Fremont Parent's Nursery School

"My son has been attending FPNS for about a year and a half. When we first signed up I was looking for an easy introduction for him into a school setting. FPNS stood out - other programs were showing me how their kids learned to sit and color worksheets, FPNS was showing me a very free and supported environment where kids spent most of their time outside, got to make their own choices and learn freely with opportunities to get messy, learn to cook, build, and so much more. I had never heard of the co-op model before finding this school - having parents be such a strong part of the program was a new idea. Both my husband and I work so I wasn't sure if we could make the time commitment work. BUT I wanted to try. I also was excited to meet other parents with same age kids The school was flexible and offered options to meet the parent commitments. For a while my mom and I traded off supervision days once a week, and later I transitioned to the working parents program and took on jobs that could be done outside of the work week. It's amazing to see how this little village comes together to create a supportive and inclusive environment for our kids I've seen some of the other bad reviews - I think the co-op model is not right for many folks. If you're looking for a place to drop your kid off and pick them up at the end of the day - this is not it. The hours are short and the time commitment is high. If you're looking for a program where you work alongside other parents and the INCREDIBLE teaching staff to build a wonderful early childhood experience for your kids - look no further My kid went from being extremely shy and not wanting to talk to other kids at the park, not wanting me to leave him at school, to making new friends almost every time we go out. He's super confident in his body and likes to play hard, go fast, climb high. When I drop him off now he doesn't even look back - he's so excited to play with his friends. He gets exposed to such a wide range of activities - they cook snacks - cutting and mixing, bike, get messy with paint, water, bubbles, make leaf piles and jump in them, build forts, play with sensory materials, dance to music... The teachers encourage the kids to problem solve, to work together when they face a problem and to navigate issues when challenges arise We highly recommend FPNS, and I'm excited for my next kid to come when she's old enough!"

"We had dreams for how our kid’s preschool environment and years would look like but as he turned preschool age and we started touring preschools in the area, our dreams were crushed. Until we found FPNS. This was exactly everything we were looking for. This is a very play-based school with plenty of opportunity to be creative, get messy and learn to socialize in a much less structured setting, which we believe is right for preschool age. Our kid has grown so much in many ways since going to FPNS. Of course this comes with strong parent participation. We loved the idea of having parents be part of the system on a daily basis at the school. It meant a lot of transparency, low adult to kid ratio and having the children build confidence interacting with more adults. It also meant you could share the experience with your kid on some days, observe them and support them during these early transition years. Teachers and staff are also great, open to input and the school in general is quite inclusive. So fortunate we live close to this school."

"My child has been going to FPNS for over a year. Initially, I didn't know what to think about the coop environment - parents are involved in helping to plan activities for their children, monitor and engage in play, and help out in a variety of ways. This is the type of place where (if your schedule allows), the amount of time and effort you put in directly correlates with the quality of the overall school. To be clear, this school is not a well-funded private school. The parents who are passionate and invested in their children's growth and in the growth of an environment that fosters collaborative free play are the ones who stand to benefit. A year in and my child has prospered in so many ways. Building confidence in physical play, social interaction, dealing with difficult situations - all of these are possible because of the FPNS environment and model. I firmly believe that the FPNS philosophy is one that builds all the right "soft skills" for children to succeed in the near term and long term."

"FPNS is a good school, great teachers. Except, it's like a family-run school, there are children who have been coming to this school since they were 2. Their parents are the board members, these children have younger siblings who are next in line to join the school once they turn 2. These parents know each other, one is president, another is vice president, or a fundraiser or a maintenance manager. So if your child is on the quieter side, you may feel he is getting less attention."