ABSTRACT
Nursery schools, the antecedents of therapeutic nurseries, were first established in England at the beginning of this century. Their goal was to offer preschoolers services to facilitate their social, emotional, and intellectual development. When transplanted to the United States, the model was enhanced by the importance attached to the participation of parents in the school program. Many nursery schools were developed in collaboration with universities and some contributed significantly to the understanding of child development. Nursery schools flourished in North America following the Depression and during the Second World War (Shonkoff & Meisels, 1990).
