Algonquin preschool and day care turns children into shining stars

Maggie Kusiak has memories of persuading her little brother to "play school" while growing up.

Kusiak always wanted to be a teacher. "I love working with kids," she said.

She is doing just that in operating her own child-care center at 100 Countryside Drive in Algonquin.

With Care Bears painted on the walls, Shining Stars Early Learning Center is a day-care facility that focuses on education. A preschool program that incorporates play into learning starts when children are 2.

"I try to make the kids feel like they're at home," said Kusiak, who has 70 children enrolled.

She accepts children ages 6-weeks to 12-years old. One of the comments Kusiak hears most from parents viewing the facility is about how clean it is.

"This is really important to me," said Kusiak, who opened the center about two years ago.

The day care is open from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. The cost for preschool-aged children is $190 per week for five days of care.

She said the motto at the center is "every child can be a shining star."

This coincides with Kusiak's own philosophy. She believes anyone can achieve anything they put their mind to.

Kusiak, 23, was born in Poland and then moved to Germany before moving to the United States. Speaking fluent German and Polish, Kusiak graduated from Streamwood High School. Next month she will earn her bachelor's degree in early childhood education from Northern Illinois University.

She worked at a day-care center after high school. "That inspired me. I wanted the children to be happy," said Kusiak, who resides in Carpentersville where she lives with her parents. Her mother was a kindergarten teacher at a Schaumburg school before she became principal of a Polish school in Chicago. Her father works as a maintenance mechanic.

In running the facility, Kusiak misses being in the classroom on a full-time basis, but she can often be found visiting classes. "The kids never want me to leave," she said.

In hiring teachers, Kusiak stresses that it's important she finds people who want to be there as much as she does.

For more information, call (847) 458-2595 or check out www.shiningstarselc.com.

Top honor: Pat Szpekowski, president of PMS Advertising, was recently awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award through the Public Relations Society of America's suburban chapter. In 1987 she established the Carpentersville-based company, which creates personalized marketing communications strategies.