Grant Park Cooperative Preschool - 501 Grant Street
Located at the corner of Grant & Sydney Streets in the lower level of St. Paul United Methodist Church, this year marks an important milestone in the history of the Grant Park Cooperative Preschool – the school’s 10th anniversary.
After picking up your Tour booklets in the sanctuary of St. Paul UMC and visiting the Artists' Market, be sure to stop by GPCP and see just why our school has experienced 10 years of continuous growth and evolution. More importantly, you'll see the curiosity, wonderment and pure joy of all the beautiful children that have passed through our doors!
The story of how our school came about is one of dreams come true and inspiration.
In January of 2000, a small, but determined group met at the house of Gabriela Garcia, Executive Director, to talk about their desire to open a school where their children could be loved and would grow and thrive. Shortly thereafter, the Grant Park Cooperative Preschool was incorporated
Less than 9 months later, GPCP opened its doors to 42 children and their parents. Ten years ago, these families envisioned the school as a place where children, parents and teachers would be working in strong collaboration with each other.
GPCP chose to be a cooperative so parents could actively participate in their children’s education. As a non-profit cooperative organization, parents are fully responsible for the operation of the school, and this participation is part of the school’s identity as a learning community.
In February of 2006, the dream of growing and opening a second campus became a reality. With a lot of enthusiasm, hard work from more than 40 founding families and support from the Grant Park families, the new campus opened its doors in the fall of the 2006-2007 school year. The Cabbagetown Campus operated on the third floor in the St. Paul UMC building for the first year of operations and now resides in its permanent space in the Cabbagetown Community Center.
It is the purpose of GPCP to provide a secure, happy, consistent and loving environment in which children will flourish. In such a setting we strive to foster self-confident, caring, and inquisitive young people and to provide for them the foundation for acquiring basic skills and an understanding of the world around them.
GPCP is proud to be celebrating its first 10 years and is looking forward to many more years to come!
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