Childcare, School and Learning English

Laurance Armour Day School is a not-for-profit, fully licensed day care center. The school is owned and operated by Rush University Medical Center and provides day care services for children of employees and students affiliated with Rush University Medical Center. Spots are limited, so you will want to apply early.

Chicago Public Schools’ Community Based Partnership Program seeks to ensure quality child care for all children ages birth to 5 years old living in Chicago. For help finding a daycare or pre-school program visit Chicago Early Learning.

For families who prefer programming a couple hours per week  Chicago Park District offers early childhood classes at reasonable rates.

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) operates both open enrollment and application based enrollment elementary schools.  Students living within the neighborhood boundary of an open enrollment school may register and attend that school.  Students interested in attending a magnet, cluster magnet or selective enrollment elementary school must apply. For more information visit CPS Office of Access and Enrollment.

CPS has a single-application process for both open enrollment and selective enrollment high schools. The application process is open from October – December. For more information visit CPS Office of Access and Enrollment.   A student entering a CPS school after 9th grade is considered a transfer student and will need to directly contact the school he or she wants to attend for more information.

The following organizations offer free ESL programming:

• City Colleges of Chicago - classes begin every 8-weeks
• International TEFL Academy – classes begin monthly
• Chicago Public Library offers online resources

The following universities offer intensive ESL programming for a fee:

• UIC Tutorium in Intensive English
• Loyola English Language Learning Program
• DePaul English Language Academy

• GreatSchools provides parents the tools to evaluate and compare schools
• Parenting Matters: Supporting Parents of Children Ages 0-8 (2016) report by The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, Medicine intended to be a roadmap for U.S. parenting and parent support policies.