About
Village Preschool of Portland offers activities such as nature walks, time at a science and nature discovery table, and daily use of a spacious outdoor playground. Children engage in climbing, swinging, balancing, digging, carrying heavy loads of sand and water, running, skipping, and collaborative ball-handling. Classroom experiences include singing, dancing, puppetry, storytelling, collaborative discussions, dramatic play with dress-up clothes and musical instruments, and hands-on investigation with rotating materials at a sensory table.
• Ages: 3–6 years old
Village Preschool of Portland has been a cooperative play school since 1955 and is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. It is a cooperative preschool managed by parents of the children enrolled, and generations of parents have participated in its welcoming classrooms. The program offers a combined class for ages 3 to 6 years old, with children considered Juniors at ages 3–4 and Seniors at ages 4 and older, and classrooms typically have a 5:1 adult/child ratio. The classroom is described as warm, inviting, and stimulating, organized into distinct zones of learning, and includes a material-rich environment with a complete set of unit blocks as an essential tool. The art program is process-based rather than product-based, and children are not asked to copy a model or use materials in an adult-dictated way. Daily group time focuses on communication through singing, dancing, puppetry, storytelling, and collaborative discussions, and the dramatic play area includes materials such as dress-up clothes, musical instruments, and blocks.
Village Preschool of Portland states that its intent is to help each child become their most authentic self, and that rules are enforced without rewarding, punishing, or praising. The program emphasizes active family involvement, a strong parent education program, and continual school-home communication. Village offers Parent Education evenings in an intimate Q&A style with Teacher Tara. Teacher Tara has a background in education and educational and nonprofit development, and the leadership team includes Teacher Tara as Lead Teacher and Jamie Clary, who has served as a lead teacher for over a decade and is a Village Teacher.
Village Preschool of Portland is a cooperative preschool created by parents in Southwest Portland who came together to form a community where their children could grow and play together and parents could maintain meaningful involvement in their children’s early learning. It is managed by parents of the children enrolled and is a member of the Parent Child Preschools of Oregon (PCPO), which supports early childhood education for parents and teachers in cooperative preschool communities and helps keep the school up to date on cooperative preschool information. Village Preschool of Portland is a secular organization and is not affiliated with the West Portland United Methodist Church, which rents the school its space. Village Preschool admits students of any race, color, national, and ethnic origin and does not discriminate on that basis in its policies and programs, and Village welcomes families to be a part of the community.
Parent feedback includes comments such as, “Village helped us get three kids ready for kindergarten. The school has really become part of the family—and the principles we’ve learned from our teachers have legitimately helped us become better parents,” from Heather H. Another parent, Rachel M., shared, “We are going into our third year at Village and words cannot express how much we love our little school! Our daughter loves school of course and has grown immensely in the past 2 years, but because Village is a co-op we as her parents have had the privilege to witness that growth firsthand. We can’t thank this community enough for supporting her and loving her for who she is.”
Last updated April 14, 2026.
• Ages: 3–6 years old
Village Preschool of Portland has been a cooperative play school since 1955 and is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. It is a cooperative preschool managed by parents of the children enrolled, and generations of parents have participated in its welcoming classrooms. The program offers a combined class for ages 3 to 6 years old, with children considered Juniors at ages 3–4 and Seniors at ages 4 and older, and classrooms typically have a 5:1 adult/child ratio. The classroom is described as warm, inviting, and stimulating, organized into distinct zones of learning, and includes a material-rich environment with a complete set of unit blocks as an essential tool. The art program is process-based rather than product-based, and children are not asked to copy a model or use materials in an adult-dictated way. Daily group time focuses on communication through singing, dancing, puppetry, storytelling, and collaborative discussions, and the dramatic play area includes materials such as dress-up clothes, musical instruments, and blocks.
Village Preschool of Portland states that its intent is to help each child become their most authentic self, and that rules are enforced without rewarding, punishing, or praising. The program emphasizes active family involvement, a strong parent education program, and continual school-home communication. Village offers Parent Education evenings in an intimate Q&A style with Teacher Tara. Teacher Tara has a background in education and educational and nonprofit development, and the leadership team includes Teacher Tara as Lead Teacher and Jamie Clary, who has served as a lead teacher for over a decade and is a Village Teacher.
Village Preschool of Portland is a cooperative preschool created by parents in Southwest Portland who came together to form a community where their children could grow and play together and parents could maintain meaningful involvement in their children’s early learning. It is managed by parents of the children enrolled and is a member of the Parent Child Preschools of Oregon (PCPO), which supports early childhood education for parents and teachers in cooperative preschool communities and helps keep the school up to date on cooperative preschool information. Village Preschool of Portland is a secular organization and is not affiliated with the West Portland United Methodist Church, which rents the school its space. Village Preschool admits students of any race, color, national, and ethnic origin and does not discriminate on that basis in its policies and programs, and Village welcomes families to be a part of the community.
Parent feedback includes comments such as, “Village helped us get three kids ready for kindergarten. The school has really become part of the family—and the principles we’ve learned from our teachers have legitimately helped us become better parents,” from Heather H. Another parent, Rachel M., shared, “We are going into our third year at Village and words cannot express how much we love our little school! Our daughter loves school of course and has grown immensely in the past 2 years, but because Village is a co-op we as her parents have had the privilege to witness that growth firsthand. We can’t thank this community enough for supporting her and loving her for who she is.”
Last updated April 14, 2026.
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