Cotati-Rohnert Park Co-op Nursery School

Cotati-Rohnert Park Co-op Nursery School offers messy art projects, exciting water and educational activities, Physical Education, lunch time, and play-based activities in math, science, and literacy. The program includes Parent & Me, Caterpillars, and Butterflies classes in a play-based learning environment where parents work and play alongside their children. It is a nonprofit cooperative preschool with small class sizes of 10–16 students and a 1:5 student-to-adult ratio.

• Ages: 2–5 years old
• Schedule: Parent & Me on Fridays 9:00–11:00 am, and multi-day morning class options between Monday and Thursday

Cotati-Rohnert Park Co-op Nursery School has been serving Sonoma County families through care and community since 1953 and was created in 1953 by a group of local mothers intent on raising the county’s children as a community. The school is licensed by the California State Department of Social Services as a California child care program, license #490102400. Teachers hold permits from the California Commission on Teaching Credentials (CCTC) and pass rigorous background and safety checks. The programs follow a whole child philosophy that promotes the physical, social-emotional, and intellectual development of students, with the Butterflies program focusing on developing self-help skills, decision making, and self-confidence to make independent decisions. The Parent & Me program is loosely structured and play-based, the Caterpillars class offers a relaxed introduction to preschool, and the Butterflies program prepares children for school life beyond the nursery school, with options such as Parent & Me Plus and Caterpillars Plus to adjust levels of participation and ease transitions.

The school offers Summer Adventure Camps with themed activities celebrating the excitement of summer, which are open to Sonoma County families with children ages 2.5 to 5 years. Children ages 2.5 to 3 must have attended the Parent & Me class to qualify for the summer program, and priority is given to continuing families and newly admitted families. The summer program is a way for parents to experience the school without the commitment of a regular school year and provides an opportunity for children to prepare for the following year’s placement.

Alumni parents describe the school as a co-op family where they connect with other parents and are involved with their child’s development, and they express gratitude to the staff and board for keeping the “little red school house” open. Alumni parents also state that, based on tours of other schools for TK and kindergarten, it is evident to them that children at Cotati-Rohnert Park Co-op Nursery School are well prepared for their next chapter and feel welcomed. Other alumni parents describe being part of a community gathered for the greater good of children, where people step in to answer questions, offer assistance, and support each other as they navigate new behaviors and methods of play and social interaction. Some alumni parents report that having multiple children attend the school was the best educational decision they could have made and that they would choose the school again, especially if they are looking for a school that is also a community where they can be involved in all aspects of their child’s preschool experience.

Last updated March 28, 2026.