History
In the spring of 1983, five families founded the Bigelow Play Group. In the early days, parents alternated in taking care of each other's children in a house on Bigelow Street. They established a working cooperative, in which each family worked with the children a few hours per week. They made decisions collaboratively, and the administrative as well as housekeeping tasks were equitably shared. Parents met on a monthly basis to discuss issues. Bigelow incorporated in the summer of 1985 and moved to 0 Garden Street, Cambridge. Parent committees were formed to perform additional administrative activities. On August 24, 2012, our school moved to our new state of the art education and care facility at 44 Park Street in Somerville. The administrative structure and institutional culture remains mostly intact today, with the natural adaptations that come with time and a larger community. Bigelow has grown and is licensed to accommodate 50 children at a time.
Specialties
We provide high quality education and care for infants, toddlers and preschool age children. We are accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and are committed to its high standards for quality education. As a small cooperative, we rely both on a committed staff and parent involvement to give the children caring individual attention. Our philosophy is that children learn best through creative play and the ability to experiment with a wide variety of learning materials and discover how things work. We create an extended family atmosphere by having parent participation in the classrooms as well as sharing a home cooked meal. Teachers emphasize age-appropriate social interactions, cultural awareness, and learning non-violent problem solving skills - all with an eye towards enhancing a child's positive self image. By following the Creative Curriculum model, we encourage creative development and offer anti-bias, emergent curriculum.