“I remember Phyllis Mendelsohn (Teacher ’61-’82, Director ’74-’82). More than thirty years later she could still tell you the name of every child she ever taught — and their siblings! ”
— Alumna and current CCNS parent

CCNS has been welcoming, teaching and loving children from Croton and surrounding towns for sixty years. In fact, CCNS was Croton’s first, and for many years, only preschool. CCNS was the first pre-school in New York State to be granted tax-exempt status.

In 1945, a group of parents, impressed with the need for low-cost, quality nursery school opportunities for their children, conceived of CCNS as a cooperative educational experience. They envisioned a school in which parents, teachers and children would reach within themselves and out to the community in order to give children a well rounded sense of self and of their world and to inspire a lifelong love of learning. From the beginning, CCNS has been structured so that parents are an integral part of their children’s first school experience. By participating in the classroom, reaching out to the community, raising scholarship funds and taking part in family/school activities, parents could ensure that tuition would remain reasonable and the children would remain grounded in the welcome, warmth and acceptance of their school and family.

On September 12, 1945, CCNS ushered in its first class – 14 preschool children. Class was held in the old American Legion Hall on Terrace Place. Through the generosity of the late Samuel L. Rubin, CCNS acquired the property and house on 25 Van Wyck Street, where the school is presently located. CCNS parents raised funds to renovate the school and to stock it with the necessary tools of learning. Today, parents give their time and talents to keep the school a bright, safe and secure place for their children and those to come. Indeed, CCNS is one of the few preschools that owns its own building.

As it did more than fifty years ago, CCNS opens its doors each fall to new little faces and in so doing, rededicates itself to the “divine right of childhood” (Stella Shelvin, Director, CCNS, 1945-1952). Every fall, former CCNS students enter primary school ready to embrace life and learning and to become proud and productive members of their communities. Look around--close to 2000 alumni of CCNS are out in the world, making us proud.