For over 52 years, St. Chrysostom’s Day School (SCDS) has provided a nurturing, play-based learning environment for children ranging in age from 8 months to 5 years old.
The school offers seven programs tailored to the developmental needs of seven different age groups. We offer small class sizes taught by well-trained early childhood educators. Our programs follow a traditional September to June school year, and tuition assistance is available for all programs. Through a rich, play-based curriculum, children are encouraged to explore, create, discover, and build confidence through meaningful hands-on experiences.
The curriculum is designed to be both developmentally appropriate and relevant to the lives and experiences of very young children. Each program uses the Illinois Early Learning and Developmental Standards (IELDS) as a guide in creating learning goals for every age group. The IELDS provides guidance and expectations that support children’s social, emotional, cognitive, and educational growth throughout the preschool and kindergarten years.
Child must be 8-14 months old by September of the year they enroll. This class takes place one day a week. The parent or caregiver remains in the classroom with the child and participates in classactivities.
Meets: Mondays and Tuesdays 10:45am – 11:30am; Fridays 10:30am – 11:15am
Tuition: $1,600
*Days and times listed reflect offerings for 2026-27 academic year.
Child must be 15-21 months old by September of the year they enroll. This class takes place one day a week from 10:30am-11:30am. The parent or caregiver remains in the classroom with the child and participates in class activities.
Meets: Wednesday or Thursday | Time: 10:30am – 11:30am
Tuition: $3,800
*Days and times listed reflect offerings for 2026-27 academic year.
Child must be 22-26 months old by September of the year they enroll. This class takes place one day a week from 9:00am -10:15am. The parent or caregiver remains in the classroom with the child and participates in class activities.
Meets: Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday | Time: 9:00am -10:15am
Tuition: $5,300
*Days and times listed reflect offerings for 2026-27 academic year.
Child must be 15-21 months old by September of the year they enroll. This class takes place two days a week from 10:30am-11:30am. The parent or caregiver remains in the classroom with the child and participates in class activities.
Meets: Monday/Wednesday or Tuesday/Thursday | Time: 10:30am – 11:30am
Tuition: $7,000
*Days and times listed reflect offerings for 2026-27 academic year.
SCDS offers a five half-day play-based preschool program designed to support children’s educational, social, and emotional development, with the flexibility to add as many full days as desired.
Students are grouped by birth date, and each classroom is led by a lead and assistant teacher. Children participate in daily morning meetings, free play, music, literacy, art, science, dramatic play, and physical education, all designed to encourage creativity, exploration, and collaboration through hands-on learning.
Ongoing book studies and resource room activities further enrich the curriculum throughout the year. Children must be three years old by December 31 of the enrollment year. The half-day program meets Monday through Friday from 8:30am to 11:30am. Full Day meets 8:30am -3:30pm. Please contact the office if you have more questions.
Preschool children who participate in the full day program are served lunch and an afternoon snack. Full day students will have a rest/quiet period after lunch followed by organized art and science activities, free play, gym and circle time to end our day.
This class takes place five days a week 8:30am - 3:30pm.
Days: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
5 days a week: $22,700
4 days a week: $20,900
3 days a week: $19,100
2 days a week: $17,300
1 day a week: $15,500
Half Day Preschool option: $13,700
*Days and times listed reflect offerings for 2026-27 academic year.
St. Chrysostom’s Day School offers a full-day Fours program for children who are turning Four by December 31st. The program prepares children for Junior Kindergarten through a play-based curriculum that builds confidence, independence, and foundational academic skills.
A strong emphasis is placed on early literacy, including letter recognition, phonetic awareness, journal writing, storytelling, and artist studies. Students also develop early math skills through patterning, number recognition, and hands-on exploration of basic addition and subtraction.
Using a thematic curriculum approach, children engage in daily free play, literacy activities, art projects, music, science exploration, dramatic play, physical education, and resource room experiences. Children are provided with lunch, a quiet rest time, and afternoon enrichment activities as the two Fours classes come together for gym, resource room exploration, and closing circle time.The program meets Monday through Friday from 8:30am to 3:30 pm.
Days: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
Time: 8:30am – 3:30pm
Tuition: $22,700
*Days and times listed reflect offerings for 2026-27 academic year.
SCDS offers a full day Junior Kindergarten (JK) program for children who are four by September 1st of the current school year. The JK program works towards preparing the children for kindergarten and providing them with the tools and skills they need to succeed in Kindergarten and elementary school. There is a strong focus on literacy in the JK; encouraging pre-literacy skills set the foundation for future reading development. The students begin by studying the alphabet one letter at a time as a way of focusing on upper and lower case recognition and phonetic sounds. They study four great authors throughout the year and work on concepts ofprint, sequencing stories, journal writing and group story writing to further enhance their language and literacy skills. There is also a focus on mathematics, working on patterning, number recognition, skip counting and understanding basic addition and subtraction through everyday situations and dramatic play.
The JK uses a thematic approach in their curriculum, which often coincides with the fours and preschool and allows for whole school collaboration. Students begin each morning with free play or centers, which is a time where children can work on their social and emotional development, independent problem solving skills, and engage in imaginative play with their peers. There is a block of time each morning set aside for a learning activity, which is a time when students work on literacy or complete a theme-based art project. Throughout the day there are two snacks, a rest time, lunch, two gym periods, music, literacy blocks and a slot to use the resource room to explore science related activities.
Child must be turning 5 after September 1st of the year they enroll. This class takes place five days a week from 8:30am -3:30pm. A minimum of one year of preschool is preferred.
Days: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
Time: 8:30am – 3:30pm
Tuition: $22,700
*Days and times listed reflect offerings for 2026-27 academic year.
