Oak Bay Preschool is owned and managed by the parents of the children attending. Parents are involved in all aspects of the preschool's operation, from classroom participation to fundraising and social events. Coop preschool provides a wonderful opportunity to meet other parents who, like you, put family first.
Families are required to take 10 hours of training before taking on their responsibilities as duty parents due to licensing requirements. Fulfilling these prerequisites is easy: the duty parent must attend a fall orientation evening and complete a shadow duty day. Duty parents are also required to attend a monthly meeting for each of the ten months of the school year (attending both the education session and business portion). All duty parents are required to have a current criminal record check.
Classroom Participation
You will have the opportunity to be in the classroom, watching your child and their friends grow and learn. Classroom participation is a gift you give to yourself, your child and to others. Rarely in future years will you have this same chance for active participation and decision making in your child's school facility and program.
Your job as parents in the classroom is to assist the Early Childhood Educator (ECE) as an extra set of eyes and hands. You will have a "duty day" about once a month. Some of your duty day tasks will be to:
● Arrive approximately 15 minutes before the start of the program to help with set-up
● Supervise the Art Area or roam the various play areas to ensure that the children are playing safely and positively
● Clean the indoor play area or supervise children playing outside
General Meetings and Parent Education
In order for the Preschool to satisfy Provincial licensing requirements duty parents must attend every General Meeting. General Meetings are held from 7:00-9:00pm at the Preschool on the second Tuesday of each month, from September through June.
The first hour is a parent education component and the final hour is the business portion of the meeting. Parent education programs are designed to help increase your understanding of how children develop and show their needs. A professional speaker delivers the content and with this information you can be more effective with the children in the classroom.
The business portion updates parents on what events and activities are happening at the preschool.
In order to maintain your family’s qualifications to assist in the classroom, it's necessary for duty parents to attend the monthly General Meeting. The parent education portion of the meeting is such a rich learning experience and the business portion allows each family a voice in the operations of their child's school.
Preschool Jobs
Each family will be assigned a job position to share the tasks of the preschool such as making playdough, ensuring equipment upkeep, or holding an executive position. There is a preschool job to meet every member’s schedule and interest.
Fundraising
Participating in the fundraising is considered basic to the co-operative philosophy. Fundraising at the preschool includes a Christmas tree sale, and use of Thrifty’s Smile Cards. All families are responsible for pre-selling Christmas trees, and for working a 2 hour shift at the Christmas tree pick-up.