Ravenswood Community Child Care Center

Our youngest has been at RC4 since he was 12 weeks old. We are very happy with the center — the teachers are loving and well-​trained, the community is welcoming, and the facilities are great (private indoor and outdoor play space is hard to come by!). A friend who is an expert in early childhood development sees the pictures of what my child is doing is constantly impressed with the activities and programs at RC4.
We have a new director and I’m confident she will continue to build on the center’s strong foundation.
p. s. It seems appropriate that my 100^th review be for the place that we go nearly every day, and takes care of one of the most important things in my life!

This is a review that I’ve been meaning to post for a while now. We were fortunate to have our child enrolled at this daycare and preschool for a few years. Here are our top points for why it’s great!
— Teachers are very caring, they work very hard, takes care of each child very well, they listen and work with parents to the needs of each kid. They help build a great foundation for our kids not only for kindergarten but in life.
— Teachers planned out a variety of educational, fun, creative and age-​appropriate activities each day.
— Large outdoor gated compound with a playground space and plenty of open space with four season toys for kids to never to be bored with (great in winter for snow days and in summer for water activities days).
— Huge indoor open space gym area upstairs with a variety of indoor toys (great for those hot, rainy or cold winter days).
— Fun field trips, walks and picnics.
— Teacher to kids ratio.
— Organic breakfast, lunch and snacks.
— Caring, professional and wonderful teachers, chef, administration staff, director, and Board of Directors.
— A great community of parents who are warm and friendly.
— Individual kids cubbies.
— Mom and dad’s night outs, community holiday events.
— Each classroom has their own toilets for kids.
— They rent space in a church which makes a wonderful environment of safety and calmness.
— Hours are good — 7am to 6pm.
— Nap times.
— Big open classroom space.
— Many RC4 alumni parents have many positive things to say about RC4. It’s very hard to compare it to many other schools around us.

These reviews all seem old and preschools are popping up on every corner, so I thought it was worth sharing my experience as a current parent of two RC4 students. I cannot say enough about how satisfied we are and how great of an experience we have had here. Small class sizes, personal touches, and a REAL community of families. Everyone knows everyone else’s name, parents and children are greeted and treated kindly and the preschool curriculum (project based) is the best there is. RC4 also has a great mission at its heart. Playground, easy drop off, close to el and Metra, a GYM (!) for rainy or winter days, gourmet catering (breakfast, lunch and snack), more! We’re not leaving despite the lower prices and closer location of other schools. Nothing beats RC4!

We have been at this center for several years and overall have been very happy. We came from another center previously and have felt that RC4 was clearly a superior level of care and communication. We have felt confident with the teachers and staff working with our children on a day to day basis. Our eldest was well prepared for Kindergarten having spent two years in the Pre-​school room.
The biggest upside for us has been the community built amongst the parents, kids, and staff. I don’t think you find that at many centers and we cherish it. In addition, we value knowing that we are supporting the mission of providing child care for teen parents in need.

This once-​revered daycare center has been on a downturn since Barbara Nordlund left to raise her family. The director who took her place was a complete disaster who chased off quite a few of the excellent staff members and nearly dismantled the entire community that the parents, staff and previous director worked so hard to establish.
We currently have a temporary director who is doing fantastic work to carefully and gently piece this community back together while the board searches for a permanent director who will hopefully put RC4 back at the top of the list.
The remaining staff are absolutely fabulous and do a fantastic job of cultivating a caring, play-​based atmosphere while keeping parents informed about their children’s day-​to-​day activities and progress.

This website for this place erroneously claims that the waiting list is 9 months. As an expecting parent living in the area, I got hopeful and excited. Momentarily. Then I received the official response from R4C:
«It is difficult to tell when we will have an opening in our center. Our admission policy gives first priority to teen parents, second priority to siblings of enrolled children, and third to community members on the wait list (first-​come, first-​served). Because of this, we never know when we will have an opening that will be filled by a teen before we even open the wait list. On the flip side, sometimes when we have openings and we start calling around, families have already found alternative care, and then they decline enrolling here. You just never know!
We always suggest to potential new families that they come to one of our monthly center tours, which are the last Wednesday of every month at 6pm. The next tour will be January 29^th at 6pm. There you can check out the classrooms, meet with the director, and fill out a wait list application.
To get on the wait list, we need a completed application, as well as a $ 100 wait list fee.»
Basically, you might as well take a $ 100 bill, shred it into little pieces, then move on… It’d be just as effective in planning for your offspring’s childcare!

