Our Story
Oneonta Cooperative Nursery School was founded in 1947 and is a parent participation nursery school. We are the oldest parent participation school in the area. Oneonta Nursery School is a non-religious program, located on the beautiful grounds of Oneonta Congregational Church in South Pasadena, California.
As a cooperative, Oneonta offers a wonderful & unique opportunity for parents to share their child’s first school experience. In return, the children truly appreciate and benefit from their parents’ involvement in the school.
We are a non-profit corporation offering classes limited to fifteen children, with one teacher, one aide and two participating parents per day; each child learns the joys and trials of belonging to a group.
We offer: 2 classes for 3 year olds and two for 4 year olds, with 15 children in each class and 4 adults each day.
Membership is held on a yearly basis and tuition differs according to the number of days per week your child is enrolled at Oneonta.
The current tuition (2011-2012) breakdown is as follows, and is subject to change for each new school year:
2 days/week 3 year olds: $162/month
3 days/week 3 year olds: $243/month
3 days/week 4 year olds: $243/month
4 days/week 4 year olds: $310/month
For 3 year olds we offer a 2-day class (Tuesday and Thursday) and a 3 day class (Monday, Wednesday, Friday). Each child is enrolled in one class only, it is not possible to mix and match. Classes run from 9:00 until 11:30 in the first semester, and extend to 11:45 in the second semester (which starts on February 1st). The emphasis in these classes is on socialization, self esteem, communication and learning school routines. Our 3 year old classes are taught by Mrs. Karen Vahala and Mrs. Azalea Tauer, her aide.
For 4-year-olds, classes also consist of 15 children with 4 adults each day. We offer a 4-day class (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday) taught by Mrs. Dolores Alvarez and Mrs. Elaine Shigemoto, her aide.
We also offer a 3-day class (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) taught by Mrs. Ellen Main and Mrs. Lynne Chavez, her aide.
For both 4 year old classes, the class runs from 9:00 -11:45 in the first semester, and extends to 12:00 in the second semester. The emphasis in the four-year-old classes is to prepare the children for Kindergarten through a developmental approach. The curriculum is the same in both classes.
All of our teachers are qualified to teach early childhood programs. All staff members have first aid and CPR training.

