A
Family Cooperative
Each co-op family volunteers their skills and abilities as a way to support their children's education. all work counts equally in our co-op because all members are valued equally. This is true from the school's cleaners to the Board of Directors.
We operate as a cooperative so we can serve students and families with varying levels of income, while also modeling to our children the importance of working together toward a common purpose despite the different backgrounds we represent. Diversity in education and cooperation across difference are core values of the school and of our family-integrated cooperative.
Our cooperative model works because of the combined efforts of our participating families and the love and commitment they have for our community.
read about Annual Co-op requirements here
General co-op meetings are scheduled throughout the year. Here, we conduct official school business -- voting on our annual budget, holding elections -- but these are also spaces for transparent communication and deliberation of all aspects of the operations of the school. Additionally, co-op members serve on the committees that do key work in running our school, so they are directly involved in planning and communicating out to the co-op as a whole. Fundraisers & events are organized by co-op members, both to financially support our school and to build awareness of our school and mission in the greater San Antonio community.
Our cooperative model is a unique example of democratic community in action: we equally value all members of our community and empower them to lead, collaborate, and work together for the good of our school. Our co-op runs in an almost entirely horizontal way, so that we are continuously and consciously co-leading.
Though each part of the school has areas of special focus, there is overlapping communication, collaboration, and consensus-building. Our teachers, staff, and parents/co-op members are deeply involved in plans, proposals, and policies at every stage: envisioning, organizing, and implementing.
