The Redding Cooperative Preschool, which has served local families for 58 years, is calling on the Shasta County community for help in facing up to $62,000 in unexpected repairs to its historic schoolhouse.
A letter (click on link, below) was mailed out to the preschool’s alumni to inform them of the damage and suggest ways they can help, including supporting the Co-op’s Feb. 23 Children’s Concert and raffle (see press release, attached) and March 15 Rummage Sale.
The preschool’s building is a former duplex, originally built to house Shasta Dam workers, and later moved to the current Redding site at 658 Mary Street. According to the Co-op’s documents, the surplus building was purchased in the summer of 1960 from the Bureau of Reclamation for $1. It was moved from Toyon to the then-Shasta College site (now the Shasta High School campus).
“You’ll see a few of these duplexes around town still,” said former Co-op teacher Barbara Lapp, 82, of Redding. She taught there from 1967 to 1994 and was a Co-op Parent in the preceding years.
The duplex’s two 2-bedroom, 1-bath homes were converted into classrooms, an art kitchen, snack kitchen and library/reading room, Lapp said. Its side-by-side garages were eventually connected by an interior hallway with kids’ cubbie shelves above a central room, where preschoolers now enjoy “circle time” together.
While the building has weathered, the Redding Co-op Preschool’s mission remains intact. It continues to provide an excellent and affordable education for young children and their families. The Redding Co-op is the only independent, non-profit preschool in Redding and offers the unique opportunity for parents, grandparents and other caregivers to continue being “their child’s first teacher” within a safe, supportive classroom setting.
From press release.
