Concordia Place

My son started in the 2 year old classroom this year on Sept 8^th. I’m so lucky he did because on Sept 3^rd I was hospitalized for 2 months. At a time when our lives were very complicated Concordia Place was a safe, consistent and loving place for my son. The teachers understood he was having a hard time adjusting to school and also having his mommy gone and they could not have been sweeter and more understanding! The main reasons I chose Concordia on Whipple for daycare are 1. The accreditation. Because of their licensing and accreditation I know that the facility is clean, the staff is educated and professional and safety is number one priority. 2. They have both outdoor and indoor areas for gross motor play. I did not realize in IL this is not a necessity for licensing… And in Chicago it’s often cold. It’s great that the kids go to the annex and play tag or ride tricycles on rainy or cold days. 3. The food is organic and my son loves it. He often eats second helpings of lunch and he receives a small breakfast and afternoon snack. This takes a lot of pressure off of us at home knowing he’s eating well. Of course he loves it there and he’s learning a ton which I’m sure is typical for most preschools and day cares. There are 11 kids in his class with 2 teachers at all times. He never wants to come home at pick up which is annoying for me, but exactly what I was hoping for! I’m happy he can stay here until he starts school in a few years. Right now he’s potty training and doing very well!

I feel great after I drop my daughter off for daycare at Concordia Place. All of the teachers, as well as the staff, are very welcoming to me, my husband and of course my daughter. The teachers are more than willing to help my daughter learn skills that we have been practicing at home. They make the transition to full-​time-​working-​mom way easier!

My wife and I are very unhappy with our experience at Concordia place’s preschool program. Our daughters when through bad experiences in more than one occasion.
Our twin daughters were enrolled about 2 years ago. First they were enrolled in the early learning program in the Whipple location. Their teachers were incredible and helped them a lot. We were really happy, as well as our daughters –they loved their teachers.
The problem started when they were moved up to the preschool program. Both of my daughters started to act really nervous and started to bite their nails to the point of pulling considerable parts of the nail off and bleed. Once, my wife found the class walking back into the building and saw their teacher, pulling a girl from her shoulders while the girl was getting out of line and yelling at her very loud that was frightening. We took a two week vacation that same summer, we were surprised that both of our daughters were acting as they used to and were bitting their nails less. As soon as we came back we asked the preschool assistant director, to please move our daughters to a different classroom. The preschool assistant director helped us and I had a personal conversation with their teacher –I told her the reasons for the changed. She was really upset and avoided me and my wife every time we would see her in the building. One of the twins stop biding her nails totally, the other still does it but has never hurt herself to the point of bleeding.
During Christmas week, in their new classroom, a boy asked my twin girls if he could touch her penis, he pulled her pants down and touched them. Unfortunately their teacher, which knew about it, did not communicate the incident to us. While in the shower, that afternoon, our daughters told us that a boy put his finger inside and explained the event. We came in to see their teacher the next morning. She told us, with no sign of worry or disappointment, that the only thing she could do will be to watch them closely and to avoid them been alone with the boy. She excused herself by saying that because it was Christmas week, there is very little attendance and that she did not have a regular class but let the kids play (I guess poorly attended) for a longer period of time in the kitchen area. We were not satisfy with the teachers plan but we decided to give her a second chance. A few weeks later another incident happened again –the teacher decided not communicate the incident to us after class for the second time. The next morning, one of their teachers asked my wife if our daughter told her what happened the previous day (like if it is our daughter’s responsibility to tell us when something goes wrong). She said that while the kids were in the bathroom, a girl came out running to the teacher to tell her that the same boy was trying to touch our daughters in their private parts. We were devastated and never brought our daughters back.
We had a conversation with the site director this time. She said that for kids that age is normal to be curious. I don’t want other kids to experiment with my daughter’s body the same way as I believe other parents will not like my daughters to touch their kid’s private parts. It’s totally inappropriate and a very bad excuse. The side director said that she did not know what to do different but to move the kitchen to a different place and to keep doing what their teacher was already doing. We considered that taking the same approach to the problem will not give a different result. Moving the kitchen is a great idea but they might need to move the bathroom too. I never felt understood, I believe, for what I can see, that until the last day, Concordia Place was unable to deal with this incidents. I had to write an email to the CEO because we never received an apology from the institution. Concordia place preschool program has a beautiful facility –I believe that an institution is not measure by their building but by the people that form the team. It takes a few minutes to know a building it takes time to know their staff and we do not like Concordia’s preschool program.

