide a high quality, developmentally appropriate education for young children. There is probably as much variety between co-ops as between other early childhood programs. Some provide part time as well as full time options, while some offer a range of part-time with optional childcare before and after the regular school hours. Some co-ops combine children into mixed age groups while others keep same age children together. Co-ops may be completely parent run, but a parent board of directors that hires a Teacher/Direction and other paid staff governs most. Licensing requires only a Teacher/Director for 24 children or fewer. There must be a ratio of, at minimum, one adult for every five children.

A Teacher/Director must have at least 24 units of Early Childhood Education credits, six units of administration and two units of adult supervision. She or he is the person prepared to oversee the classroom and take primary responsibility for the school. Often there are other teachers who share these responsibilities. The professional's job is to make sure a standard of quality early childhood education is upheld for children while facilitating growth in the adults to parent and teach. Besides modeling developmentally appropriate practice while working with children, a teacher in a co-op must think about ways to encourage the adults' construction of knowledge and to apply what they know. A good program includes opportunities to reflect on the classroom events daily and problem solve in immediate and practical ways.

Although co-ops vary in the balance of teacher to parent influence in the running of the school, when there is a respectful collaboration with a clear definition of responsibility, co-ops run well.

In thinking how to tell you what co-ops have to offer, I'd like to encourage you to recognize a high quality program for young children first. NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children) describes in its position statements explicit appropriate and inappropriate practices for early childhood education. High quality programs recognize that developing capacities for emotional competence forms a foundation from which children can grow into healthy, whole people with dispositions to learn. Learning environments where one can see value placed on creating relationships in a caring community go a long way towards Stanley Greenspan's definition of meeting Six Emotional Competencies. When children experience responsive care, they grow in their capacity for the Six Emotional Strengths:

1. Intimacy—the ability to communicate/reciprocate a feeling of warmth and love through close physical contact and the sharing of private experience.

2. Self-esteem—a sense of inner positiveness/feeling good about one's actions on self and others.

3. Impulse control—the ability to self-regulate, to foresee the consequences of one's actions on self and others.

4. Distinction between fantasy and reality—the ability to distinguish between what's pretend and what's not.

5. Imagination, creativity, and curiosity.

6. Empathy and acceptance of loss—the ability to take the perspective of another; and to recognize and cope in adaptive ways with the emotions aroused by loss.

There is a great variety of experience, skill and talent amongst the people who gather to contribute to a co-op. Along with first time parents are those with three, four, five-year experiences. Co-ops have personalities. the rituals and routines are handed down along with instructions about running the fund raisers or working in the classroom. Parents become active participants in their child's first school experience, sharing in the growth of the child while helping facilitate both the operation and direction of the school. Usually parents work in the classroom on a regularly scheduled basis. They learn to observe children closely and how to guide children as they interact in play and curriculum activities. Parents may take on a job like purchasing supplies or writing the newsletter, or serve on a committee or the board. Parents are expected to help maintain the school's building and grounds and participate in fund raising efforts. They come together monthly at a parent meeting to discuss school business, possibly make decisions, socialize, and for presentations and discussions about parenting and other topics relevant to young children and families.

A shared responsibility is built in a co-op because the leadership (teachers and board members) plans for it. Through many opportunities for people to work, eat, talk and play together as they socialize, fund raise, conduct business and care for the learning environment, parents share their hopes and dreams as well as concerns and frustrations for their children and themselves. While they are busy, relationships are formed and community is built.

Most co-ops recognize the need for busy people to buy out of some of the responsibilities, but all co-ops share a sense of investment in the school and its goals, and a shared responsibility and satisfaction that comes from participating in a common effort.

Community allows the necessary foundation for trust and a sense of affinity for each other. Families in co-ops support each other and grow up together. They trade childcare, books, hand-me-downs, rides, and sometimes provide meals when a new baby arrives or someone is sick. They look out for each other's children forever after. My son calls it the "Momafia." As a teenager, when he was spotted on Telegraph Avenue during school hours, I heard about it. Children benefit from the village approach in a well run co-op. They form close relationships with the teachers, but also thrive when in a setting where parents are there not only for their own child but for all the children. They accommodate to a rotating staff of parents and soon know all the relationships, including siblings who make appearances.

