When it comes to raising children, it is often said it takes a village. In 1947 a group of Los Angeles parents that included psychoanalysts, politicians, and prominent attorneys, decided to create such a village. They incorporated Rancho Co-operative Nursery School as a non-profit in 1948 then opened their doors in a little building on Overland and National that one of the parents purchased and rented to the school.

The school’s philosophy was that it would be child-led and play-based with a focus on social-emotional learning. Parents would be highly involved, working shifts as “teachers” with one educational director hired to oversee and guide them. Finances and school decisions would be managed by a board made up of parents.

More than 75 years later, this is still Rancho’s philosophy and model. Our school is a village handed down from family to family, generation to generation, with alumni eventually returning to Rancho Co-op to enroll their own preschoolers.