Dixon’s preschool offerings to expand in new program with 80 slots, 4 rooms at Lovett center and Open Sesame

DIXON – Preschool offerings are expanding in Dixon as Regional Office of Education No. 47 prepares to open two of four classrooms in April that, in all, will service up to 80 children at no cost to qualifying families.

The ROE 47 Early Learning Academy will open its first two classrooms at Open Sesame Daycare, 1101 Middle Road in Dixon, on April 1 and later open two more at the Dixon YMCA’s Lovett Child Development Center, 1675 Fulfs Lane.

The preschool will follow the Dixon Public Schools' calendar, run from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day, and provide before and after care as well as care on nonschool days, Krista Peterson, assistant director of professional learning at ROE 47, said in an interview with Shaw Local.

Its opening will be another needed addition to Lee, Ogle and Whiteside counties, which have been in need of more child care services for many years.

“I’ve already been contacted by many principals at some of the smaller schools in the area that are saying, ‘Can we join, too?’” Peterson said.

About six years ago, the Illinois Department of Early Childhood approached ROE 47 saying that, according to its Early Childhood Asset Map database, all three counties had a child care shortage, Peterson said.

“At one point, there were more kids than there were slots,” Peterson said. “That’s when the governor said, ‘Hey, look into this.’”

After that, ROE 47 partnered with Birth to Five Illinois, a program aimed at improving early childhood education, to conduct a comprehensive needs assessment across the counties, looking to find out if there really was a shortage and if it was negatively affecting those in the community, she said.

“What we found is there was definitely a shortage,” Peterson said.

The data showed the area had an estimated 3,200 to 3,600 underserved families when it came to child care needs, Dixon YMCA CEO Andy McFarlane said in an interview with Shaw Local.

Peterson said they also spoke with the different chambers in the counties.

“They said there was a workforce shortage along with a child care shortage,” she said.

That workforce shortage only exacerbates the problem by “making it hard for parents to find quality child care,” Open Sesame interim Director Cassie Halvorson said in an interview with Shaw Local.

With that knowledge, ROE 47 was “trying to figure out the best way to kind of kill two birds with one stone and see what we could do,” Peterson said.

They worked with school districts in its three-county coverage area to expand those programs and partnered with other area agencies, such as Head Start, to promote its resources. Then, in 2024, ROE 47 was able to apply for – and was eventually awarded – a Preschool for ALL Expansion grant through the Illinois State Board of Education.

That grant kick-started plans for the Early Learning Academy by covering the enrollment of 80 children, spread out among four classrooms, who meet certain eligibility requirements. The requirements prioritize the most in-need families first, ranking factors such as low income, children who qualify for special education or living in a rural community.

“What we do is we go through and we give them points. Then, we offer the program to the children that have the highest points or the most eligibility,” Peterson said.

If a child doesn’t meet the qualifications but still is in need of care, “we would be happy to take a child” if there are open slots. That family still would be provided preschool for free, but it would need to pay for “wrap-around care,” which includes the before- and after-school care provided by the center, Peterson said.

To kick-start that enrollment, ROE 47 is working with the Lee County Special Education Association and Dixon Public Schools to host a screening from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. April 25 at the Dixon Park District facility, 1312 Washington Ave. in Dixon.

“We’re offering it to families kind of as a one-stop shop,” Peterson said.

Families will be able to talk with representatives from multiple other area agencies – such as Head Start and Early Intervention – that then will recommend the best placement for them based on their needs.

For the Early Learning Academy classrooms, both Open Sesame and the Lovett center will provide two staff members for each, and ROE 47 will hire a teacher on top of that. Peterson’s role will be to work with the teachers in the classrooms, acting as an instructional coach and implementing curricular resources and assessments that ROE 47 will be providing.

As part of the PFA grant, both centers will be supplied with all classroom toys, materials and furnishings as well as curricular resources.

The grant also covers the hiring of a family educator who will provide family education opportunities and events while also working with families one on one who may need extra support. Monica Wolfley, a PFA program coordinator at Dixon Public Schools, was selected for the role, Peterson said.

This year at Open Sesame, the plan is to reimburse the center for the teachers they already have “because they’re qualified and amazing,” and next year implement the PFA teacher.

Currently, Open Sesame is in the process of getting its two new classrooms ready. It’s going to be repainting and setting up “new tables, chairs, toys, shelving units, all that jazz,” Halvorson said.

“Our goal is to be running April, May, and we’re going to extend into June so that we can get a good, solid three months for this year going,” Peterson said.

Long term, the goal is to continue to grow the program, she said.

“We already have a letter of intent to apply for another round of funding. We’re not there yet, but we do,” Peterson said. “We’d love to carry this through into the rest of our counties.”

That’s because the PFA grant has an expiration date. The grants are only awarded for a period of three to five years, but, “I don’t anticipate us losing funding,” Peterson said.

She referenced many school districts within ROE 47 that have continuously been awarded the funds for many years – one of which is Dixon schools.

“Generally, with PFA funds, once you get them, as long as you can show that you’re utilizing them, they’re usually renewable,” Peterson said. She said they expect having a full day of preschool in a child care setting “to be really beneficial to families being able to work while meeting those kids' needs.”

For information, visit roe47.org.