My son has been at the Whipple campus for just over 6 months now. He started in the Toddler program and is now in the Twos classroom. I have been incredibly impressed by his education and the overall commitment to their mission. I chose Concordia for many reasons: bright, clean, onsite access to outdoor play areas, healthy food and a diverse staff and student population. When I toured other daycares they were expensive and also catered to the most wealthy urbanites. I wanted my son to have access to diverse cultures but also socio-​economic diversity. Concordia uses a sliding scale, so they make the program available to more people that would otherwise not be able to afford the high quality of care. Little did I know that when I was making this decision, it would also impact my life. About 3 months after enrolling, I lost my job and have had to take advantage of the sliding scale. No other program would have been so accommodating and I would have had to remove my son from daycare. And as a single parent, I needed to continue my son’s enrollment to be able to locate another job. So Concordia offered me a lifesaving service. When I was getting «No» from so many other places, Concordia was offering me «Yes». That is what someone needs to hear in a time of uncertainty.
I appreciate so much about this program and the people that run it, that I can not put it all into words. I have found many of the other parents to be wonderful as well. My experience has been positive on multiple levels, especially with the quality and interest of the teachers and staff. I would highly recommend this program to anyone looking for the best in early childhood education. It is not just a daycare, but a place of learning and growth for children. So, you can imagine why the waiting list is as long as it is! I highly suggest becoming a part of this school, it is truly a community and a place of «Yes».

ALSO, just a tip, Concordia FAILED yet again!!! They never informed me that they automatically enrolled my son into a CPS school, the neighborhood school by my house. I keep getting phone calls over and over again from the neighborhood school demanding to know why I have not send my child to school after I enrolled him. After speaking to admissions today at said school, they found out that Concordia gives all children a CPS identification number and that in December of 2010 when my son first started the handbook said that all students will be enlisted come kindergarten unless informed otherwise, which is extremely ANNOYING since Concordia asked me several times where he was headed and I told them St. Viator. This place is just a huge mess. The more I speak to other parents and other schools the more I come to realize that I stood by one of the greediest daycares for way too long. I urge others to look into other programs before considering Concordia. There are several places that are also YEAR round that are caring, loving, and probably cheaper.

Our daughter has been attending Concordia Place in Avondale for a year and we have nothing but good things to say!
She has been in one of the two year old classroom with two of the most amazing teachers! They are engaged, open and very loving and seem to truly enjoy what they do. We have had only positive interactions with all of the staff at Concordia Place and assume the warm and welcoming environment will continue once our daughter transitions to her Preschool class.
The school follows the Creative Curriculum and although her classroom is predominately play based, there is definitely structure to her day as well (each classroom has a daily schedule that they follow). We feel she has grown and learned so much in general and then on top of it, her teacher is always coming up with fun and educational art projects, which the kids seem to do on a daily basis. Our daughter is now so interested in art and loves creating things both at school and at home (through all of this art making she has really fine tuned some skills; drawing, cutting, pasting, object placement etc.).
The facility is amazing in and of itself. It is bright and sunny, with a structure connected to the school called «the annex». The annex is kind of like a small gymnasium, which allows for year round physical play for each classroom a few times a day. Weather permitting, the kids also have the outdoor «play lot» for even more physical play. Hooray!

Not sure why my review was filtered but wanted to provide an update in hopes that Unilocal’s system will recognize it as a legitimate review.

