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A Cooperative Preschool Celebrating Over 50 Years in the Charlottesville/Albemarle Area
C-Street Cooperative Preschool has been inspiring and educating children through creative play in a parent-run cooperative for over 50 years. Located steps from the University of Virginia, we offer a caring and engaged community for families who want to be actively involved in their child’s earliest education. We have a team of dedicated teachers who work closely with the parents year after year.
Our school opened in 1972 as a non-profit school independently operated by the parents. Housed in the basement of Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church since the Fall of 2020, our preschool rents space and some equipment from the church, but is not otherwise affiliated. C-Street Cooperative Preschool is incorporated and has a board of directors headed by two parent co-chairs who are elected by their fellow C-Street families each spring.
On a typical day, our preschoolers might act out a fairy tale, play music with our incredible instrument collection, dress up as firefighters, make wood sculptures with real hammers and nails, or go wherever their imaginations take them. Our play-based philosophy includes time outside every day, rain or shine, digging in our garden, making mud pies in the sand, or taking a field trip to UVa’s gardens to see the changing seasons.
At C-Street Cooperative Preschool we value and offer….
Play-based learning and socializing
Nurturing, dedicated, professional teachers
Fun, sensory-rich environments
A community dedicated to inclusion and equity
Some of the many things that make C-Street unique…
Our parents are actively involved in every aspect of the running of the school.
We go outside everyday, barring thunderstorms, to enjoy our garden and playground.
We make time to celebrate the cultures of all our students.
We learn about our community though walks to the nearby UVa gardens and field trips in Charlottesville.
Chancellor Street was our home and school name for over forty years before we moved to Wesley Memorial and began to use our nickname to “C-Street”
We have a very high retention rate for our teachers.
We have committed to specific goals to enhance diversity in our learning community.