'Collective Kind', a Progressive Pre-School, Is Coming To Gowanus

Great news for those with little ones! Collective Kind, the first NYC-based network of Montessori Microschools "providing high quality early education for working families of all backgrounds", is coming to Gowanus.

The progressive pre-school offers a socially engaged early childhood education. It is based on the wonderful mission of creating a space where children are taught empathy for all, care of the earth, and love of learning.  Founded by Anna Caroline Tehan,  Anna Ellis Nesser and Clara Planel, Collective Kind supports "children to love themselves, their community and the planet."

This women-owned school also offers multicultural classrooms, slicing scale tuition to enable access to families of all backgrounds, flexible subsidy plans for employers of all sizes, access to co-working for adults, and above average salaries and intersectional feminist benefits for its teaching and school staff.

In short, everything we, as a community, should be supporting.

Collective Kind already has a location in Fort Greene and will soon open micro- preschools in Prospect Lefferts, Boerum Hill... and Gowanus, near Third Avenue.

Anna Ellis Nesser, the school's Director of Learning and Sustainability, wrote to us to express her excitement about the Gowanus location:

"As we, Collective Kind, are growing we are so excited to be coming to work with the Gowanus/Carroll Garden community. Adding this as part of our growth plan was a quick and easy decision - not only is Clara (one of our co-founders) a Carroll Garden resident raising her daughter in the community, this is also where Anna (another of our co-founders) grew up! Something that has not changed over the years here since Anna was a kid and Clara became a parent is the need for progressive early care that families can afford.

As our network of local families has continued to grow with families joining our adult-child classes we have been hearing that Collective Kind is just what the community wants! Anti-bias and nature-based education that supports children to love themselves, their community and the planet is what we are here to share and we look forward to having you join us soon."

Collective Kind just launched a crowdfunding campaign HERE for its teacher-led, female-founded school network. All information about the program can be found at thecollectivekind.com

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Bring Your Little Ones: 'Collective Play Ground' Hosts Two Free Drop-In Classes In Neighborhood

The beautiful corner retail space at  243 Smith Street at Douglass Street in Boerum Hill has hosted a variety of different businesses in the past few years. Most recently, it was home to Roux Roux, an artist gallery, as well as Teddy, a women's boutique.

In the past year, it has been transformed into The Class Space, a wonderful light and inviting rental space, dedicated to educators, who would like to host their own classes in the neighborhood without the burden of managing their own studio.

One of the programs that offers classes here is Collective Play Ground, lead by co-founders Anna Ellis Nesser and  Anna Caroline Tehan.  

Anna Ellis Nesser, who grew up in this neighborhood, reached out to PMFA recently to tell us more about the programming.

Collective Play Ground creates a nurturing space for the whole family to play, work and learn.

While your little one explores carefully curated, open-ended materials alongside their peers, come engage in a supportive community while growing your understanding of developmental topics relevant to raising independent, empathetic and socially engaged children.

Through early childhood education that prioritizes collaborative exploration, we grow a community of young children and their adults where there is empathy for all and a connection to the natural world. Learn more about us and our Adult-Child Program HERE.

Collective Play Ground is currently offering two FREE drop-in classes from 9:00-9:45 AM: Sat, Feb 8th at 119 Union Street and Thursday, Feb 13th at 243 Smith St.
The spring sessions will then begin in March. The classes are appropriate for 7 months - 2 years olds

if you have little ones, reach out and RSVP here

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