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Our History
In 1915, faculty wives at the University of Chicago founded the first parent participation nursery school. During the 1930's parent cooperatives grew rapidly in California. Cooperative preschools came to Indianapolis in the 1950's, when Katherine Whiteside Taylor conducted a workshop at Butler University on cooperative nursery schools. Interested parents took additional classes and started 4 cooperative preschools, Glendale, Eastgate, Northeast, and Castleton Kindergarten (now Willowcreek). In 1959 these schools joined together to form the Indianapolis Council of Preschool Cooperatives to buy items in bulk and share ideas about parent education and fundraising. This group helped other new cooperatives get organized and established, raising the number of Indianapolis cooperative preschools to 27 in the 1980's!
In 1998, the organization changed its name to the Indiana (instead of Indianapolis) Council of Preschool Cooperatives in order to offer their resources to a broader base of cooperative preschools. The focus of the organization has changed from starting-up new schools to supporting existing ones. We would love to see the number of cooperative preschools growing again, so please let us know if you would like assistance starting a school in your area!
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