2 years ago, when my son had been at this daycare for about a year, I was amazed and really happy.
He has since moved up to a preschool classroom, and we’ve had our share of bumps in the road.
But my largest concern is that for the past year, I’ve been trying to work *within* the system to have an issue between my child and another child rectified, but it seems my concerns either fall on deaf ears, or they’re being dismissed or rationalized away.
I appreciate the fact that their policy manual is written in such a way that situations can be handled on a case-​by-​case basis, but in my particular situation I’ve run up against repeated offenses of my child being injured (intentionally) by another child, to the point where his paternal grandmother has encouraged him to fight back if his teachers won’t help him. This is not behavior the school endorses, and it’s not the sort of behavior I want my child learning is okay, but after over a year of dealing with these issues, I’m at my wit’s end.
BUT that’s not all… despite repeated documented incidents of this other child hitting or kicking other students, the school will not remove the child from their program. Seems like every other week, my child comes home with a new story and injury. In the past 6 weeks, we’ve had 2 black eyes (one of which occurred when my child was pushed by this other child from the top of the slide!!!) and a punch in the stomach. Yet, when I suggested if they don’t resolve the issue, I’ll pull my child from their program, they kindly informed me that if I do so without 4 weeks of advance notice, I forfeit my (somewhat sizeable) tuition deposit — which I unfortunately cannot currently afford to do.
I was under the impression that a daycare’s responsibility was to protect ALL of the children attending there and keep them safe. I do not currently feel that Concordia is holding up their end of that bargain and I feel VERY STRONGLY that, since my son will be starting kindergarten in the fall, my concerns are being dismissed even more quickly than they were earlier this year.
I’m still giving 3 stars because we’ve been mostly happy there for 3 years now and some of the teachers and assistants are nothing short of incredible, but the administration has definitely left something to be desired when it comes to resolving conflict.

My son (3 ½) has been going here since here was 2. The twos program is great — kind, warm teachers who care about your child. The schedule supports their development — snacks, naps, outdoor play (walks or playlot), indoor play when it’s cold. We’ve attended part-​time and full-​time.
We are now in the preschool and if you are going full-​time, this is an excellent choice. Same comments as above: warm, caring teachers, good schedule, activities, field trips, etc.
However, if you are going part-​time, be warned. You child is separated from the full-​time kids, there are too many in a classroom and it is difficult for the teachers to engage one-​on-​one. It’s pretty overwhelming. As a result, I plan to pull my son out as soon as I can find a new place. It’s totally chaotic. (Note: we started out in a full-​time classroom, then were changed with a weekend’s notice due to some state funding issue. this sucked. the transitions from two to pre-​k are really thoughtful and planned out better)
the director for infant and twos is really on her game, but the director for the preschool, while nice, doesn’t seem to be as organized. We pay a quarterly fee for field trips, but haven’t been on one since the fall (it’s now spring). In the twos, they would bring the field trip to the class room in the winter to provide a different type of activity. Nothing like that now.
I’m disappointed with the change. So I recommend for a little one and a full time pre-​schooler, but not for a part-​time pre-​k kid.

Our daughter has been at Concordia Avondale since January 08, and is moving upstairs with the 3 — 5 year-​olds in a few weeks.
We’re completely satisfied, the teachers are warm & enthusiastic, and the facility and grounds are great. We even get little one-​sheet reports every day on the day’s activities, such as whether lunch was eaten in full/​or part (our daughter always eats her snacks in full, lunch, not so much), whether they went outside, what they read, specific activities, etc.
There’s also a beautiful indoor open space (the «annex») which is used for the little ones riding tricycles, parachute games, etc.
Highly recommended — but we were lucky that we lived in the neighborhood before they opened, but I understand the waiting list is up to 300 kids or so, so if you’re potentially interested, call *yesterday*~!

Update:
Two years later and we are very happy with the quality of care that our children have. Sure we’ve had a few issues but they have always been addressed. We now have a second child in the infant room. We love the fact that they have a private outdoor playlot for the infants and toddlers that is adjacent to their room. The teachers are wonderful. Our littlest one is one a great schedule and she loves going there too now!
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My husband & I are so impressed with this facility! Our daughter had been attending Condordia for a few weeks now. After having one bad experience, it’s comforting to find a clean, beautiful & bright child care center in the city. The toddler’s and babies have their own outdoor areas. This way they can play outside all the time! Unfortuanley the wait is long but it’s well worth it. The teachers that our daughter has had so far are very nice too. The administration seems to follow all of the rules which can be annoying for some but why would you want your child at a facitilty that isn’t on top of everything? (i.e. security, paperwork, health records, etc)

It’s unbelievably bright, clean, and new. There are outdoor play areas, as well as indoor ones. The staff is, for the most part, enthusiastic and experienced. We’ve had our almost-​three-​year-​old munchkin there for two weeks now, and we are very happy. (This refers to the Avondale campus, which is actually at 3300 N Whipple.)