About
The Nature School Cooperative (NSC) is a Denver-based early childhood education provider focused on outdoor, nature-based preschool programs. It operates as a Limited Cooperative Association (LCA) and transitioned to its current worker cooperative model around August 2022, with the formal employee structure beginning in July 2023. The co-op was founded by teacher owners who sought to redesign a workplace that provided a viable career path in an industry where a livable wage often "does not exist".
The company currently has four employees, three of whom are founding member owners. NSC's model is explicitly designed to address the challenges of low pay, burnout, and lack of agency common in the early childhood sector.
1. Organization of the Nature School Cooperative
The NSC is organized around the principles of equitable ownership, distributed leadership, and democratic decision-making.
| Organizational Aspect |
Details |
| Ownership Acquisition |
Ownership requires a co-op membership fee or equity buy-in. This does not have to be financial; it can be satisfied through hours of service work. |
| Membership Tiers |
NSC has interim members and confirmed members. Requirements for confirmation include working during the season of winter for three consecutive months. |
| Legal Status |
The company initially filed as a partnership in August 2022 during its pre-revenue stage. They officially became employees/a worker co-op in July 2023. They operate under Colorado's Limited Cooperative Association (LCA) law. |
| Governance Structure |
The co-op currently operates with a rudimentary Board composed only of the three founding teacher owners. Ideally, the board would include input from parents and community members with outside expertise to provide accountability and balance to operational decisions. |
| Decision-Making |
Decision-making uses consent-based principles and sociocracy, moving away from simple majority wins or consensus, which can empower blockages. They aim for decisions that are "good enough for now and safe enough to try". |
| Internal Roles |
Owners hold dual roles as both teachers and administrators, handling tasks like budgeting, staffing, marketing, and professional development. Roles are given playful names (e.g., "Gray Wolf" for President, "Peregrine and Falcon" for a director role), based on ecological terms. Owners also serve as Directors of specific domains (e.g., Preschool, Homeschool Enrichment, Partnerships). |
| Transparency |
The company operates with high transparency. Owners and staff share access to all accounts (QuickBooks, emails, Wix portal, etc.). Information about expenses and revenue is shared. |
2. Financial Benefits Offered to Employee Owners
The co-op's primary financial goal is achieving and maintaining livable wages in an industry notorious for low pay, followed by equal profit sharing.
- Salary Increases and Livable Wages: The most immediate and significant financial benefit has been the ability to set and raise owner salaries, moving the founding owner from a maximum pre-co-op salary of $51,000 to $65,000 in the current year. This pay structure is set collectively by the owners.
- Equal Compensation: The founding teacher owners are paid the same salary across the board. They try to be "pretty radical" about this, asserting that degrees or training are not as important as how one is contributing to the company here and now.
- Profit Sharing: NSC is working to build out a profit-sharing structure, but as a young company, they do not currently have profit to share. They are learning that they may be legally required or financially beneficial to distribute at least 20% of any small profit. When profit sharing eventually occurs, it is agreed to be split equally among owners.
- Wages vs. Industry Standard: The co-op has successfully exceeded the compensation cap for early childhood teachers, achieving salaries beyond what is typical, and is approaching the pay ladder of K-12 teachers. Their full-time non-owner teacher is making between $31 and $33 per hour, and the director owners are making $46 to $49 per hour.
- Long-Term Security: While personal savings have not significantly changed for the founding owners, they feel a different orientation to long-term security. The sense of stability comes from the autonomy to decide their relationship to the job and having built the company themselves, which is considered the "ultimate form of job security".
- Delayed Benefits: The company is currently unable to afford major benefits like health insurance or matching for a 401k, though they are actively working toward implementing them.
3. Emotional and Cultural Benefits
The co-op model provides profound emotional and professional fulfillment, creating a workplace of high agency and continuous learning.
- Autonomy and Agency: Owners have the autonomy to decide their own schedules, offload tasks, and build their job descriptions and domains of work. This high degree of agency has led one owner to feel "wildly more capable and competent" than before.
- Professional Development (The "Co-op MBA"): Ownership requires constant learning in diverse areas (tax accounting, social media, marketing, etc.). This leads to the development of highly versatile and valuable skills that carry over into any business model. The experience is likened to being in college or receiving an "MBA".
- Increased Financial Literacy: Ownership has forced members to deeply understand company finances, which has translated into improved personal financial literacy and the ability to make better personal investment and retirement decisions.
- Resilience and Morale: The shared governance strengthens internal relationships, making the company feel like a cohesive team. Owners are **"**much more invested" in the success of the business, leading to higher morale. The culture prioritizes the human element, asking questions like, "Does this feel good to you?" which is uncommon in typical business environments.