Cooperative preschool celebrates 50th year

Head teacher Kris Moore celebrates her 25th year

By Shasta Kearns Moore

The Southwest Community Connection, Jul 1, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (1 Reader comment)

Shasta Kearns Moore / The Southwest Community Connection

From left, 4-year-olds Melia Patrick, Paul Simko and Ashley Eddy, of the Burlingame Cooperative Preschool participate in a group discussion. The cooperative has had the same teacher for 25 years of its 50 years of existence.

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BURLINGAME – Judging from the testimonies of her current students and parents, generations have stood in awe of Mrs. Moore. The teacher at Burlingame Cooperative Preschool for 25 years, Kris Moore has a seemingly magical ability to get her 44 students in two classes to share their toys and clean up after themselves without a moment’s hesitation.

Mrs. Moore can even turn a classroom into a farm and turn a library into an archaeological dig site for dinosaur fossils.

“We have totally fallen in love with Mrs. Moore,” said parent Christine Patrick. “She’s just really good for the kids. She has really good ideas.”

Patrick added that she enjoys being a part of a cooperative preschool, in which parents are required to help out in the classroom at least once per month. In this way, the school is able to reduce costs and give parents hands-on experience in their child’s education.

“It’s been fantastic for our family,” Patrick said. “I really love it.”

Established June 11, 1958 as Vermont Hills Playschool, this year the cooperative celebrates its 50th year in Southwest Portland. The school moved from near Maplewood Elementary School to its current location at the Capitol Hill United Methodist Church about six years ago and changed its name from Vermont Hills Preschool to Burlingame Cooperative Preschool in 2005.

Moore said the name change has confused some, but several former students have still managed to find her and bring her the next generation.

“The biggest honor is that they find me and bring their kids to me,” she said.

In the early 1980s, Moore herself was a stay-at-home parent who was looking for a local preschool where she could still be involved.

“I was just really excited about the concept of being a part of my child’s education,” she said.

Serving on an administrative committee, Moore was asked several times to be a substitute teacher as parents found that she had a knack for dealing with the children. Then, when the preschool’s teacher had to leave abruptly, the parent board asked her to fill in until they could find someone else.

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