Over the last two decades, the city of Atlanta has experienced a radical transformation. Many people are now choosing to live in older, in-town neighborhoods that value community. Grant Park is an excellent example of this trend. The people in this historic community want to connect with their neighbors and create a tight-knit, inclusive community. Education for their young children became an important part of that process. 

Gabriela Garcia, after years of teaching Spanish at Inman Park Cooperative Preschool, started developing an idea to create a twin school in Grant Park to meet the demands of the evolving neighborhood.

The idea took shape when a small, enthusiastic group of parents and church representatives met at Gabriela’s house. With the support of interested families and the community, the school opened its doors nine months later in the basement of St. Paul United Methodist Church, serving forty children, ages one to four. 

GPCP opened as a cooperative so that parents could participate actively in their children’s education. As a non-profit cooperative organization, parents are fully responsible for the operation of the school, and this participation has been part of our identity as a learning community since our opening in 2000.