Establishing a preschool co-op

[Noah's mommy]

I'm not sure if anyone can point me in the right direction...
I'm currently a public school teacher certified to teach Nursery-8th grade. All of my experience has been with grades k-3. My children are almost 3 and 14 months and I am really feeling a calling to start up a preschool in my area. I know I have the knowledge to create a great curriculum (probably Waldorf inspired) and we live in an area that could desperately use some early childhood options. We live in a far reaching suburb of DC that is a small town. When the housing boom occured over the last 5 years this small town was pretty much reborn and is full of young families now. There is one child care center and 2 small (very pricey and academic) private preschools in a very growing area. I am planning to teach part time next year and was thinking that this summer and next year would be a great time to get things going. I am very passionate about good education and sincerely think this is my calling. Can someone point me in the right direction?

[Mama_Bear]

There is a "community" preschool in the small town I teach in. It is run by a board of directors who are all parents of the students. Is that in the direction you mean?

[monkeybars]

I have no idea how you go about this, but am sure it's a great idea. Perhaps this website can help:

http://www.ccppns.org/

It is the website for co-ops here in California. Surely lots of these folks have done what you are trying to do. Good luck!

[AngieB]

Myself and a group of moms started a co-op preschool. We began planning it last may, started school in september and only have a month and a half left of our first year. It has been great!!! I would say that the first thing you need to do is find other parent who are interested. I'm in California and we have a lot of support for early childhood education so I contacted all the different groups and goverment offices to see what they had to offer. You should also find out the licensing rules for your area. If you have specific questions I would be happy to try and help you somemore.