Start Early is proud to announce the development and building of Educare Lake County, a state-of-the-art early learning school in Zion, Illinois that will serve 174 children, ages 6 weeks to 5-years-old, and their families. Educare Lake County will be the newest Educare school and the second to be directly operated by Start Early through partnerships with Schreiber Philanthropy and other generous donors, the Office of Head Start, and Lake County community members.
Currently, 66% of children in Lake County do not have access to early childhood programming. Educare Lake County will add to existing efforts to bring early learning resources to the community upon its completion and licensing in late 2026 / early 2027. The school will provide full-day, year-round Head Start and Early Head Start programming in six preschool-age classrooms and nine infant and toddler classrooms. Educare Lake County will also include plenty of space for outdoor play and community gatherings. Our caring and bilingual staff and teachers will further support parents through providing information and guidance on goal setting (for children and the family as a whole), getting access to additional services, joining parent support groups, and applying for leadership roles within the school’s Parent Committee and Policy Council.
Over the past year, Lake County residents and Educare teaching staff have been participating in design sessions and focus groups, helping ensure Educare Lake County is an inviting, warm environment where families know they will have access to programs, services and spaces designed just for them. As the development process continues, there will be more opportunities for families to join in on Educare Lake County’s launch, the most recent being the first community information and engagement session of 2025 held on Monday, March 3, from 6 – 7:30 p.m. at 