We are moving from Louisville to Chicago in a month. My two boys are currently in daycare. We are looking for quality daycare in Chicago. Any daycare suggestions? We plan to live in town.
Thank you for the responses. I am following up on the leads provided. We are driving up to Chicago this afternoon to look around and hopefully narrow down on apartment search.
Not sure age of your boys or where in the city you will live, but our 3 year old is at Creative Scholars on Elston Ave and we have loved it. It is a new school so I don't think they have crazy waiting lists. I think it starts at 2 1/2 year olds.
I recommend the following:
Bright Horizons
www.brighthorizons.com
Contact Sue Reed - Director
Lakeshore Prepartory School which is part of the Bright Horizons Daycare Organization
###-###-#### and ____@____.com
Located downtown between Wells and New Orleans ( Old Town area)
Depending on location you are moving into the city, this daycare is north of the Chicago loop, however really good when I was researching.
Sarah Cudnik
Director
Kids' Work Chicago
2608 W. Addison Unit A
Chicago, IL 60618
Work: ###-###-####
Fax: 773. ###-###-####
Cell: ###-###-####
Welcome to Chicago and you are going to love our city!
Best to you and your family,
P.
You'll be living "in the city" as we say in Chicago.
The best thing for you to do now is contact the local child care resource and referral agency. They can provide you with a listing of child care programs in the area(s) of your choice. They will also provide you with information on local licensing standards and screening the programs for quality. They can give you info on accredited programs as well. In Cook County, IL the child care resource and referral is Action For Children. They can be reached by dialing ###-###-####. The website is www.actforchildren.org. Best place to start. You'll love living in the city
Welcome to Chicago :-)
It completely depends on how old your boys are, where you will live and the traffic patterns of your area (ie, you don't want something 'downtown' unless you live or work downtown - or you are looking at a CRAZY commute). Have you found a place to live? Once you narrow that down you will be able to search more easily, but here are a couple initial tips -
Chicago Public School District has "Pre-school for all". Some are 1/2 day, some are full day, some are free and some are tuition based. It all depends on where you are in the city. Their website is cps.edu.
You other city-wide alternative is Chicago Park district. You can view programs for fall as of Aug 2nd and online registration is Aug 16th. The better programs can fill up WITHIN MINUTES so it's important to do some research ahead of time on what you want.
There are also a bunch of private daycares, but again you want to get one within the neighborhood where you will either live or work. "in town" can vary wildly by commute time.
You may want to look at having live in child care depending on your living accommodations. An Au Pair for examples could be quite a bit less expensive than paying for daycare at a center right in Chicago. Au Pairs are less than $8/hr and you don't have to pay for child. Plus, the convenience of not having to take them some where is another added bonus.
When it all comes down to it, doing what is best for your boys is the most important.
