A Cooperative Preschool in Portland, Maine

We are currently enrolling for the 2020–2021 school year!  Please look for more details on our Enrollment page.

The Children’s Nursery School (CNS) is a co-operative and NAEYC accredited preschool nestled in the courtyard of downtown’s historic State Street Church. Daily, students nurture meaningful friendships while challenging their social, emotional, creative and intellectual boundaries.

The Children’s Nursery School always puts the wellbeing of children first and foremost.  To that end, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have decided to limit outside visitors to our classroom, and to suspend all in-person enrollment events and tours, through the end of April.  Our goal is to do our part to protect our community by reducing and slowing the spread of COVID-19 and keeping our CNS families safe and healthy.  We appreciate your understanding.

Our 2020-2021 program is filling up fast, but we do have a few spaces left.  We will will continue to accept applications via email and mail.  If you have any questions about CNS or would like a virtual tour of the classroom, please let us know and we will be in touch!

CNS turned out to be an educational and developmental process for our entire family, not just for our four year old. Our amazing teachers and alloparenting community have inspired confidence and restraint, exploration and contemplation… simultaneously. I cherish the year we’ve already had, and am eager to meet the year ahead.

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Adelyn Connolly

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Not only does our daughter have wonderful teachers and school friends at CNS, she has a network of other parents with whom she feels extremely comfortable. One of my favorite parts of CNS is watching these relationships develop, and knowing that her first experience of the world without me is rich with interesting, thoughtful, loving adults.

Kitty Hudson-Smith