Our Mission

At Cocoons we believe that each individual child, regardless of age, is unique and has his or her own temperament and learning style. The individual brings uniqueness to each new experience and takes an active role in the process of learning. Each child at Cocoons is treasured for being themselves. We all learn not only by being told about the world by older people and peers, but more importantly through our own actions and interactions with people and things. We learn by testing our ideas about the world and adjusting our thinking based on our discoveries. At Cocoons children experience structured learning coupled with blocks of time to explore and reflect, both indoors and outside.

We believe that the ideas that children construct about how the world operates can be developed best by providing children with a wide range of opportunities to actively explore, manipulate, question, and discover. As children continue to meet their goals, they are encouraged, but never pressured, to continue to reach for the stars. In order to foster independent thinking, careful continuous attention is paid to constructing the environment, posing appropriate questions, and making viable choices available to children. Children are encouraged to take chances while learning. Every child's ideas are honored as being important.

Social and moral reasoning is a cornerstone of Cocoons' philosophy. Conflict resolution is a complicated skill that is only perfected over time and with experience interacting with both peers and adults. Children must be consistently encouraged to use their words. Being a good friend to family, friends, and teachers; taking care of our magical planet; and believing that school is a fun place to be are all primary goals of Cocoons.

Established in 2001

Grades: Toddler, Preschool
# of students:55

School Hours: 9:00am - 3:00pm
Before school care: 8:00am - 9:00am
After school care: 3:00pm - 5:30pm
Student/Teacher ratio : 6:1

Accreditation:

State of Maine Department of Health & Human Services
State of Maine Department of Education


The Cocoons family is loving and creative with highly trained and motivated teachers that set the foundation for future education. A gift to any child with the added bonus of a beautiful setting that opens the mind to the benefits of interaction with our outside world.
— Christine Ford Sullivan, former Cocoons parent

Location

Cocoons is located at 35 Heath Road in Kennebunk. Our four room schoolhouse is fashioned after a classic turn of the century "Big House, Little House, Backhouse, Barn" New England farmhouse and borders on 40+ acres of Kennebunk Land Trust Land, which we visit quite frequently.