The Co-op School was founded in 2003 by a group of parents who saw the need for a high-quality and affordable preschool option in the Clinton Hill and Fort Greene neighborhoods. Since then, the Co-op School has matured from a small, parent-run playgroup to a fully staffed and licensed non-profit school.

After residing in two prior homes in Clinton Hill, The Co-op School moved into 87 Irving Place in the fall of 2009. In 2011, The Co-op School launched the first kindergarten class of its elementary program at 40 Brevoort Place. In 2019, we opened our doors at 644 Gates Avenue in the Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhood—in a 3,500-square-foot building with a double-height gym, a rooftop library, and two playgrounds—housing our preschool, lower school, and middle school students under one roof.

The mission of The Co-op School is to inspire passion and teach children to become protagonists in their own educational journey by fostering their innate sense of curiosity and creativity. The Co-op School facilitates joyful learning through a unique and rigorous constructivist approach that listens to and honors the individual interests and strengths of each child. The Co-op School doesn’t just belong to the students and educators, but extends to the family community as a whole. It belongs to those who participate in it, and is a more resilient and creative place because of it.

We value and nurture the strength of character it takes to work together as a team, to be an individual, to respect differences of opinions, and have the ability to empathize with others.

We value and nurture the confidence that leads to risk taking, problem solving, and taking pride in one’s own point of view.

We value and nurture curiosity, imagination, creativity, experimentation and perseverance when faced with challenges.

We value and nurture an overall awareness, respect and care for our surroundings, community and environment.

We value and nurture the courage and heart it requires to be anti-racist in our speech and actions, and exemplify this through the conversations we have and the work we do in and out of our classrooms.

We value and nurture the simple joy of playing, learning, and friendship-making.