Celebration Children's Center in Naperville marks 15 years of nurturing preschoolers

It didn't take long for Nicole Anderson to find the perfect preschool for her children.

"When I began thinking about preschools, the biggest requirement for me was that it had a loving, caring environment," she said.

Anderson found just what she was looking for after walking through the doors of Celebration Children's Center Preschool in Naperville. It was the first and only preschool she needed to visit.

"The teachers at Celebration do such a great job of loving, nurturing and educating all students," she said. "The teachers radiate kindness and help children navigate their friendships. Some of the fundamental social skills the teachers teach benefit the children for their entire lives. I feel so blessed that they are learning and practicing these skills at such a loving and faith-filled school. We have been beyond lucky with all the teachers we have experienced at Celebration."

Celebration Children's Center Preschool, 919 S. Washington St., is a ministry of Our Saviour's Lutheran Church, Naperville.

The preschool is beginning its 15th school year.

Since opening its doors in September 2005, many parents have chosen Celebration as a preschool home for their children.

The school provides a wide array of early childhood programs, including half-day and extended-day preschool programs, Parents' Day Out programs, prekindergarten, weekly enrichment classes, music classes, STEM classes, and more.

Celebration Children's Center has grown from three preschool classrooms with 10-12 students in each class, to seven classrooms with 16-18 students and two teachers in each class today. Celebration has a staff of 28 that serves 186 families whose children fill 275 spots.

"We welcome families from all races and religious denominations," said Kelly Gilligan, director. "God's world is beautiful because of its many different colors and we welcome the same diversity in our children and their families."

Brian Wise, associate pastor of outreach at Our Saviour's, fought back tears when he dropped off his son, Wesley, for the first time at Celebration.

"Now Wesley gets excited when waiting in the drop-off line," Pastor Brian said. "He loves his teacher, shows us his yoga moves, sings songs, and tells us lots of stories about his new friends. This is a big first for our family, and many other families who are attending. What I love, is how we arrange play dates, sit near each other at church, and strangers become friends."

Celebration Children's Center Preschool meets the educational needs of young children and helps prepare them for kindergarten and beyond, Gilligan said.

"The importance of early childhood education can't be overstated. A child's early years are the foundation for his or her future development, providing a strong base for lifelong learning, including cognitive, social, emotional and physical development."

"Attending Celebration has greatly influenced our children's lives, Nicole said. "They have been so academically well prepared for kindergarten, but more than that - they have had a kind, loving and faith-filled start to their educational lives. I can only hope this kind of atmosphere is something they find more of in their futures."

To learn more about Celebration Children's Center Preschool, call (630) 281-4300 or visit www.celebrationchildrenscenter.com.

Highlights of Celebration Children's Center Preschool include:

• A Christian education component comprised of monthly Children's Chapel services and weekly "Godly Play," a program developed by Jerome Berryman, a United Methodist minister. Each week, students hear Bible stories using crafted wooden figures and objects. A social-emotional learning component is also woven into Godly Play time.

• Local and international outreach mission activities. For example, children and their families donate food for Loaves & Fishes, as well as items for Baby Care Kits, which are then distributed through Lutheran World Relief.

• Kids Kitchen, a place where students can practice math, and fine motor and cooking skills, by measuring ingredients to make snacks or homemade play dough.

• Hands-on learning and Kindergarten readiness activities. For example, the math curriculum gives children the opportunity to play with the math tools they will use in kindergarten, including Unifix cubes, pattern blocks, teddy bear counters, geoboards and movable clocks. Academic curricula mirror district curricula for easy transition into kindergarten.

• Kelly Gilligan, director, was recently selected as the Evangelical Lutheran Education Association's 2019 Early Childhood Director of the Year. ELEA is the national membership association of private secondary, elementary and early childhood schools throughout the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the largest Lutheran church body in the United States.