Our dedicated and engaging staff provide safe, high-quality and accessible early learning services for Lake County families like yours.
Our school is home to state-of-the-art facilities including:
A typical day at Start Early Lake County – take a peek!
FAQs
Educare Lake County will break ground on construction in Spring 2026 and open for enrollment during the 2027-2028 academic year.
In the meantime, our operating partner, Start Early, is currently enrolling for its Waukegan (ages 0-2) and Beach Park Early Learning Centers (ages 3-5) programs. Like Educare Chicago, Start Early’s programs provide a continuum of care, including child care, early learning support, nutrition advice, home visits and referrals to health care homes. To learn more about these programs, please visit Start Early’s Lake County services page.
Educare Lake County will serve 174 children ages 6 weeks through age 5 from Beach Park, Zion, Waukegan and surrounding communities. All enrolled families must meet the Federal Poverty Guidelines or be categorically eligible in order to enroll in our program. Families with children who are diverse learners, or who have children with suspected or diagnosed disabilities, are encouraged to apply.
All potential families will meet with a member of our staff to determine each family’s individual needs and their eligibility for enrollment.
Educare Lake County will have hands-on, family-first programs available that support caregivers in their roles as parents and promote family wellbeing. The building design includes family-centric, multi-purpose spaces to include families as part of the educational experience, fostering strong parent-child relationships and providing ongoing learning and development opportunities for both parents and children.
We are committed to partnering with the Lake County community to ensure our programs and services reflect the unique needs, visions and dreams of community leaders, businesses and families.
Thank you to the following key partners for their support and partnership along the way:
- City of Zion
- Zion 6 School District
- Zion Park District
Opportunities will be available throughout the building process for community members to learn more about the school, how they can inform decisions about the space and what this new resource will mean for them. Keep an eye on this page for ways to get involved.
Quality early education and care is critical because a child’s brain grows faster during the first five years than at any other time in life. Subsequently, early brain development has a lasting impact on a child’s ability to learn and succeed in school and life. Studies have found that kindergarten readiness is strongly associated with later academic achievement, including higher education.
Children who enter kindergarten ready to learn and who have access to effective early learning programs are also more likely to have better education outcomes, higher wages as adults, better health and are less likely to be involved in the criminal justice system.
A multi-generational research study showed that children with high quality early childhood education have better life outcomes than their peers, their children do better, and their children’s children do better, as well.
Caregivers will be able to begin the enrollment process about three months prior to our school opening date. We recommend regularly visiting this page or signing up for further information to stay updated about project timelines, opportunities to learn more about Educare Lake County, as well as the processes for enrollment and eligibility qualifications.
Start Early believes the best outcomes occur when we can braid both public and private funding streams to design a program that is unique to its community and those who will most benefit from that program. Educare Lake County specifically has been made possible by a generous gift from the Schreiber Family Foundation, among many other private donors, and a substantial grant from the Office of Head Start. Its braided funding will utilize Preschool for All and Prevention Initiative funds to round out funding sources.
Applications for enrollment at the new Educare Lake County school will open in 2027. In the meantime, our operating partner, Start Early, is currently enrolling for its Waukegan (ages 0-2) and Beach Park Early Learning Centers (ages 3-5) programs. Like Educare Chicago, Start Early’s programs provide a continuum of care, including child care, early learning support, nutrition advice, home visits and referrals to health care homes. To learn more about these programs, please visit Start Early’s Lake County services page.
Educare Lake County will be open from Monday – Friday, 7 a.m. – 5 p.m. for families with the child care subsidy and 8 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. for families without the child care subsidy approval.
Start Early is the operating organization of Educare Lake County. To begin meeting the Lake County community’s early learning needs as soon as possible, Start Early opened and is currently operating interim Early Learning Centers in Waukegan and Beach Park, while Educare Lake County is being built. When the permanent Educare Lake County school is ready for enrollment, the Waukegan and Beach Park programming will transition current families and operations to the permanent Educare Lake County in Zion.
Once Educare Lake County is open, families with children in Start Early’s Lake County Early Learning Centers in Waukegan and Beach Park will transition to our permanent school in Zion.
Learn more about donating to our program here, and please visit our career page to learn more about joining our growing team!
Enroll Today
Apply now to give your child a strong start with high-quality, inclusive early learning at Start Early Lake County.