La Playa Preschool turns 75

(Courtesy photo)

Culver City’s oldest preschool, La Playa Cooperative Nursery School, marks its 75th anniversary this year, and it will celebrate with a community celebration on Saturday, April 29. Attendees can enjoy activities including a music and bubble party, face painting and temporary tattoos, exploration station, food trucks, complimentary snacks and drinks, and a visit from a Culver City fire truck.

Tamara Johnson is the Board President with the school, and she told the News that it was shortly after World War 2 that parents in the US first had the idea of joining together to start cooperative nursery schools.

“La Playa is Culver City’s only cooperative nursery school (and has always been),” Johnson said. “A cooperative nursery school works differently than other preschools. They operate as nonprofits and are parent-run, parent-participatory, and involve parent education. Roughly once a week, one parent from each family works on site as an assistant to the school’s director(s) and teacher(s). The director(s) and teacher(s) are all paid staff; the parents are all volunteers (like me!). We operate just as any non-profit, with a president, secretary, Treasurer, and full board that meets monthly and does the business end of the school. (All volunteers.) We also work together to hero the greater community, primarily focusing on children’s and families’ needs, for example: offering cpr classes to people, parent education on nutrition, health, kindergarten readiness, art and music in the park days, and donating to other causes. 

There is a parent education element to Cooperatives. We work alongside the teachers and are taught weekly about habits, needs, and effective helping when it comes to this age group of kids. We also bring in other experts for monthly parent education guidance. This has been the way cooperatives operate for the last 75 years. They also focus on play-based education for this age group.”

The costs for attendance is typically less than other preschools, Johnson said, because parents are paying with their time.

“When these preschools were first established, they were run by mothers, mostly from families who had a financial advantage,” she said. “What’s interesting about these schools is that in just a few years’ time, they cross over among all levels of family financial income (and still do). Families change over time and so did the makeup of the families who participated in schools. It wasn’t until much later when only mothers were the parents volunteering. (At La Playa, just over a third of our “workday parents” are fathers.)”

La Playa started in 1948, in various parents’ homes. 

“In 1953, our then-chairman of the board negotiated a deal with the City to move to Lindberg Park, using its community building and attached play-yard,” Johnson said. “We’ve been working with the City and have been there ever since! I’ve been working extensively on the history of La Playa. There will be a display at the 75th celebration.”

Johnson is hoping that some people who attended the school during its early years will be able to come to the celebration.

“I’ve slowly been tracking down some people who attended there as children, as early as the ‘50s,” she said. “Mail has been sent back to me from anyone earlier than that. They’re all invited to our party on April 29. Some have already confirmed their attendance.”

Naturally, the school building has changed over the three quarters of a century.

“In the ‘30s, there was actually a pistol range on the site,” Johnson said. “Once defunct (around 1941), it was designated as an evacuation bunker during the war. Once La Playa was on site, all of that had been covered over and it is now used as a play yard. A couple of bathrooms have been added over the years. And around ten years ago, La Playa parents spent a long time fundraising (approximately $30,000) and donated it all to renovate the kitchen. So the kitchen that is there now was paid for by La Playa fundraising.”

While there will be current and former alumni families at the event next weekend, Johnson sees this as a community celebration.

“At the heart of La Playa is its people, who are each community-minded,” she said. “We serve each other’s families weekly as we get to know all the children. Through our work, we’re raising kind, smart, and hopefully community-conscious kids. La Playa has lasted through wars, the pandemic, and all sorts of national and local issues. We know that a large part of why we’re still here is not just because of the parents who run it but also because the city of Culver City and its community members have supported our presence and the good work we do here. We invite members of the community to come celebrate with us. We look forward to the next 75 years here in Lindberg Park!”

The event takes place on Saturday, April 29 at 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Lindberg Park’s Stone House, 5041 Rhoda Way, Culver City.