Thanks to our parent volunteers and teachers for making this past weekend's events successful.
We attended the 4th Annual Mothers and More Preschool Fair where we met lots of great kids and parents who will be hopefully joining the Coop soon.
Another team was at the school, hosting an Open House with the teachers. Thanks to them, we'll soon be welcoming a new family for the Spring Semester, as well as (hopefully) finding some families for the fall.
And a MIGHTY thank you to ALL families for their help with Winter clean-up. The school looks great!
Our Beloved Mrs. Lori has tendered her resignation from the Cooperative Playschool. We are sad to see her go, and wish her luck in her future endeavors.
This departure has opened up a great opportunity for a new teacher for the "Green Team", the 3-4 year old classroom. Follow the link below to the job posting, and apply today!
We are proud to present our Cafe Press shop, available anytime, for all you Cooperative Playschool merchandise needs.
This is a fundraiser for the school (we get $1+ for each item purchased), so of course we thank you very much for your support. Plus, you'll look great!
Don't see what you want? Email kate at communications@cooperativeplayschool.com, and I'll see what I can do about adding an item/size/whatever.
We'll link to this site permanently soon, but for now, visit us at
Rugrats Resale was a resounding success for the Co-op, and it was fun, too!
Thanks to all who donated, both Co-op folks and community members, and to the sale volunteers.
To those who helped with all that tagging: we were a small but dedicated crew, and we really appreciate your help.
A special thanks to Balfurd's for donating hangers for all those clothes!
This was so easy and fun that we have decided to do it again! The Fall sale is the second week of August. Keep a look out for dates as they are announced, and keep on saving your stuff! Want to get it out of your house NOW? Call Kate at 814-883-3174 and I'll store it for you.
We are grateful for your support of our recent and successful family variety show at the State Theatre. If you could not attend, please take a moment to imagine the joy and laughter emanating from the children in the audience.
As you know, your business was recognized in appreciation on promotional materials before, during and after the show. It is our hope that the community acknowledges your presence with new or more visits to your business. Meanwhile, we would like to share with you what we have accomplished with your help.
Thanks to each of you, despite a challenging economic period and an established competing fundraiser, we are delighted to have raised roughly $2700 for our scholarship fund among cash donations, tickets & raffle sales. We also wish to thank businesses for the post-Co-opalooza fundaisers that send profits from Cooperative Playschool-related purchases to our scholarship fund. We also greatly enjoyed the wonderful food and flowers donated for our After Party, and the special goods and services donated for our raffles, give-aways and Co-opalooza publicity.
It was thrilling to celebrate 60 years of play-based pre-school education with the State Theatre, our sponsors, our Co-op families, and the State College and surrounding communities.
At 9:50 am, children at the “Co-Op” are busily stacking blocks, drawing on blueprint paper and pouring water through funnels at the water table.“Watch out! Here comes the lava,” shouts one of the children.A small group is preparing bouquets for a princess wedding while another child is talking to felted snow fairies as she weaves them in and out of fabric-draped branches adorned with crystal beads.Everyone is lost in their own world of imagination, exploration and self-expression.A teacher sings,“Ten minutes ‘til clean up time.”
Five year old Jolie earnestly responds, “ I can’t yet because first I have to work on this important thing that has to go in here like this. . .” her voice trailing off as she bends to pick up an uncooked noodle that has fallen under the table.She has a basket full of noodles, sparkly pipe cleaners, a pile of cotton batting and a blue scale lined up on what had been the nature table just twenty minutes before.
By the end of clean up, the noodles are on the scale, the batting is draped over a felt bird and the pipe cleaners are loosely twisted around the scale’s top.Ten minutes later, it’s no wonder Jolie says she’s tired and needs a snack for “new energy.”Play is hard work!
While it seems obvious that children’s play is their work and that having fun can promote learning, there’s more to it than meets the eye.Dr. James Johnson, professor-in-charge of Early Childhood Education at Penn State, says that play contributes to the emotional, cognitive, physical, social and over-all development of the child.He adds that teachers and parents can help children reap the promises of healthy self-directed play, namely:knowing one’s self and others better, heightened creativity and imagination and problem-solving skills, greater emotional and personal and spiritual well-being, self-motivation and will- power to control one’s experiences, achieving and maintaining a sense of contentment, having confidence and a good moral compass and, finally, being a compassionate and a loving person. All these promises are possible for our children when the power of play is unleashed, and harnessed.
Providing opportunities for children to engage in rich, imaginative play doesn’t have to be costly or require a full schedule of play dates.Simple household props, toys that have open-ended or multiple uses and some quiet time and space are often all that’s needed for a child to launch into rich, self-sustained play.Quality children’s literature is also an excellent springboard for imaginative play.
