Great community feel at our co-op (RCNS)

We are at a co-op too, but what really helped was the birthday parties. We would all get invited and it gave you a chance to hang out with the parents. A lot of the volunteering stuff was more parent based and out of the classes, which also helped. My son's best friends' parents have become close friends of mine.

My DD's preschool (playbased) was a godsend for me too. She was happy there, made great friends, and I met a whole bunch of other mothers that I connected with. It was a difficult time in my life, and I really am so happy that I met such lovely people.

At the first preschool we used, the whole class was invited to most kids' birthday parties, so we got to know a lot of the families over weekend birthday celebrations.

We moved neighborhoods and are at a different preschool and there is no community here. Not a single birthday invite all year either. Kinda of a bummer. I think it's school-specific.

Totally disagree with the PPs who said there has to be another connection to the school. We had a great half day preschool community. No more than two kids went on to the same K afterward. Yet we made incredible lifetime friends and still get the kids and families together regularly years and years later. It really just depends on the school and whether there are routine opportunities to interact with other parents.

I had a great experience with a co op as well. We moved here and knew no one and our co op gave us an instant community. It was a great community to come into. You really get to know the kids and the parents. I've done both co oping and traditional preschool and co oping was much more community oriented. Honestly it was the best group of parents and kids. Mostly moms co opted but we had a few dads as well. It was a good mix of SAHMs and working moms and dads. I did not get to know any of the parents at the traditional pre school which was diappointing but that school didn't have a lot of parental involvement in general. Scheduling group play dates is a great way to get know everyone and to foster a sense of community.