The Cooperative Experience

WVNS believes that parent participation is significant to the child and the tenor of the school community. Parents commit to volunteering a few hours a month this can be during the school week or over weekends. Our parents’ diverse professional skills and creative talents enrich the quality of their children’s educational experience. Parent involvement helps bring home and school closer together creating a close-knit community that fosters friendships among parents as well as children.

One of the most unique contributions that parents make to WVNS is working alongside teachers during the school day. By helping in the classroom or the yard, parents gain a deeper understanding of their own children and of child development more broadly. Parents also develop insights into aspects of growth still awaiting their child, such as opportunities for developing autonomy, self-expression, self-assertion or self-control. Being amongst the class allows parents to observe the teachers as they help children solve problems, resolve conflicts and make progress, giving parents a wealth of knowledge. It is an enriching experience as parents develop a new understanding of how children think, perceive and react.

When parents are directly involved in the classroom, children become acquainted with many warm and caring adults outside their immediate family. Consequently, at an early age they begin to build a picture of the outer world as safe and friendly.