社区黑料

Takoma Park, Maryland, population 17,672, is often for its progressive politics and community activism. This D.C. suburb also happens to be where my family and I have lived for the past 11 years. We did not belong to the (TPCNS)鈥攚idely known as the Purple School鈥攚hen my children were younger, but I have been aware of it for a while and have neighbors who participate. I recently visited the plum-colored house on Flower Avenue for the first time, to learn more about its model and how cooperatives might play a bigger role in our country鈥檚 evolving child care landscape. As post-pandemic work schedules , the cooperative model could suit more working families, with more types of jobs.

鈥淧arents, or children鈥檚 adults, own and operate this school only while the children are enrolled,鈥� explained Lesley Romanoff, director and lead teacher. 鈥淭he roster of employer-owners is ever-changing, so we need immediate engagement every year to bring everyone up to speed.鈥� Ownership is the key word, which implies collective responsibility rather than hiring, payroll and things like employee evaluations. Romanoff is the sole full-time TPCNS employee.

Architect and TPCNS mom Wakako Tokunaga, who praises Romanoff as both a leader in the co-op movement and a gifted teacher, describes the Purple School as 鈥渁n extension of home.鈥� She and her husband have three children, and she acknowledges that being a member is a serious commitment. 鈥淲e had to make a lot of changes to our schedules to make it work. As members, we had to show up ourselves. You can鈥檛 buy your way out. You can鈥檛 send a granny or a nanny in your place.鈥� In addition to providing care and attending workshops and meetings, Tokunaga designed an elegant teahouse on the grounds.

In a time when community connections are fraying and grandparents have become 聽TPCNS weaves families together into a supportive network that goes beyond child care. Shared responsibilities lay the groundwork for close bonds that last into鈥攁nd beyond鈥攖he school years. Tokunaga says her family still goes camping with other TPCNS families, even though their children are older now. 鈥淭he other parents love my kids, and I love theirs.鈥�

TPCNS combines the strengths of 45 families with children between two and five years old. Romanoff says the ideal number of children would be around 80. 鈥淚t鈥檚 totally about working,鈥� she insists. 鈥淭his is not mainly for stay-at-home moms.鈥� In most TPCNS families, the children鈥檚 adults (usually this means the sole parent or both parents) work. Three or four trained adults also care for the children. Adults in the community also serve on the board, provide materials or maintain the grounds.

The teahouse and other outdoor structures have played an important part in reinforcing TPCNS鈥檚 COVID-appropriate commitment to outdoor learning. During the pandemic, Romanoff says, 鈥淲e all suffered. We suffered together even when we weren鈥檛 together.鈥� One cooperative in Annapolis closed its doors. Most of the others are rebuilding.

TPCNS belongs to Parent Cooperative Preschools International (Romanoff is a past president), which offers to support the formation and administration of cooperatives. Romanoff mentors a fledgling co-op in New Jersey, helping it assemble by-laws鈥攚hich sounds like a purely administrative process, but she insists that the document is what holds these communities together. Rules not only preserve order but also communicate shared values.

A recent by Nancy Vorsanger describes Childspace in Philadelphia, a variation on the cooperative model built on worker ownership rather than parent ownership. (Currently, 12 of the 45 employees are owners, which entails unpaid responsibilities.) Childspace, which serves 85 children in two locations, has a dual nonprofit-corporate structure, allowing it to receive funding targeted to businesses as well as foundation grants.

Childspace dates back to 1988. The cooperative model embodied by TPCNS鈥攚here the parents are the caregivers鈥攖races its roots back to the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago in 1916, with other another version arising in Berkeley in 1927. Author Tillie Olsen helped to launch one in San Francisco in the 1940s, the same decade that TPCNS started.

In 2021, Romanoff says, 鈥淥ur movement is more important than ever. We鈥檙e a vehicle for community participation.鈥�

This story originally published on Early Learning Nation and is now archived on 社区黑料. Learn more here.