INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Member School News | New PCPI Members Google Group | Grant Opportunities - Apply Now! | 60+1 Celebration
Cooperatively Speaking
The Latest News From PCPI
December 5, 2020
Vol. 50, No.10
Dear Friends,

Many of us are ready to breathe a sigh of relief as we finally come to the end of 2020, the longest, strangest year on record. Hopefully we'll be able to look back and find that some good has come from the multitude of challenges we have faced and conquered.

Be sure to take some time in the next few days to renew your PCPI membership and to apply for a grant. Several funding opportunities are available to support parent education and community involvement projects. Read on for details.

Cooperatively yours,

Dianne Rose, M.Ed.
Editor, Cooperatively Speaking
PCPInews@preschools.coop
Member School Makes News
Each of our schools has had to adapt to life in the pandemic. For some that has meant putting opening on hold, others conducted virtual programming, and some put on in-person programs in totally new ways.

For Takoma Park Cooperative Nursery School in Takoma Park, MD, the solution was to move their entire program outdoors. The changes and what motivated their decision making was a featured topic in a recent article published by the Natural Start Alliance.

While the move outdoors has been well supported by parents involved in the program, licensing restrictions have also made parent participation during class impossible for now. But they're making it work and are looking toward the post-pandemic future.
Be a Part of the Conversation!

A new PCPI Members Google Group has been created to give us another avenue to share ideas and information. This will replace the current Yahoo Group which will no longer be active after December 15th.

Joining is easy!
  1. Click the button below to send an email to PCPINews@preschools.coop.
  2. Use the subject line: Add to Google Group.
  3. Include your first and last name, your school and/or council name, and the email address you'd like added. (If there are multiple people in your school who should be added to the group, you are welcome to include all if their information in one email.)

Group members will receive a daily digest of messages exchanged. Message threads will be grouped by topic for easy searching later. Spread the word!
Grant Applications Due December 15th

Cooperative preschools in the US and Canada are eligible to apply for PCPI grants to support parent education and community building. Member councils are also eligible for grants to fund a council cooperative project. 

Applications for all grants are due by midnight December 15th, 2020. Grant award decisions will be made by January 15, 2021. Be sure to send in your applications before the deadline! 

Here's a summary of upcoming grant opportunities:
PCPI Member Schools and Councils
Total grant up to $1,000

Provides financial support for increasing parent involvement by initiating a school or community improvement project.
_______
 US Schools and
Councils
Total grant up to $500 

Helps fund a parent education project for US based member schools and councils.
________
Canadian Schools and Councils
Total grant up to $500

Helps fund a parent education project or other activity for Canadian based schools and councils. 
________
Apply by DECEMBER 15TH!
Planning to Celebrate 60+1

Birthdays are awesome, and we're not going to let a pandemic get in the way of celebrating!

This year marked PCPI's 60th, and we had big party plans in the works. However, when we made the decision to cancel the in-person annual meeting, we decided to postpone our anniversary celebration until 2021 in hopes that we could do it together in real life.

So, the 60+1 Celebration Committee is busy, busy, making plans for a shindig in Portland in 2021. Stay tuned for details!