The seeds were first planted in 1925 for a nursery school in New Orleans that would eventually realize its dream of being affiliated with Newcomb College. Edith Rosenwald Stern, a young parent and community activist, spearheaded a group of six mothers in the endeavor to establish a preschool at a time when these were not commonplace in the United States. She was the daughter of Julius Rosenwald, founder of Sears Roebuck and Company, and had attended the University of Chicago Lab School, where a preschool had been initiated in 1916.

Later, in gathering information for the nursery school, Stern visited Columbia University's Institute for Child Welfare in New York. Here, she met Patty Smith Hill, a leader of the American Kindergarten and Nursery School Movement who was also well known for her background of study under G. Stanley Hall, one of the founders of the American Psychological Association. This acquaintance led to a broad scope of beneficial effects on the nursery school in terms of its philosophy and methods of teaching. Of particular note is the fact that Hill's father felt that "every girl should grow up with a profession so that she would not be compelled to marry for a home." Hill paid a visit to the School in 1927. Furthermore, the original group of young mothers who formed the New Orleans Nursery School (its name in 1926) expanded to number 18, including 12 who had graduated from college at a time when few women did so. Some of the young women, including Stern, donated funds to the project, and many of them were already well respected for their volunteer work in the community.

As the mothers studied the topic of preschool education, other influences impacted their ideas. Tess Mayer Crager, for instance, researched Margaret McMillan's "open air nursery school," founded in 1913 in London by McMillan and her sister. It become a model in both England and the United States. Indeed, the architectural design of the eventual Newcomb College Nursery School was to incorporate screened porches for the young students. Additionally, McMillan's beliefs in tolerance and cooperation would filter into the curriculum. When the New Orleans Nursery School opened its doors to 20 children in 1926, Columbia graduates Myrtle Lester and Mary Price were the first teachers, as suggested by Hill. Their studies at Columbia would have borne the influence of American professors who had followed McMillan's tutelage in England.

To backtrack for a moment, the school's opening was not without its obstacles from the Tulane hierarchy. Parent Helen Watson Bradburn mentioned in her August 4, 1926 letter to Dr. A.B. Dinwiddie, President of Tulane,: "Since the majority of Newcomb's graduates have to face the problems of teaching or child rearing, we feel that such an experience would be invaluable in preparing them either as pre-school teachers for whom there is a demand, or as mothers." Nationwide and locally, however, women had only attained the opportunity for university education in the latter part of the nineteenth century. Also, not everyone was yet convinced that a child should be trained outside of his home, much less away from his mother. Some felt that a preschool was a babysitting mechanism for mothers who wanted to pursue hobbies such as golf. Another common thought among university administrators, including Newcomb Dean Pierce Butler, was that the inclusion of a nursery school on the college campus might undermine the equality of education between men and women. As cited by Dorothy Seago, a Newcomb alumna and later PhD in psychology, "Mr. Butler would not tolerate the notion of a nursery school"...Butler's response was, "It took me long enough to get rid of Home Economics in Newcomb and I'm not going to take more of this silly stuff on..." Fortunately, the tenacity of the original group of mothers prevailed. The first New Orleans Nursery School operated from a rented back cottage of a grocery near Newcomb's campus in November of 1926.

In the early years, parents bought a $100 bond to fund the school, and a parent from every family was a member on the Nursery School's board. This made it unique in the United States, as well as being one of the earliest cooperative nursery schools. A nurse was on duty from 1926 to 1970 to greet the children daily as they entered and check their health. By 1927, the Nursery School's site had relocated to the corner of Plum and Audubon streets on a lot owned by the University. It would be almost twenty years before the establishment of an affiliation with Newcomb, but the evolution into today's Newcomb College Nursery School had begun.

The first director was Newcomb alumna Julia Kirkwood, who had received her PhD at the State University of Iowa and had worked in the latter's preschool. Her predecessor was Rena Wilson who would be the driving force of the Nursery School from 1933 to 1970. Wilson graduated from Newcomb College and then earned her master's degree in childhood education from Columbia University. Under her leadership the school became independent, no longer a cooperative, and the curriculum was broadened.

Nature played an important part with the growing of vegetables and flowers and of trees that afforded the chance to witness butterflies evolve from caterpillars. Tess Mayer Crager, a parent and owner of Basement Book Shop, initiated the first Book Week in 1939 to promote the love of books. This event is now Children's Literature Week which includes a book fair to raise money to repair and purchase more books. During Wilson's tenure, in 1940, the School became the Newcomb College Nursery School. Her contributions to Newcomb and to the community are a permanent legacy. Mary Ann Marshall Bendler succeeded Wilson from 1970 to 1979. She, too, had graduated from Newcomb and had done undergraduate work at the Nursery School. Reading was paramount to Bendler who acquired over 400 books for the library. She believed that books offer life lessons for preschoolers on many subjects.

Pat Schindler arrived in 1980 and became the director until the Newcomb College Nursery School's 70th anniversary in 1996. Under Schindler's leadership, the Newcomb Children's Center was formed to incorporate both the Nursery School and the new Child Care Center which was open to Tulane employees. She sought to apply the Nursery School's philosophy to the Newcomb Child Care Center. With teacher and nursery school coordinator Daisy VanDenburgh, Schindler added a program to the nursery school two days a week for 2-year-olds, as well as a Transitional Class for 5-year-olds prior to kindergarten. Schindler's work, as had that of previous directors, extended into the local community.

From its inception, the School has encouraged hands-on learning by the children with guidance from a caring staff of teachers and active parents. Simple props, including shovels, blocks, baby dolls, and tools still provide opportunities to be imaginative and to create something from nothing. The tree house is a beloved spot enjoyed by current preschoolers and frequently remembered by former students. Traditions, such as baking cupcakes for each child's birthday a real kitchen, and field trips to City Park Botanical Gardens or to Newcomb and Tulane are but a few of the experiences offered by the Newcomb College Nursery School. Perhaps, the School's lasting impact on its students is best expressed in the words of Adelaide Wisdom Benjamin, student, 1935-38, in her recollection for a 70th anniversary booklet on the School: "It was the happiest time of my childhood. If I could create (and live in) any kind of world I wanted, I'd make a world just like Newcomb Nursery School...It was a heavenly place to be."