I have two children at RC4 (9 mo and 4.5 yrs) and they have been attending since my oldest was 3 months old. We’ve been through transition over the years due to director turnover but it has been a wonderful experience overall. The current director is incredible and has turned a great school into an amazing one. Her dedication is very evident and echoes the talented and dedicated teachers and staff that make RC4 an enriching place to for our children. I have no doubt that they make a lasting impact in my children’s lives. The sense of community, amount and quality of communication and the knowledge imparted in the pre-​school classroom amazes me daily. I have a racially mixed family and RC4 incorporates cultural education and reflects the diversity of our city.

We’ve been at RC4 since our son was 6 months old (he’s now 14 months old) and I can honestly say we are in love. When looking for daycare facilities, a family friend who is in the childcare industry, told us to trust our gut. She gave us no other advice other than that. When we toured RC4, I knew this daycare would be an amazing match for us. And each and every day since our son started there, my gut has told me he’s in the right place.
Teachers are amazingly attentive. I love that each child is matched up with a primary caretaker (teacher), but that all teachers in the classroom can speak about the day to day with our son. Every morning we drop off our son, he happily goes to the teachers in his class. Every time we pick-​up our son, he’s happy, as are the other kids in the class. I think that speaks enormously about how the children are treated.
We are impressed that the teachers follow a teaching curriculum, yet also allow for child-​led activities (especially in the younger rooms). This is a nationally accredited daycare facility (NAEYC), which according to our family friend in the industry, is very difficult to achieve. They have outdoor playtime during warmer months (secured playground onsite and buggy rides for the younger kids) and an open gym available for play during the colder months. The classrooms are well stocked and they have recently switched to an organic meal provider.
RC4 is a top-​notch daycare with incredibly caring teachers and a great administrative staff (we are only familiar with the new director, Barbara — she’s amazing, very involved, receptive to feedback and easy to approach). Get on the waitlist early (we waited 9 months before we got a call) — it’ll be well worth the wait!

Wonderful staff and the new director is really great! When one of the rooms need an extra hand she is right there to pitch in. She has encouraged a real sense of community with the parents via google groups. My daughter has been here for three months (she is now 9 months) and we couldn’t be happier.
Also there is a three to one teacher to child ratio and a personal on site chef!

Please don’t forget to read the filtered reviews from some of our parents!

I can’t say enough great things about RC4. It is a wonderful tight-​knit community. My son has been here since he was 7 mos. old (is now 2yo) and since day 1, every teacher here has treated my son like he is the center of the universe, without exception. I am amazed by the caliber of the activities he engages in every day and the new things the learns. The teachers challenge him with activities that are age-​appropriate but not beyond his skills, which shows me that they respect his social and physical development.
I also think that RC4 has a huge benefit that many other city day cares don’t have: they play outside on a pretty expansive playground and/​or go for a walk to nearby Winnemac Park every day.
@Mortie M. — sorry to hear about your experience. You must have been dealing with the prior director — and I don’t disagree with you!
But the new director, Barbara, is really impressive. She is very down to earth and really cares about the center. She ran the teen parent program for several years before she became the director. I would call her an impressive manager who has the respect of all of the staff and parents.
I highly recommend RC4!

Daughter has been at RC4 since she was eight months old. We cannot be happier. Communication with the staff is excellent. The caregivers feel like family not just employees. One complaint I have is the long wait list, but its definitely worth the wait.

I cannot imagine our life without Ravenswood Community Child Care Center («RC4»). They provide excellent care, entertainment, & education to our two boys. RC4 is a smaller daycare facility with only three rooms (infant, toddler, & preschool) which makes for a long wait list, but also really promotes a sense of community. You come to know every family, and every teacher knows every child. The teachers are absolutely wonderful. My sons constantly share stories of things they learned or activities they completed under the guidance of these warm, caring teachers. And the communication is fabulous. I love checking out the blog for the toddler room & preschool room to see pictures and stories of classroom happenings. We consider ourselves very fortunate to be part of this community. Our boys are happy and safe. We highly recommend this daycare center.

Our daughter is currently 18mo and has been at RC4 since she was about 6mo and we couldn’t be happier. Due to no space being available when I first went back to work we had to attend another daycare for about 3 months. I don’t think we really knew what we were missing until we moved to RC4. Immediately upon moving it seems as if our daughter’s development soared.
RC4 is a much smaller center than the other ones we toured, which seems to foster better relationships all around. Every teacher, despite what room or age of kids they work with, will know your child’s name and have a positive influence in their day. We really love all of the teachers and the staff here. I also love the other parents that come here. It truly is a great community at RC4.
The other aspect of RC4 that is unique is the work of Barbara through Parenting Progress. ¹⁄₃ of RC4s spaces are reserved for teen moms. Barbara is the director of that aspect of the center and she is so wonderful. The teen moms all attend great programs. Even if you don’t get in here right away or use another facility check out their community efforts. There are great events and great ways to donate clothes or kid items throughout the year to families who truly do need them.