Classroom Quality

As an early childhood educator or director, the role you play at this pivotal time in a child’s life sets the stage for children’s success in kindergarten and beyond. There are a variety of ways the Collaboration supports the continuous growth of our teachers and caregivers.

Early Childhood Mental Health

The Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant partners with kids at early childhood center sites to perform assessments and ongoing consultation. And, to expand her impact, she also teaches educators, parents and directors about social-emotional development and coaches them through her assessment and consultation process. By providing resources to these programs that specifically serve our most at-risk children in the Village, we expand our ability to better meet the needs of all families and strengthen the quality of our classrooms. Learn more about the importance of early childhood mental health.

Oak Park Public Library Resource Delivery

If you are an Oak Park educator or childcare provider, you can request delivery and pickup of books, kits, artifacts or other library materials from the Oak Park Public Library to enhance your school or child care center educational experience. After you complete the form, a library staff member will be in contact with you shortly. Availability and frequency of delivery service are dependent on current library staff capacity, availability of supplies, and health and safety recommendations from the CDC and Village Public Health Officials. Request a delivery.

ExceleRate Training

One way to ensure that you are continuously growing and improving as a provider is through ExceleRate Illinois, a quality rating and improvement system.

The Collaboration provides training, coaching and technical assistance to early childhood programs in Oak Park and River Forest to support their engagement in ExceleRate Illinois. ExceleRate Illinois provides a framework for early learning professionals to identify opportunities for improvement, increase their skills and take steps to make positive changes.

Early learning programs are awarded quality ratings of green, bronze, silver and gold to provide parents with an objective way to make quality a part of their decision making when selecting a program for their children. ExceleRate quality ratings are a search filter on our early childhood resource directory.

• Learn more about ExceleRate Illinois.
• Apply for a training stipend.
• Contact us to learn more about how your child care center can earn an Exelerate Illinois quality rating.