Our History & Philosophy

In 1978, Awesome Beginnings Co-Operative Nursery School was established initially as Strabane Co-operative Nursery School when a group of area mothers discovered that the applications they had sent to another preschool had been lost. By this time the other school was full and there was no other school in the area. The mothers decided to join forces and established the Strabane Co-operative Nursery School. Twenty years later, in September of 1998, the nursery school moved from the basement of the Strabane United Church to its present location at the Carlisle Community Centre on the upper floor. In June 2001 the nursery school officially changed its name to Awesome Beginnings Co-Operative Nursery School.

What is a Co-Operative Nursery School?

A cooperative nursery school is organized and administered by the parents of the attending preschoolers. Mothers and fathers can serve as executive members, attend co-op meetings, work on committees, fundraise and assist in the classroom on a rotating basis (encouraged, but not required). This offers the parents the chance to be involved in their child's early education and to have a voice in the daily operation of the school.

Parental assistance also means that fees can be kept low. A Co-operative offers families a chance to make new friends - people who acknowledge the importance of quality early childhood education, and who want to be part of it. Our Co-op works well simply because everyone works together to ensure that the exceptional quality of the school is maintained.

Awesome Beginnings Co-Operative Nursery School offers an exceptional introduction to your child's first educational experience.

Our Philosophy

A co-operative school program is unique and special in that staff, parents and children work, learn and grow together. We are a family based program run by the parents in our community. We believe that the foundation of life begins in the preschool years. Thus we provide an environment which allows each child to reach his/her maximum potential at each developmental stage. Each child is a unique individual and therefore the needs of each child shall be met by the staff and the program on an individual basis. Our preschool program focuses on the total development of the child-physical, intellectual, emotional and social. The program offers this by a "learning through play" atmosphere with a careful balance of free-choice activities and structured teacher activities. A special feature of the nursery school is the JK Readiness Program, designed to stimulate and encourage the development of academic and social skills needed by children entering Junior Kindergarten