Discover Sherman Oaks Cooperative Preschool

Our Story

From the Beginning

Since 1955, Sherman Oaks Cooperative Preschool has been a vibrant parent-participation preschool, serving up to 24 children and their parents each school year.  It has grown over the years and continues evolving to meet the changing needs of member families and to reflect best practices in early childhood education.

​

SOCP is a non-profit, non-sectarian, democratic organization where each family shares in the planning and operation of the school.  Parents participate in the program on a rotating basis, serving as volunteer assistants to a professional staff. This enables parents to learn and develop skills, alongside the students, while building community with other families.  Children benefit from witnessing their parents’ commitment to education, thus helping to form their own positive relationship to education.

​

We strive to create a community of caring families and teachers to provide an emotionally and physically nurturing environment in which learning can occur, both for children and their parents.  We believe in a child-centered, child-directed, play-based approach to learning, which fosters the social-emotional, cognitive, physical and creative development of each child, under the professional guidance of inspiring early childhood educators.