A Great Place to Work

Our full-time staff are deeply committed to our mission and philosophy and many have been here more than 5 years. We share joys with one another about things we observe in the classrooms and truly love what we do. As a group we are passionate, warm, engaged, and connected, and that translates to the work we do. 

Classroom Staffing

In each classroom we have a Lead Teacher, Assistant Teacher, and 1-2 Teacher Aids. Lead Teachers have a minimum of Bachelors Degree and Assistant Teachers have their Associates or Bachelors Degrees. Our 2-3yr old room has a maximum of 11 children, and our 3-5 year old rooms have a maximum of 15 and 16 children respectively. Due to the smaller sizes of our classrooms and the additional teacher aids we provide, we typically have lower ratios than most programs. In our two-year old room the typical ratio is 1:4, but we are often at 1:3 for the middle of the day. In our 3-4 year old room the typical ratio is 1:5, but can be as low as 1:3. And in our oldest room of 4-5 year olds the ratio is typically 1:6.

Loyola Students

Our teacher aid positions are filled by Loyola students who work for us as a part of the federal work-study system each semester. Students support the teaching teams by taking care of many of the classroom tasks such as cleaning and sanitizing, setting up and cleaning up from meals and nap, and sitting with small groups of children, so that Teachers can be directly with children more of the time. 

Leadership

Director, Joanna Burke

Joanna has been a Leader in Early Childhood Programs around Chicago for almost 20 years. She started at Loyola Preschool in 2022 and lives in the neighborhood with her husband and 3 young children.