For more information on the importance of play visit: www.earlychildhoodnews.com, www.aap.org (American Academy of Pediatrics, keyword: play), www.npr.org(Article: Old-Fashioned Play Builds Serious Skills.) The public is also invited to attend, “The Power of Play” at Schlow Regional Library on Sunday, March 29th from 2:00 – 3:30 p.m.The free program is sponsored by The Cooperative Playschool of State College and the library.Info at: www.cooperativeplayschool.com.
Thanks to the 60 or so Co-op families and teachers, both past and present, who joined us for a festive kickoff to our Anniversary year. I saw lots of familiar faces, and met some new ones that I have heard about. Thanks to all who came by for the festivities. And thanks for the wonderful food! My, we are good cooks, aren't we?
Are you alum? Did you or your children attend our school in the past 60 years? We want to hear from you! I am trying to compile contact information from as many past parents and students as possible. If you have information for our database, please share it! Please contact the school through this website, or contact me, your humble webadministrator, at communications@cooperativeplayschool.com. Or mail it to the school. Or call. Whatever is easiest for you...
Do you ever buy food from the State College Subway or Dominos shops? Our kids' preschool, The Cooperative Playschool, offers discount cards for Subway and Dominos. It's a good time of year for the Co-op to start this program, since it saves everyone money while sending a portion of the profits to our school. These cards make great gifts for coworkers, or to show appreciation to friends, stylists, teachers, etc.
Please consider paying LESS for your own food or gifts while helping out our kids' preschool. Easily order your Co-op Discount Cards from the link below.
We all want to help the Co-op meet (or exceed!) its expenses, right? But we really don't want to buy more stuff beyond what we purchase already for our families. That's why the Co-op has joined the SCRIP program.
Essentially, the Co-op families are eligible to buy "scrip" gift cards and use them like cash for everyday expenses. There's a huge selection of vendors (grocers, restaurants, retailers, gas stations, etc.).
Here's how it works. We purchase the cards at face value ($5, $25, $100, etc.), but the Co-op only pays a discounted amount. Thus, the Co-op earns a profit for each card purchased of anywhere between 2%-15%. This profit can REALLY add up if people use these cards for their regular purchases in place of (or as a nice supplement to) your own credit cards, checks, or cash.
Families pay for the cards by check or electronically ("PrestoPay"). Initially, I've scheduled two ordering deadlines per month: the 1st and 3rd Fridays. Order anytime online at shopwithscrip.com (Enrollment Code: A71F7C3819945), but please keep these two ordering deadlines in mind. All deliveries are shipped in bulk to the Co-op.
For people who can't or don't like to order on-line, I can order for you by "proxy." Please let me know if that's your preference.
Meanwhile, I've attached some quick reference documents and will post some at the Co-op. Call me (238-2351) or email me with any questions or problems you encounter.
Thanks for taking the time to consider using SCRIP to help the Co-op meet expenses and more. This effort is all about perpetuating the wonderful Co-op experience for our families and those who come after us.
To use this service, you just create an account with SCRIP (use whatever email and password you choose), then use the enrollment code above to link your purchases to our school account. To Pay, you just create an additional account with PrestoPay. Feel free to contact Deb or leave a comment here if you need help getting started. -K
Many, many, many thanks to Bien at Concepcion Design for designing our new website. What a wonderful way to kick off our 60th Anniversary year! Bien designed and built the new site for us, and DONATED all his time to the school.
For you other corporations and businesses out there: We are a non-profit organization: Donations are gratefully accepted and receipts lovingly provided.
By using one of the links below to begin your purchase at Amazon you can help the Coop earn between 4% and 15% of your purchase through the Amazon Associates Program. YOU DO NOT NEED TO PURCHASE THE BOOKS LINKED TO! You DO need to begin your session from one of the links below and complete your purchase within 24 hours and in a single visit. A portion of your entire purchase when started from one of these links will be credited to the Coop. For more information contact Tony at toekneesan at gmail dot com.
What: Cooperative Playschool Children's Day Face Painting Booth When: July 9, 2007 10:00-3:00 (See below for time slots, or look at current available time slots online here) Where: Old Main Lawn
Please volunteer for an hour or two at our table. Bring the kids and enjoy the festival! No artistic talent needed.
Any questions? Call or email Ona Feinberg 353-8290, ofeinberg@verizon.net
Thanks!
Greg and Ona Feinberg
Publicity/Communication Chair 2007-2008
We need a line leader and 3 face painters each hour from 10:00 - 3:00. We also need volunteers to help with set up at 9:15, and clean up from 3:00 - 3:45.
9:00 - 10:00 Set up
10:00 - 11:00 Line Leader(1) /Face Painting (3)
11:00 - 12:00 Line Leader(1) /Face Painting (3)
12:00 - 1:00 Line Leader(1) /Face Painting (3)
1:00 - 2:00 Line Leader(1) /Face Painting (3)
2:00 - 3:00 Line Leader(1) /Face Painting (3)
3:00 - 3:45 Clean up
