Parents play a vital role in our cooperative. Their enthusiasm, skills, expertise and energy are crucial to the success of CNS. In our community each family contributes the same amount of time and effort toward the smooth functioning of the school.
The basic requirements of participation are the following:
Classroom Help: each family works in their child's classroom approximately 10-12 mornings per year per child.
Fundraising: our tuition is lower than the cost per child to run the school. Parents help raise money for our program and for scholarships by assisting with one major fundraising event, a Silent Auction, and a voluntary giving program.
Administration: all families are required to serve on a governance committee to assist the Parent Board or to serve as an officer on the Board. Committees include maintenance, finance, enrollment, publicity, operations and fundraising.
Maintenance: all families are expected to work at least six hours at each of two Parent Work Days to help with carpentry, painting, cleaning, repairing, etc. (about 12 hours per year).
Parent Job: each family signs up for an ongoing parent job, such as sewing, taking photographs, raking leaves, coordinating the silent auction, coordinating parent work days, maintaining the website, etc.
Parent Meetings: we ask that families attend all general parent meetings (@5 meetings/ year).
Parent Board: each family is encouraged to join the Parent Board and take a more active role at CNS. Attendance at Parent Board meetings is open to all families.
As a cooperative, parents and teachers work together to create a community of support for children, parents and teachers. Parents help in the classrooms and are vital to every aspect of the program. They perform all the "behind the scenes" tasks needed to ensure the smooth functioning of the school by serving as officers and members of the Parent Board, serving as a member of a committee, helping with an ongoing job, fundraising, maintaining the building, and making decisions about policies and procedures. We seek to enroll families who want to play a very active role in their children's early education.
