Speedway Cooperative Preschool, owned and operated by the parents, has been a member of the westside community since 1966. Parents and children learn together in the classroom with parents participating one or two times a month in their child's class. The children are offered a wide range of activities including art, music, stories, science experiments, and large muscle activities.
The facility consists of two classrooms, a "big muscle" room, and a spacious fenced playground.
The Cooperative employs two teachers. Lenore Ward has been teaching Sparkplugs since 1996. Suzanne Carroll Kenny has taught Racers since 1997 and Rookies since 1998. Both teachers hold bachelor's degrees: Lenore in elementary education from State University of New York Cortland, and Suzanne in English and history from Indiana University. The teachers stay up-to-date on early childhood education by independent study and attending workshops, study groups, and conferences a minimum of 12 hours each year. They believe in presenting a well-rounded, developmentally appropriate program for their students under the guidelines of ICPC and PCPI.
Executive Board
PresidentJessica Hornocker
1st VP
Theresa Pettigrew
2nd VP
Karen Ring
Treasurer
Megan Bickel
Secretary
Yazmin Westin
Speedway Coop has been located in John Knox Presbyterian Church since its inception over forty years ago by a determined group of mothers. Since the preschool's beginning, it has been staffed by dedicated, caring teachers who have the best interests of their students in mind as they plan their curricula.
Parents, grandparents, and other involved caregivers add to the school by participating in their child's classroom and by assisting in the administration of the school. Each family is assigned a committee position or chair based on their talents, interests, and time.
The teachers use developmentally appropriate activities-- you will find no worksheets or forced activities here-- based on guidelines set by NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children), of which both teachers are members.
The preschool is a member of ICPC (Indiana Council of Preschool Cooperatives) and PCPI (Parent Cooperative Preschools International), two umbrella organizations committed to enriching the lives of young children through the cooperative preschool experience, both in this country and around the world.