Welcome to Durham Community Preschool!
*We’ve taken preschool outside!*
Durham Community Preschool offers part-time child care for the academic year, September to May. During the summer, we offer an optional summer session for toddlers and weekly summer camps for three- to five-year-olds.
The pandemic changed how we do preschool. Before 2020, we were your regular half-day preschool that had an allotted time outside. When the pandemic hit, we changed our model to be completely outside. We wanted to be a safe place for educators to work along with providing an in-person experience for children to learn social skills. By being outside, we were able to operate reliably and with no covid closures in 2020 and 2021. For the 2022-23 school year, we are taking what we’ve learned and offering an outdoor preschool experience for children ages 2 – 5 years old. We are excited to share in this journey with your family and welcome you to the wonderful benefits of nature and preschool.
We were proud to be featured in the Natural Start Alliance spotlight of March 2021. We created a YouTube video that month to capture what we did during the pandemic. To see what we are up to currently, find us on Instagram and Facebook – we post regularly during the year!
Our Mission
Durham Community Preschool is a secular non-profit preschool that offers play-based, part time child-care. We welcome families of every race, ethnicity, religion, family structure, and background.
Our Vision
Our vision is to nurture the potential of each child through innovative strategies that foster social-emotional development and creative exploration. We are unwavering in our commitment to providing families with a high quality educational experience within our inclusive, socially responsible community.
Did you know that Durham Community Preschool is a non-profit? Donations of any amount can be made to DCP through our secure PayPal account or by cash or check during school hours. All charitable donations to DCP are tax deductible.
We offer subscription giving to fund a teacher’s continuing education at our preschool. This fund allows teachers to dive deeper into environmental education, Conscious Discipline, equity and inclusion, developmentally appropriate practice, loose parts play and more!
Our Values and Philosophy
Children are naturally creative, possessing an innate curiosity and taking delight in discovering the world around them through active exploration. We support these attributes by:
- engaging our young people to learn through play, creativity, and hands-on activities;
- providing them with a comfortable and enriching environment; and
- allowing them to develop their ideas and freely express themselves.
Experiences in early childhood also shape how young people view the world and their connection with it. At DCP, we encourage our children to become compassionate and mindful members of their community by:
- recognizing that each child is a capable individual;
- giving our children a solid foundation of confidence and self-worth to support their journey through childhood;
- emphasizing the value of community; and
- modeling peaceful conflict resolution and respect for one another.
Family Involvement
Family involvement is strongly encouraged at Durham Community Preschool. It is a cornerstone of our program and crucial to our community-building mission. We encourage parents to volunteer a small portion of their time each month. This can take the form of assisting in the classroom, supporting staff with small projects, or helping with a fund-raising event. We have a mix of parents represented at DCP: some have full-time jobs outside of the home, some work at home or at part-time jobs, and some have busy student or volunteer schedules – but all participate in the life of our preschool, and we are stronger for it. Durham Community Preschool is so named because we truly value community: both our small but vital family of parents, children, teachers, and staff, and the larger communities of Durham and beyond.
