Plymouth Magazine-Fall26-DIGITAL - Flipbook - Page 26
Plymouth: A Pioneer in
Early Childhood Education
By Susan Lees (she/her)
Plymouth Church has been a leader in
preschool education from its early days
through the thriving Plymouth Nursery
School still operating in the church today.
In 1876, the second kindergarten in the
United States, and first such class west
of the Mississippi was established by
Plymouth members Rachel Getchell and
Lucy Collins in the basement of Plymouth
Church at 7th and Locust streets.
Plymouth Nursery School students in 1955.
This photo includes current director Emily
Rademacher’s father, Richard Lynch, on the left
wearing the striped shirt.
The kindergarten drew the attention of
the Des Moines school district and, as the
kindergarten prospered and grew, space
was provided to move the class to Irving
Elementary, the largest grade school in
Des Moines at that time. The district
subsequently made kindergarten part of
the public school curriculum in 1882.
Plymouth also supported the Roadside
Settlement Preschool with monetary
donations and volunteers. The preschool
was opened in the early 1900s in the
Roadside Settlement House, located on
the south side of Des Moines, and offered
a variety of services to low-income
households until the 1970s.
Plymouth Nursery School students learning
about snow plows in 2024.
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In 1954, Plymouth became the first
Congregational church to establish a
nursery school in a church. There were
three preschools in Des Moines at that
time and several Plymouth Church
families with small children (Van Horn,
Kaser, Wessling, Goetsch) wanted to
start a preschool.
The Iowa Congregational Christian
Conference was interested in
determining if a good working
relationship could be maintained
between church school and nursery
school personnel if they shared the same
rooms and equipment, so the Conference
asked Plymouth to be the pilot church in
establishing a preschool. The preschool
opened in the fall of 1954 with 4 people
on staff and 43 students, meeting three
mornings each week. In January 1955,
Plymouth Nursery School became one of
the first licensed preschools in Iowa.
In the 2025-2026 school year, there were
126 students and 15 Plymouth Nursery
School staff members. Current director
Emily Rademacher said the school is
often described as a magical place, which
she attributes to the amazing teachers
who have been with the school an
average of 8 ½ years, and many as long as
15 to 20 years.
Susan Lees worked at Pioneer for 30 years,
first as a technical writer and retiring
as the records manager. A Plymouth
Church member for 15 years, she sings
in the Chancel Choir and serves on the
Archives Committee.
