Christ Church Preschool believes that all children are made in the image of God; and that every aspect of their person, such as intellectual, social, emotional, physical, and spiritual will be nurtured in some way while in our care.
Our teachers at Christ Church Preschool understand and embrace the great responsibility to provide for your child a safe, nurturing, and stimulating environment that will cement the foundation for life-long learning.
Researchers in early childhood learning and development say the first years of life are the most important. By age four, half of a child’s intelligence is developed, and it is also true that during this time, children are most susceptible to environmental influences. The teacher’s relationship with the child and the parent is very influential, as it is the first link in a long chain of instruction.
We provide age and developmentally-appropriate activities during our daily routines, which include hands-on activities and studies/projects that will stimulate and enrich your child. Each day your child will participate in large and small group activities, music and movement, free choice play, and a variety of language, art, math, science, and fine and gross motor activities.
We believe play and exploration are the essential building blocks in your child’s early education. Through play and exploration, each child is developing skills in all areas of development: cognitive, physical, language/communication, and social/emotional. Play also:
- Engages children in the world around them
- Provides opportunities to learn friendship skills
- Allows children to work through their anxieties and fears
- Promotes independence and risk-taking
- Develops mindfulness and sense of safety and security to experiment and try new ideas
- Helps children make connections between their past experiences and current investigations
- Creates an understanding of their choices and natural consequences
A strong emphasis is placed on your child’s social and emotional learning (SEL). Strong social/emotional skills are foundational to early learning and beyond. SEL aims to help children:
- better understand their thoughts, feelings, and emotions
- become more self-aware
- develop more empathy for others within their classroom and the world around them
Our staff makes every effort to create an environment where each child feels safe and secure; developing a sense of belonging in our preschool family. As a ministry of Christ Church, we share the life-changing love of Jesus with our preschoolers and their families through our support, encouragement, and parent education through preschool and church led programs. Parents of our preschool students are provided support, encouragement, and education in Christian parenting through resources of the preschool and church ministries and programs.
Our newly renovated preschool is located inside the Christ Church building on the Oak Brook Campus. We are thrilled to welcome families from the community regardless of their affiliation with Christ Church.
History of the CC Preschool:
In 1980, a dedicated local teacher and Christ Church attendee saw the need for a new preschool that both prepared children for kindergarten and nurtured faith. The Christ Church Preschool was born at this intersection of faith and education. For close to three decades, our preschool served as a place where children and families were encouraged to both prepare themselves for academics but also, discover God’s love and compassion. For 40 years, until the Covid-19 pandemic, our preschool provided high quality, creative programming for children from dozens of surrounding suburbs. We ran as a fully licensed DCFS program in a celebrated and safe educational environment.
Our preschool was one of many that were shuttered during the Covid-19 pandemic. We are thrilled for this new opportunity to re-start our programming and return to our legacy of high quality, faith-based education for our littlest friends.
Kelly Newton
Meet Our Director
Kelly Newton has more than 20 years of experience in the field of Early Childhood Education...
Laura Schofield
Assistant Preschool Director
Mrs. Laura Schofield is thrilled to be joining the Christ Church Preschool team in its second phase...
Roxana Acevedo
Older 2s Lead Teacher
Mrs. Roxana Acevedo is a dedicated early childhood educator with 18 years of experience...
Melissa Sandy
Older 2s Assistant Teacher
Mrs. Melissa Sandy lives with her husband, Tom, and two teenagers in Downers Grove...
Tajah Rowland
3s Lead Teacher
Ms. Tajah Rowland’s passion for teaching spans over 10 years of volunteering, assisting, and teaching in various schools...
Megan Kearns
3s Assistant Teacher
Mrs. Megan Kearns is excited to be joining the Christ Church staff...
Amy McCurry
4s Lead Teacher
Mrs. Amy McCurry lives in Clarendon Hills with Mike, her husband of 25 years.
Laura Kurhayez
4s Assistant Teacher
Mrs. Laura Kurhayez lives in LaGrange Highlands with her husband and twin daughters...