Mission

The Illini Child Care Center’s mission is to provide high quality, developmentally appropriate child care for children with focus on the individual child’s age and ability to stimulate social, cognitive, physical and emotional growth and to provide a safe, nurturing and recreational environment for children.

Vision

Be Exceptional, evidenced by family and employee satisfaction, as well as accomplishment of the Gold status within the Quality Rating and Improvement System.

Philosophy

Illini Child Care Center educators believe that each child is a unique individual and that all children can learn. Our program provides inclusive settings that recognize children’s varied abilities, interest, needs, and learning styles and we believe children learn best through meaningful play.

Our Facility

The Illini Child Care Center is centrally located at 201 North Mississippi Street in Pittsfield, Illinois. We are a fully, DCFS licensed facility and we also accept IDHS childcare assistance. The Illini Child Care Center offers:

• Nutritious meals and snacks
• Clean and safe environment
• Staff exceeding DCFS staffing requirements
• Nursing room for breastfeeding mothers to feed on site
• Opportunity for parents to visit children during the day
• Fingerprint scan entrance
• Hours: Monday to Friday, 6:45 am - 5:15 pm

What to bring and not to bring

Please bring the following for your child:

• A seasonally appropriate change of clothing (at least 2 changes of clothes)
• Diapers and wipes (for infants and toddlers not yet potty trained)
• Sunscreen, bug spray, lotion and diaper cream
• Security items - must be approved by Director
• Bottles and sippy cups (if not using center's supply)
• Formula and baby food (if not using center's supply). Breast milk if needed.
• Backpack (optional) for ease of transporting papers and needed items back and forth.

Please do not bring:

• Toys from home. There may be times a teacher asks for items to enhance the curriculum unit or for "show and tell," otherwise, please keep toys at home.
• Videos, movies or digital games. The Illini Child Care Center must utilize only videos related to the classroom educational theme.
• Food (breakfast, lunch, dinner or snacks) for your child. DCFS requires the Illini Child Care Center provide all food for the nutritional program. Certain regulations allow for the provision of food brought from home in the case of special needs or family celebrations. See the Illini Child Care Center Director for any questions regarding food from home.
• Jewelry on your child. Jewelry can be lost easily, and, in the case of infants, it is a choking hazard. Please remove rings, bracelets or earrings from your child before coming to the Illini Child Care Center. 

The Illini Child Care Center does not accept responsibility for replacing lost or broken items. The Illini Child Care Center offers a variety of age-appropriate toys.

Our Team

The Illini Child Care Center Team provides individualized care to each child to meet their needs and aide in their development. We are able to provide this because of our excellent adult-to-child ratio:

• Infants (6 weeks - 14 months) - 1 adult : 4 children
• Toddlers (15 months - 23 months) - 1 adult : 5 children
• 2-year olds - 1 adult : 8 children
• 3-year olds - 1 adult : 10 children
• 4-year olds - 1 adult : 10 children
• 5-year olds - 1 adult : 20 children

*In the case of our 2-3 year old rooms and 3-4 year old rooms, the ratio of the youngest age in the room will be used.

Staff Requirements

All Illini Child Care Center staff meets educational requirements established by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.  Directors and supervisors are required to have a minimum of two years of education with 18 hours in the field of early childhood education. A teacher is required to have a minimum of two years of college with six college credits in Early Learning related course work OR a combination of equivalent experience and education.  Teacher Aides, those assisting a teacher, are required to have a high school education and be able to communicate well with children.  Each staff member, regardless of position, is trained in CPR and First Aid, and attends a minimum of 20 clock hours of training annually. All staff members have a physical exam that certifies good physical and emotional health in addition to a background check that is passed through state police investigation.

Our Curriculum

Illini Child Care Center staff provides a positive and educational preschool program. Our program is an all-day learning program designed to promote age-appropriate development. Educational activities are provided for children ages six weeks up to 5 years of age. Through use of the Creative Curriculum®, a comprehensive program integrates the following components.

• An age-appropriate learning environment
• Qualified and effective teachers
• Consideration of how children learn
• Consideration of what children are ready to learn
• Parents and family's values and cultures

Pricing

Please call for pricing information.