Half-day pre-school for 3-4 year olds now available at new CPS Edgebrook pre-school

by BRIAN NADIG

Half-day pre-school for three- and four-year-olds will be offered at Edgebrook School’s new early learning branch at 5320-30 W. Devon Ave. 

Initial plans had called for the branch to offer only a full-day program for four-year-olds, but half-day options have been added due to “community demand,” according to a statement on the school’s Web site. The branch, which will be located in a former office building, is scheduled to open Monday, Aug. 21.

“This will allow students to enroll in either an a.m. or p.m. session and will allow the school to serve three-year-olds. Students who attend school as three-year-olds will be guaranteed a seat to return as four-year-olds,” the school stated on its Web site.

Enrollment for the half-day program began Monday, Aug. 7. Chicago Early Learning applications are available at www.chicagoearlylearning.org or by calling the Family Support Hotline at 312-229-1690.

For those families who would like to add the Edgebrook half-day program to their choices on a previously submitted application are asked to call the hotline, and staff will update the application, according to the school.

Enrollment in a pre-school program is based on a citywide application process, although a local preference is given based on proximity, or attendance boundaries for those early learning centers affiliated with an elementary school.

Weekday parking ban signs are scheduled to be installed in front of the center along Devon Avenue and Minnehaha Avenue. The restrictions will be in place from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., eliminating about a dozen spaces.

The center will have a parking lot at 5316 W. Devon Ave. for employees, and school system officials have said that it may be available for lease at night and on weekends to local businesses. The lot previously was used by area stores and restaurants

The branch’s capacity will be about 160 students, but the branch is expected to operate at half-capacity or less during its first year.

The Catalpa Early Education Learning Center at 5252 N. Long Ave. in Jefferson Park recently announced that it was planning to open a second half-day classroom for three-year-olds. The center opened last school year and is located in the former Saint Cornelius School.

In 2022 WBEZ reported that there was low enrollment in many early learning schools in high-poverty areas and stronger rates in North Side areas, where wealthier families live.