Our daughter attended this school from ages 2 1/2 to 5. It was an incredible experience. I never understood, before, how much children learn through play. Subtracting the days until the eggs hatch...adding the number of velcro toys on the board...she learned so much, so fast, without ever realizing it! More importantly, in the classroom she learned essential character-building skills: how to make friends, how to talk with people, sharing, taking turns, how to calm down and help others calm down, things that may sound minor but in elementary school I see so many children who didn't learn these and they struggle terribly because of it. Her teacher was warm and nurturing and I am pretty sure our daughter thinks of her as another mother. I wish elementary school was just like this preschool, with play-based learning, lots of outdoor time, and socialization. Seriously, I would've stayed at this school forever if only our daughter stopped aging! She remembers it with great love too and still goes to summer camp there. I HIGHLY recommend it.

Awesome experience at the co-op school. My 4yr son attended from 2022-2024, and loved the teacher, classroom, activities, and other children he met. My son was 1 when Covid hit, and the initial year(ish) of social distancing left us concerned that he didnt get the same social development fundamentals that we had when we were kids. He was VERY nervous to start school, but the teacher (Pam Ober) was incredibly welcoming, and her high energy and positivity helped my son feel comfortable at school. She actually came to our house to play with my son a few weeks before school to help him feel more comfortable on his first day. It was great feeling as a parent to hear him come home from school excited about a craft the class made, or hearing about the friendships he was developing with a few classmates. From a parent perspective, the co-op model means the affordability of the school comes with the tradeoff of parents being more involved than a private school. Parents make up the administration, and school board, with positions being rotated each year, board meetings once a month(ish). Once a month one parent from each household volunteers as the "helper" for the classroom. It was a fun opportunity to be involved in the classroom, and my son was very excited whenever one of his parents was helper. If you are looking for an affordable option for a nursery school or preK, and want to be involved with your kids first steps into schooling, the Niskayuna Co-op is a fantastic choice.