Now in its eighth decade, First Baptist Church Child Development Center continues its mission of providing a Christian education to more than 100 students.
The center offers both full- and part-time programs for children aged two to 12 years old. The pre-school and Kindergarten portion of the school operates as a not-for-profit ministry.
Programs and coursework at the center are geared toward "building positive self-image with emphasis on social, emotional, physical and cognitive skills," and the curriculum includes "art, music, movement, computer, language enrichment, reading and math readiness activities, Spanish, cooking, science, drama, free play, and field trips."
Stretching back before its move from Chicago to Oak Park, the Oak Park Temple has a storied history.
In the years since the Harlem Avenue temple was established in 1957, the congregation has grown and the programs offered by the temple have expanded considerably.
In addition to offering regular worship hours and services for life events, members of west suburban Jewish community can partake in pre-school and religious education sessions for kids and Torah study groups an Hebrew education for adults.
The temple is led by Rabbi Max Weiss.
Intercultural Montessori Language School is an immersion school for pre-school and elementary school-age students. Dual language programs are available in Mandarin Chinese, Japanese and Spanish. This school offers before and after-school programs, as well as a summer language immersion camp. Pre-school, lower elementary and upper elementary programs are available. The elementary program covers language arts, science, history, ecology, geography and art with a curriculum in both languages. The pre-school program focuses on motor coordination, perceptual skills, language skills and pre-reading concepts. There is an additional location for this institution in Chicago's West Loop.
Oak Park's Montessori School believes that education revolves around teaching by example. The School constructs its curriculum according to children's developmental periods to foster their students' intelligence and social initiative.
The School also runs a Spanish immersion program, which is a method of teaching the Spanish language through everyday conversation and tailored teaching materials.
Oak Park Montessori offers a wide range of extracurricular activities, including art classes, soccer, Latin dance, piano instruction and field trips.
The West Cook YMCA Preschool offers early education programs for children between the ages of 2.5-5. It features a play-based curriculum designed to promote cognitive and social development. Full-day, half-day and part-time programs are available, all of which include snack and swimming lessons for children 3 and older. The full-day program also includes lunch, music and movement, sensory art, storytelling, drama and other activities.
Established in 1961 by a group of Oak Park parents, the Alcuin Montessori School was among the nation's first educational institutions to teach in the Montessori approach, which provides a child-centered learning environment.
This Oak Park Ave. location is at the First United Methodist Church, but the school also has a middle school facility for childen aged 12- to 14-years-old, which is located at the Gale House, 1027 W. Chicago Ave.