Co-op Model

BioKids is the only NAEYC Accredited, Early Childhood program operating as a Parent Cooperative in the State of Utah...making us very unique and highly prized in our community. Parents and staff work together for the success of the program. Each family is required to participate in the programmatic operations of BioKids through various tasks to ensure the program is efficient and self-sustaining. There are many needs throughout the program each week that you can help with.

Participation in the co-op model is a requirement. Monthly obligations are 4 hours per child/per month and you cannot accrue more than 4 hours per child/per month. You may opt to pre-purchase your hours at $25/hour; any unfullfilled hours will be billed to your account.

There are several ways you can fulfill these hours:

Calendared Tasks: there will be a monthly calendar hanging on the parent board with various program needs. This includes:

Staff Meeting Coverage (1.5 hrs): this is critical to program operations. All regular staff meet once a month and receive training or program information that is imperative to BioKids. As you can imagine, it is very difficult to discuss this type of information during class times.
Helping in the classroom (up to 4 hours per month)! We enjoy having parents visit and spend time in the classes. Each week there are opportunities to volunteer. This time will be spent doing things, like: reading books, playing with the children, helping with class projects, helping with lunches, etc.
Grocery Shopping (4 hours): every two weeks, we will prepare a grocery list for you to take to Winco Foods for grocery shopping. This is a weekend task. You can do this anytime you’d like over the weekend and bring in the items and put them away in the preschool kitchen area. You can then leave the folder with the receipt and keys on the kitchen counter in the Preschool Class and staff will be sure it gets returned to the Director. The Director will then credit your account for the money spent.
Laundry (4 hours): a weekend task that is greatly appreciated!
Making Playdoh (1 hour per batch): we go through a very large amount of playdoh with our preschoolers. It’s a great learning tool for young children and thus, important enough to make this list. You can make playdoh anytime you’d like during the week/weekend and bring it in. The recipe for playdoh is hanging on the parent board.
Classroom Kitchen Cleaning (up to 4 hours): this includes cleaning the fridge, counters, shelves, microwave, etc. You can do this anytime outside of business hours.
Classroom General Cleaning (up to 4 hours): this includes cleaning toys, toy shelves, walls, windows, blinds, etc. You can do this anytime outside of business hours.
We offer several monthly administrative tasks to help the Director keep the program running efficiently. We have a google account for our administrative co-op tasks so we all work from the same documents and in real-time. Examples of administrative tasks: co-op monthly log and balance sheet, monthly billing statements, tuition payments, waiting list updates, program surveys, etc. Each task is worth varied hours: see the calendar for details. We welcome parents to use our Workroom (next to the Directors office) to complete these items, or you can take them home and return them the next day.
Teacher assigned tasks: each month there will be items the teaching staff can use help with. It could be research based info (articles) or items needed to meet NAEYC criteria (photos, labels, documentation, etc). Feel free to ask your child's teacher for information.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE AND CLAIM HOURS:

Sign up on the monthly calendar (hanging on the Parent Board near classrooms) or with the Director for non-calendared events.
Record hours (once task is completed) on the log sheet.
Check the balance sheet each month so you know what your balance is. Unfulfilled co-op hours are billed each month at $25/hour.
You can pre-purchase your co-op hours if you choose. We know life can get busy, we understand. Please include this financial portion with your monthly tuition payment and specify the amount being used for co-op.