Michigan preschool makes makes a difference

Grass Lake Cooperative Preschool offers preschool education and pre-K readiness

Lissa Cole, the director of the Grass Lake Cooperative Preschool, reads a story to the children last week.

Grass Lake Cooperative Preschool was started by Mouniece Baird in 1981. Originally located in the Grass Lake United Methodist Church, the preschool received help from the Jackson Community Foundation to purchase its current building, 401 E. Michigan Ave., in 1984. Lissa Cole has served as the preschool’s director for 13 years. Cole first became involved at Grass Lake Cooperative Preschool when her children attended the school. Shannon Maynard recently sat down with Cole to discuss the business.

Question: Why do you feel preschool is beneficial for children?

L.C.: The state of Michigan requires a lot of their kindergarteners. Therefore, they require a lot of their first-graders. There is a lot of pressure on kindergarteners. Even though they want them to be taught as individuals and at their own developmental rate, it’s really hard to do that if they haven’t been exposed socially to other children or adults. … They need that (exposure) to feel safe around other children and to be able to learn at the rate that the state of Michigan wants them to learn in kindergarten. It really gives them a head start.

Question: What does Grass Lake Cooperative Preschool offer?

L.C.: We offer preschool education and pre-K readiness. The biggest thing I want to offer and instill into the kids is socialization skills. I believe that if they have the social skills, then the academic skills will come. To start out in kindergarten without social skills would cause more stress for the kids.

Question: What does it mean to be a cooperative preschool?

L.C.: We’re working together in a community. We’re working together in the interest of our children. The teacher works with the parents. The parents work with the teacher. The board works with the parents. The board works with the teacher. It’s a collaborative effort for the betterment of the family.

Question: What skills, both academic and social, do you work to develop?

L.C.: Socially, (we work on) learning to use our manners, being able to listen carefully and have conversations with each other.  Social is really looking at our environment; making sure our environment is conducive to good social behavior. … As far as the educational aspect, we have teacher-led centers and child-directed centers that we call free choice. As the year progresses, we have more centers that the children rotate through. They are able to learn and really explore at those centers. The teacher-directed centers are more about making sure the pre-k program is really getting involved in their (education). They use journals, (they work on their) prewriting skills and holding a pencil correctly, holding scissors correctly; things that get them ready for kindergarten. … Everything that I plan as a center is fulfilling a need of future academic skills that are needed.

Question: Approximately how many students do you have in your classes?

L.C.: We’re licensed for 20 (students) per class. This year we have 29 families enrolled in our program with one family that has two children enrolled. We have 30 children enrolled this year. Right now we have 15 students in each class.

Question: What classes are offered and what is your tuition?

L.C.: We have a 3-year-old program and a 4-year-old program. We also have an early-3 program. They have to be 33 months before Dec. 1 and they only meet one day a week. … The cost for the 3-year old program is $65 (a month) and is two days a week. The cost of the 4-year-old program is $90 and is three days a week.

Question: In addition to classroom learning, you offer field trips regularly. Why do you want to offer your students those experiences?

L.C.: I really believe that if we can get the kids outside the classroom, in an educational format, then they know they can learn anywhere. They can learn environmental print as we’re driving to McDonald’s. When we walk to the post office, they see that we have community helpers in our town. We feel field trips are important once a month because it goes right along with what we’re learning. In October we went to the fire department and talked about safety because it was fire prevention month. I try and pull it all together. In February or March we talk about dinosaurs, so we’re going to the Michigan Natural History Museum in Ann Arbor. If we can take a look at what’s going on outside the classroom, there’s education. (We want to) get the kids excited about learning outside the classroom. Then they get excited about learning in general.

Question: What makes your preschool unique?

L.C.: Definitely the parent involvement because there are very few preschools out there that are cooperative. Over the past several years, there have been many that have closed. The other thing that is unique about our preschool is we can keep our prices lower because of that. … The other unique part about us is that I love being here. I love being able to see (the children) smile back at me and knowing that they get something.

Question: What do you hope to see the preschool provide the community?

L.C.: (I want it to provide) the early education of our children in a cooperative way. We want to continue to provide that early start for the kids. By the time they leave (the preschool), they understand community. They understand that we live in a community, that we have a sense of belonging. We’re also very supportive of other things in our community. In the past we’ve been involved in Heritage Day. We’re involved in the trade show. We’re (involved with) a community food bank.

Question: What are your future goals?

L.C.: That we can continue to be a mainstay in our community. And it would be great if we could continue to offer afternoon classes. I would love for this to turn into a family center. I would love for it to be more than what it is. I’d like to offer tutoring. I’d like to offer parenting classes. (I’d like for) the preschool to continue to be here and continue to grow.

Fun fact: Cole has worked with children for more than 25 years.

Fast fact: According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were about 305,200 preschool and kindergarten teachers in the U.S. in 2008.