Our History
Parents Nursery School began in 1943, as the “Mothers’ Cooperative Nursery School”, formed by a group of mothers, on the campus of Stanford University. The coop thrived, and with encouragement from Dr. Esther Clarke, in 1948, a group of parents raised enough private funds to purchase a permanent site for the school – a turnip patch at the edge of the City of Palo Alto.
Among the parents involved in the early years of the cooperative were David Packard, who co-signed the note to purchase the school’s property, and Flora Hewlett, who was one of the school’s first presidents. Others who served in supporting the school were Mary Lewis, who acted as director and Doris Grant, a teacher, both of whom went on to important roles in forming the Head Start program.
In 1949, Parents Nursery School (PNS) was established as a non-profit school with the primary purpose of providing nursery school care along with parent education. For over 50 years, Parents Nursery School has operated as a preschool where parents work in the classroom and learn alongside their children. As originally established, parents also hold board positions and help run the school.
The Parents Nursery School facilities are a testament to the energy and dedication of parents. The original building was constructed professionally with parents providing some finishing work. Van Juda, who later became head of the landscape architecture department at UC Berkeley, designed the original playground, which was built in 1965 with parents’ help. Over the years, parents have pitched in, again and again, to provide the funding, talent, and muscle necessary to renovate and enhance our school building and grounds.
From its start as a mothers’ coop, Parents Nursery School has grown into an established preschool serving a diverse community. For 35 years, “Grandma Virginia” Debs, Parents Nursery School teacher and co-director, was the guiding spirit of Parents Nursery School. Grandma Virginia retired in 2005 but still volunteers as "school grandma." During most of Virginia Debs’ tenure, Parents Nursery School was part of the Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) Adult Education Department. As licensed adult educators, Parents Nursery School teachers taught both preschoolers and their parents who were enrolled through the PAUSD.
In the “old days”, mothers acted as volunteer teachers at the coop. Today, Parents Nursery School hires professional teachers who work together with classroom parents to provide developmentally appropriate, play-based learning for preschoolers as well as parent education and guidance. Each year, new families join Parents Nursery School and carry on the school’s long history and proud tradition of educating parents and preschoolers in a supportive community.
