About Us

Here at First School, we pride ourselves on keeping a clean environment! And one of the things that we hear when perspective parents visit is how clean and inviting our classrooms are. We believe the best way we can serve our children is to offer a clean environment that is pleasing to the eye both in form and function and also free from harmful germs. So, how do we do this? We have woven keeping a clean environment into our daily routine as integral part of our curriculum! This is truly a Montessori way. At First School, we say more things are caught than taught and not only our teachers and staff model how to keep a clean environment but also students actively take part of the process. When students see their teachers model this behavior they want to participate! Children can participate in cleaning up spills, sweeping the floor, and learning how to wash tables and chairs just to name a few! And ask a child if they enjoy these tasks and the answer is most certainly, yes! 

Now, we recognize that keeping a clean environment is a challenge and as a childcare program we have an even bigger challenge but we believe this is possible! We even have a real world experience that proves our theory actually works!

When the governor of Illinois closed all schools and childcare programs on Friday, March 13^th, 2020 First School acted quickly and boldly to make the decision to apply for an emergency license and re-open on Monday, March 16^th, 2020 to serve the essential workers in our communities. We believed then and we still believe that serving children and their families even during a global pandemic is one of the highest callings! We were able to continue flourishing in our daily lives and we did not have any Covid cases. We believe it was our standard daily protocol that enabled us to stay open with zero Covid cases! 

So, if you are looking for a healthy and safe environment for your child to thrive, First school  has demonstrated through these times to be a leader in health and safety protocol.   

Additionally, there are a few key fundamentals that we take seriously. One of them is hand washing, it is the biggest defense when it comes to tackling germs. Staff and children have hand washing at different intervals during the day and upon starting or completing certain tasks. Additionally, we use EcoLab cleaning products that are safe to children and we do not use toxic bleach. Our protocols that we use every day safeguard our staff and children even in the most challenging days.

So whether it’s cold and flu season or a global pandemic we understand the importance of keeping our kids safe and healthy at all times!

Security is another top priority here at First School. We have a biometric security system to keep our families and children safe. All pick and drop off designees and all staff are fingerprinted and can not gain access to our building unless fingerprinted. Parents appreciate this level of security and know that they can feel confident in leaving their children with our trained and certified staff.

You can’t beat air quality for your children when it comes to our environment. We’ve installed air exchange wheels in all our facilities. These systems are continuously moving old air out and exchanging it with new. Additionally, many of our rooms have stand-alone air purifiers that work in purifying the fresh air that is brought in from outside so your child’s air quality is second to none!  

Our programs are tested every three years for Radon and so far so good, our numbers are far below the allowed levels!

Here at First School all of our meals are served using real plates, cups and silverware. Children learn how to serve themselves and pass dishes at meals and snacks. Another added safety feature is our high temperature dishwashing unit that we have added to our kitchen service. Dishes are washed, rinsed and satanized but then processed through our high-heat dishwasher that boosts the water temperature up to 195 degrees F killing all germs. This is just another added step to ensure safety in our food service.