Maple Street School featured in "Next American City"

Next Amercian City, a quarterly magazine about urban issues, prominently features the Maple Street School in its latest cover story. The article looks at co-op preschools around the country, but draws on Maple Street as a sort of model. (Download pdf)

Maple Street typifies the new face of the pre-school co-op. Located in a historically black, working-class neighborhood that has attracted wealth over the past decade, the school charges $12,132 per year per full-time student ($8,112 for half days). It is diverse economically and racially but skews toward the postboomer educated idealists who now populate central Brooklyn: 64 percent of the parents are white, 24 percent multiracial and 10 percent African-American. Almost 60 percent of the families have household incomes below $125,000, and most have two working parents.

Maybe it's just me but $12,132 seems like a lot of money for preschool; and co-ops are said to be a bargain! As a soon-to-be parent myself, I shudder to think of what a conventional preschool costs.   

Comments

[Bob Marvin]

It's been along while since I've been involved with the Maple Street School, since my alumnus son is 25, and the cost was much lower in his day, but I doubt that there's any fat, much less profit, in the current tuition, since it's a co-op.I'm sure the space, leased from the MTA, isn't cheap and the staff deserve a living age. I do agree that $12,000 is a hardship, but that's a commentary abought the state of today's middle class :-(

[adrock]

There are a lot of excellent alternatives, some right around the corner, like Almond Tree Day Care, or the Montessori on Rogers. Those two examples cost about half of what Maple Street does, have longer days, and provide care throughout the year (as opposed to strictly following the school year).

But Maple Streeters sure love their school, you have to give them that.

[Tom G]

As a fellow soon-to-be-parent, I too have been blown away at the prices of education. It seems Maple Street is half the price of most private schools that charge 20K and up starting with Kindergarden. I have also read with rising number of families being raised in the city, Manhattan parents are sending their kids to the Brooklyn schools when they can't get into the Manhattan ones. Just like Manhattan prices boosted the real estate market, so too is true for the private education market.

[car-less]

Are there any schools in the PLG neighborhood that are decent after Nursery School? Public or Private?

[carrie]

The Caton School, the public elementary school near the Parade Grounds is supposed to be decent, but only homes on the west side of Flatbush are zoned for it.

I don't know much about private schools because they're so far beyond anything we could afford.

I think most parents here work to get their kids in nearby magnet schools; that's going to be our strategy. And if we can't make it into anything decent, I might look into starting a home-schooling coop (just don't tell my husband)...

[Midwoody]

If you start that homeschooling coop, our one-year-old daughter would love to be a part... She won't tell your husband.

[Brenda from Flatbush]

I have lived opposite the Caton School for 21 years and observed/heard the interactions of staff and kids, taken issues to the office, etc. I can assure you they are a bastion of mediocrity, although there are undoubtedly some dedicted and talented individuals there struggling to make a difference. Over the years, we've made a sad game of picking up discarded test papers and being amazed at how the teachers can't grade a third-grade spelling test accurately...

[kendall]

PS 217 on ConeyIslandAve @ Newkirk has taken kids from out of district - including ours, to our great satisfaction...on the independent school side, many PLG families have kids at Berkeley Carroll, at least until middle school; for high school, kids go all over the city

[plger]

as yet another soon-to-be parent in the neighborhood, what are the nearby magnet schools?

[Lyoness]

I have a three-year old and a 6-month old and have heavily researched homeschooling curriculae. If you are truly interested or wish to do a school day exchange, please email me.
carmeninrome@yahoo.com
(No, I'm not in Rome, I'm on Winthrop).

[michelle]

Maple street school is a tidbit steep in comparison to other local nursery's. But i will say that the care you receive is worth every penny.

I used to student teach at MSS when they were located on Nostrand Avenue. That school set the standard for me when i began teaching in a preschool setting.

The other notable school i interned at was beth el'ohim in park slope. they are much more expensive i imagine.

PS. MSS also has a upk program so I am wondering if anyone here has taken advantage of it.