What does our cooperative model look like?

Families at The Family Cooperative are deeply engaged in the school community.  Because most of our students have parents who work, we offer a flexible cooperative structure to meet the needs of our diverse group of families.  

Co-op Commitments per school year:

  • attend required all-school community meetings (typically 2 per year) 
  • Participate in one of our co-op committees. Some co-ops include: Fundraising, Facilities Support, Technology, and Community C0-op. Each classroom has a "Room Parent" in the Classroom Support Co-op. Any member of our community is invited to serve on the Board of Directors Co-op. 
  • contribute at least 15 hours of committee work over the course of the school year ​​
*Please note that commitments are per family, not per child (except for snack).

Aspects of a cooperative that we value:

Modeling for children how we take care of and contribute to our school
  • building a community through common values, interests, experiences and passion for education
  • collaboration and dialogue between teachers and parents together in teaching-learning opportunities
  • families bring in their authentic selves through snack and participation
  • opportunities for families to connect with other children in the classroom, and be partners and participants in the curriculum
  • utilizing the expertise from educators in the field that exists within our community

Co-op Participation Policy:

We at The Family Cooperative value our school community immensely. A co-op model focused around engagement, collaboration and connection speaks to us. As a community of “teacher learners”, we believe that each family has a unique set of skills and perspectives which we can all learn and benefit from. Our co-op model strives to encourage and engage an enthusiastic community that believes in a holistic approach to education.
 
We acknowledge that for our community it can be challenging to fulfill the needs of a traditional co-op and as a result we have provided a variety of ways for families to meet their co-op responsibilities. We value these responsibilities as crucial elements of TFC’s health and well-being. Ideally, participation will also be an opportunity to engage with the community and to play an essential role in your child’s school experience.