The Palos Park Episcopal Day Care and Learning Center has a current enrollment of 66 families ranging in age from 15 months to 8 years and is a fully licensed facility by the Illinois Dept of Children and Family Services. The Day Care Center has been serving the Palos Park area since 1984 – over 26 years! The Center makes a substantial contribution to the church annually. In 2009, that contribution was over $50,000.

In 2009, the center stayed active in early childhood quality by funding CPR/First Aid for all staff, and funding the attendance of all staff at the Chicago Area for Early Childhood conference. Suzanne Newman presented a workshop for Directors at the Parent Conference at Prairie State College in the spring. Palos Park Episcopal also hosted two meetings for the Quality Assurance South Side Conference this year. The school is still involved in Quality Assurance and Accreditation practices, although there is no plan to secure NAEYC accreditation at this time. Our current staff consists of 4 full-time, 5 part-time and 3 substitute teachers.

Capital improvements to the building included replacing carpet in the Toddler room and painting the hallways and three classrooms.

We have many community involvement activities. In April we presented an Art Show during the Week of the Young Child. The children were so proud to show off their various art projects to their parents. In September, the Board served breakfast for all those families marching in the Palos Park Parade. We also had a display at the Palos Park Library of our early childhood project.

The Palos Park Episcopal Day Care and Learning Center goals include:

• Build individuality and self-respect
• Prepare children for school through hands-on experiences
• Encourage responsibility
• Meet the social and emotional needs of the child
• Provide opportunities for physical development
• Promote health and safety
• Introduce community values in a spiritual environment

To see all that the Center has to offer, visit our website, www.palosdaycare.com.

Members of the Church of the Transfiguration are so thankful that we have this quality Center and outstanding staff. The Day Care Center continues to help facilitate many of our programs at Transfiguration, while providing a valuable form of outreach to our staff and the community we serve.