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Parents Nursery School

History

Founding of the School

In 1942, Mrs. Cecil George proposed the idea of forming a cooperative nursery school through an advertisement she placed in the Co-op newspaper. The Mothers' Cooperative Nursery School began on the Stanford campus the following January. Monthly tuition was $5.00, and each mother worked two mornings a week at the school. After six months, the school moved to Sunday school rooms at the First Methodist Church. The inconvenience of having to disassemble the classrooms every Friday and then reassemble them on Monday led parents to explore the idea of finding a building of their own. Dr. Esther Clarke, who saw this sort of nursery school as a model for the early education of children, encouraged parents in finding a school site. She appeared before the Palo Alto City Council to advocate for the idea of placing the school in a residential environment. In 1948, after several fund raising efforts, a group of parents was able to purchase a permanent site for the school: a turnip patch at the edge of the city. It was parents who raised the money for the school, and it is parents of currently enrolled children who have remained its co-owners.

Among the parents involved in the early years of the cooperative were David Packard, who co-signed the note to purchase the school's property and Flora Hewlett, who was one of the school's first presidents. Others who served in supporting the school were Mary Lewis, who acted as director and Doris Grant, a teacher, both of whom went on to important roles in forming the Head Start program.

1950's

In 1950, PNS was chartered as a non-profit educational foundation. As a State-chartered foundation, the school files yearly reports with the State Attorney General. The school's land may never be sold, and the State must use the facility for children. The charter also stipulates that parent education will be provided by the Palo Alto Unified School District. Technically, it is the parents, not the children, who are enrolled in the District's program.

As a part of the school's parent education program, a parent from each PNS family must attend evening meetings at which parents and teachers from each class discuss topics related to pre-school education. (Approximately three meetings are scheduled each month.) One parent must also participate one morning each week as an aide in the class. In addition to contributing their time at evening meetings and in the class, parents at PNS also share the responsibility of managing the school's affairs and maintaining the facilities. This arrangement not only helps to keep tuition low; it also furthers the school's founding philosophy. The ultimate goal of the school looks beyond the pre-school years, and encourages parents to sustain a high level of participation throughout their children's education.

The PNS facilities are a testimony to the energy and dedication of parents. The original building was constructed professionally with parents doing some finishing work. Van Juda, who later became head of the landscape architecture department at UC Berkeley, designed the original playground, which was built in 1965 with parents' help.

1970's

In 1972-73, the interior of the school was redecorated. In 1976, the exterior was painted and the following year, parents built new playground structures. In 1982, parents and children broke ground for a new rear classroom; David Bower, with Designs in Wood, was the general contractor and Tom Jack contributed his talents as the PNS's parent-in-residence contractor. In September, 1982, Kathy Plock began teaching in the new room.

1980's

PNS suffered extensive damage in 1987 from a major fire, which started because of a defective stove. The school was unoccupied, but the kitchen was completely gutted and the adjacent classroom and porch were severely damaged. With insurance money and generous contributions from many PNS friends, parents took the opportunity to enlarge and modernize the kitchen, music room, and classroom. Judith Lippe chaired the building committee and provided the design for renovation. Glen Dodds, a local architect, donated his services to do the architectural drawings.

1990's

In 1990, Carol Thompson led a fundraising effort that enlisted the contributions of parents, alumni, and the Palo Alto Foundation to replace the old play structure. Through their generosity, a new structure was put into place by the parents in the spring of 1991. In 1994, the rear classroom was remodeled to make more floor space for activities. Don Harrier donated architectural drawings and advice.

In the summer of 1999, the kitchen was remodeled. PNS parent Cindy Kron, acting as contractor, was able to have the new kitchen ready to use before the first day of school in the fall. The school was painted in 2000, with labor donated by the Furlong family and Stanford Painting. During the summer of 2002, a $10,000 grant from the Palo Alto Weekly Holiday Fund allowed us to replace the roof.

2000's

Under the leadership of Carlene and John Kemmerer, and with the help of many volunteers, the chicken coop was rebuilt in the summer of 2002. It is again a sturdy structure with a separate nesting area, where the chickens can lay their eggs undisturbed.

No part of the history would be complete without mentioning Virginia Debs, more commonly known as Grandma Virginia. Grandma Virginia began teaching at Parents Nursery School in 1969 (after already spending 10 years at Preschool Family in the Palo Alto Unified School District). In 1996, Grandma Virginia began team teaching part time and celebrated her 80th birthday in 2004. We are still lucky enough to have our special Grandma come in on a regular basis even now and work her magic with the children and parents.