Woodland Parent Nursery School

Established in 1956, Woodland Parent Nursery School (WPNS) is a non-profit, cooperative preschool focused on whole family education. We offer all outdoor, mixed-age, play-based programs for children age 8 months to 7 years. Co-op members, working alongside a child development expert, actively participate in their children’s early education. There are caregiver ed workshops too. In the process, co-op members learn about raising children who will flourish throughout their lives.

Raising children is a community effort at WPNS. You are not alone. As adults, our most important job is to love the children. Whether you choose to work in our outdoor classroom once a week or once a month, grown-ups get to set down all their grown-up worries and to-dos and simply be present with their child. What a gift! A WPNS child thrives in the secure knowledge they are loved by so many.

Our school is organized and administered by the caregivers. Its success depends on the collaborative efforts of all members. We all work together to provide the best environment for each child to learn and grow.

Preschool Rooted in Play

At WPNS, we protect children’s right to play. First and foremost, play is asking and answering our own questions. Play is what we do when no one is telling us what to do. It’s making decisions, problem-solving, investigating, creating, and imagining. It’s thinking, and thinking is learning. It’s risky. It involves failure, perserverence, and success. It’s messy. It involves conflict and negotiation. Indeed, conflict is crucial.

It involves all the things, often all at once: social, emotional, language, cognitive, perceptual, and motor learning and development. And all the subjects: math, literacy, physics, chemistry, biology, earth sciences, geology, art, physical education and more. It’s just right learning at just the right time. Play is everything!