Manchester Co-op Preschool moving to Main Street
The new location of the Co-op Preschool starting with the 2018-2019 school year. Photo courtesy of Co-op Preschool.
The Manchester Co-op Preschool announced recently that it has found a new location as the Ackerson building which has been its home for years is closing. For the first time in their long history, they will be moving into their own free-standing structure, a building at 327 West Main Street mostly recently operated as Sweet Mary’s Cafe.
Co-op Preschool teacher Brandi Bennett described their new space. “Our new location has an entrance way, a reading nook, one large classroom and a room for children’s cubbies. Our new space is fairly close to the same size as our previous classroom. We will be licensed for the same amount of children. The yard space is large enough for a play structure but still smaller than what we had in the past. The great part is that we have convenient walking access to the gazebo and both parks in town!”
In fact, the new location opens up opportunities for more interaction with the community. “I look forward to becoming more involved in the community events and taking advantage of what the town has to offer. The children can volunteer with seniors at the church, visit the businesses, hide Manchester rocks and have more opportunities to enjoy the beauty of Main Street,” Bennett stated.
The Co-op has collaborated with the landlords, Tom & Rhonda Ash, to do an extensive amount of updating to bring the building up to code for licensing. This includes replacing exterior doors, replacing drywall and plumbing, adding a second bathroom, repainting the inside and outside of the building, enclosing the fence, putting in carpet and tile, replacing and painting ceiling tiles and according to Bennett adding “lots of love to warm up the building in order to make it feel welcoming for the children!”
Currently the Co-op is just waiting to receive their final inspections. Licensing will come in July to renew their child care license at the new building. The planning commision okayed zoning last week with only a few modifications, mostly having to do with parking and traffic management.
The Co-op Preschool’s program will operate the way it did this year, with children ages 3-5 years old attending Monday, Wednesday and Fridays from 8:30am-2:45pm. There will be two teachers at all times and students will be split into two groups during the day depending on age and readiness. To conduct group activities, one teacher works with the 3’s and young 4’s while the other teacher works with older 4’s and young fives. Bennett explained, “This is the way we ran the program last year and it worked beautifully! The children absolutely thrived and parents were very pleased with the mixed ages collaborating in the learning space.” The co-op also plans to offer a summer program this upcoming school year. Parents interested in the program can get all of their enrollment forms and information from their Facebook page as well as their newly updated website. (The website link is on their Facebook page).
As a non-profit business run by parent volunteers, the Co-op faces challenges rebuilding the school and paying for all of the building enhancements as well as the many permits and re-licensing fees throughout this process. They are trying to raise awareness with a supply drive to help them purchase things like a play structure and fencing materials.
Bennett stated, “What makes me so proud to be a part of this transition is the time and effort that people of our community are donating in order to keep this school running through this change in our district. Manchester Co-op preschool has been in Manchester for more that 50 years and we hope to continue honoring its traditions as we embrace today’s educational standards and family needs. I have been with the co-op for six years now and I hope to see many more! If the community will continue to support us through this move, we will do whatever we can to give back and enrich our beautiful town!”
If you are able to donate supplies or time to help the Co-op Preschool with its move, contact Brandi Bennett at 734-277-2447 or manchestercp123@gmail.com.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login