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Our School

About our school

All Austin Cooperative Nursery School (AACNS or more fondly, “The Co-op”) is a play-based part-time preschool located in Central Austin, Texas.  A community of parents, teachers, and children created and support the program together to provide high-quality experiential learning for our children in a secular environment.

Our non-profit school is a true cooperative, run by a board made up of parents, the director, the teachers, and members of the Austin community. Each family is responsible for a support job, and parents take turns assisting the teacher in the classroom. While our children are learning by playing together, we parents are learning too, by sharing information and by following the supportive guidance of our teachers.

Our History

In 1953, a group of progressive parents founded the All Austin Cooperative Nursery School with the purpose of providing a racially integrated, educationally sound learning environment for their children. AACNS was one of the first progressive preschools established in the state of Texas. Over the years, AACNS expanded and developed into a family-centered school, continuing to maintain a policy of nondiscrimination with regard to race, religion, color, and national origin. It was many years, however, before the Co-op was able to realize its dream of owning a space of its own. Finally, in 2002, on the eve of its 50th anniversary, AACNS purchased, renovated, and moved into a building designed solely for the use of young children and their families.

Today, we make these promises to our community:

We promise to LISTEN to children;
We promise to JOURNEY with children on paths they choose; and
We promise to CREATE COMMUNITY that supports children and their families.

Read in more depth about these promises and our values here.

AACNS Nondiscrimination Policy

The All Austin Cooperative Nursery School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship, and loan programs.