Daniel Goleman writes about the importance of emotional competence in his book Emotional Intelligence. He believes there is a global phenomenon contributing to the neglect of children. Lack of time and attention creates, "even for well intentioned parents, the erosion of the countless small, nourishing exchanges between parent and child that builds emotional competencies." I see his bad news reversed in the co-op model. I am amazed by the myriad ways people find to deal with their work schedules and family commitments so that they can participate in their child's early education. Co-ops produce an inordinate number of PTA presidents, school activists, coaches and people who decide to become teachers. Parents gain experience and confidence in their ability to participate in and affect their children's schools. All children benefit from this generous model. I see the possibility in my setting for drawing attention to the simple but profound ways to concentrate on countless small, nourishing exchanges. Every interaction is an opportunity.

There are many good early childhood programs in the area. I urge you to check out the co-op near you.

Philosophy and Curriculum

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Dandelion is a cooperative nursery school. Parents share in the operation of the school and are actively involved in their child's learning. Dandelion's teachers provide leadership as they model developmentally appropriate practice, curriculum, and their skilled, loving support of the children. Together, parents and teachers form a close community, committed to fostering healthy growth and development in each child.

Our Philosophy

Our philosophy and curriculum are formed in response to the teachings of developmental and learning theorists (Piaget, Erikson and Vygotsky), who lead us to value play as the quintessential learning activity for young children. While playing, children establish a foundation for literacy, math concepts, physical knowledge and social/emotional competence. Children play for physical and emotional mastery of their world.

Curriculum

Dandelion's curriculum is designed to stimulate a child's inquisitive nature. They observe, explore and invent as they interact with materials and people. Children assess the results of their activities and grow in competence, confidence and a sense of belonging.

Dandelion's comfortable classroom includes areas for children to pursue their interests and elaborate their play in multiple ways using:

Art

Children enter into a process of constructing personally meaningful art using materials rich in texture, color and composition.

Language and Literacy

Emerging language and literacy is stimulated by our print-rich environment, which includes: books, materials for symbol making, props to extend play, story telling, dictation and documentation, etc.

Music

Children are exposed to a variety of musical experiences. Through music making, singing and movement, a disposition for the enjoyment of music is nurtured.

Dramatic Play

Dramatic play is encouraged in every area. Whether in the house area, or building with blocks, or playing with dinosaurs, animals or vehicles, children are inspired to enter the world of pretense and develop their knowledge of the world.

Outside

Children's play flows inside and out. The yard is a setting for the physical exuberance of children. Sand, water, climbing, bike riding and the garden provide opportunities for children to continue to explore their bodies in relation to their surroundings. Dandelion also provides an indoor dome climbing structure and room for active play indoors.

Goals

We support and promote play in a caring community.

While playing, children use language, complex thinking and problem solving. Play also provides a forum for children to express and resolve feelings while developing social skills and a positive self-concept. Children exercise flexibility, take initiative, and grow in autonomy to be motivated learners.

While children play, adults strive to interact in responsive ways so that children's ideas and feelings are acknowledged, appreciated and expanded. Children grow in their ability to hear and accept others' point of view as they experience a caring community.

Dandelion Alumni

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Dear Dandelion Alumni Families,

With over 30 years of cultivating the hearts, minds and spirits of young children in the East Bay, there is a diverse community of families who have participated in the Dandelion Parent Cooperative Nursery School.

We would love to stay in touch with those of you that are part of this broader community. Whether you are an adult who attended Dandelion 30 years ago, and now have young children of your own; or a family from the recent past, we would love to hear from you.

In addition to updating our records, and keeping you informed of what is happening in the world of Dandelion, we would also love to hear your stories, memories, history, photographs, artwork- whatever you would like to share.

Please send us an e-mail with your name, address, phone number, when you or your child attended Dandelion and anything else you want us to know about you.

Photo Gallery

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