Our Story & Program Philosophy

Located in the heart of Toronto’s beautiful Hillcrest Village neighbourhood, the McMurrich Co-operative Playschool (MCPS) has offered young children a wonderful first-time school experience for almost 40 years. We are located within the McMurrich Junior Public School, which offers the children an opportunity to witness the larger scale of school life from the security of a small, self-contained environment.

MCPS offers a morning program for children aged 2.5 to 4 years old. Our classes are run by a supervising ECE (Early Childhood Educator) teacher supported by a teaching assistant and occasionally by a duty day parent volunteer. MCPS is licensed through the Child Care & Early Years Act (CCEYA) and regulated by the Ministry of Education.

Our school is run by the co-operating families who make up the Board of Directors. MCPS is a member of the Parent Cooperative Preschool Corporation. Our co-op was incorporated in 1984 as a non-profit, parent-teacher run nursery school. In practice, this means that parents and teachers work together to provide a stimulating program of activities in a caring and safe environment.

Our Program Philosophy

Our program is designed to provide a gentle transition into the school years. We believe that the world of the child should be one full of opportunities to create and explore in the broadest sense possible. MCPS provides a warm, loving and secure environment in which children get to explore their imaginations and develop their creativity and independence.

MCPS was started by a group of neighborhood families interested in providing an opportunity in the community for pre-school children to begin socializing outside the home. Group participation and play is an important part of our program as it encourages the children to build self-confidence, mutual respect and feelings of fulfillment and acceptance. 

The aim of our program is to provide an inclusive environment where every child, regardless of abilities, may have the opportunity to experience social, emotional, physical, and intellectual growth. We understand that children learn in many ways, so we offer a variety of learning opportunities during indoor / outdoor play, active play, and within all programmed daily activities. Our staff is dedicated to supporting this by delivering a caring and responsive program which focuses on active learning, exploration, play and inquiry.

At McMurrich Playschool, it is integral that we foster and nurture trusting relationships and a sense of belonging with our children and families. We will do this by honouring and respecting all beliefs, cultures, languages, and experiences represented in our community. By including aspects of inclusion & belonging in our programming, children will learn to care about others, understand other’s feelings, cooperate, share, express opinions, resolve conflicts and develop self-worth.

McMurrich Co-operative Playschool staff endeavours to provide a stimulating program that offers services to children, families, and the community within the framework of the Child Care and Early Years Act. Our program planning is based on the document “How Does Learning Happen? Ontario’s Pedagogy for the Early Years (2014) which is organized around the following 5 areas of development:

• physical (gross and fine motor)
• social (awareness, respect, ability to share and cooperate)
• communication (verbal and non-verbal)
• self-esteem (self-awareness and positive self-image)
• cognitive (comprehension, problem solving and skill acquisition)