Oak Lawn-Hometown School District 123 welcomed Governor JB Pritzker and Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton to the new Oak Lawn-Hometown Early Learning Center as part of the Smart Start Illinois Tour on January 24, 2025. During his visit, the Governor toured our facility, visited one of our classrooms, and held a brief press conference highlighting state-wide early childhood education initiatives; an honor recognizing our community's work to support our youngest learners within the Oak Lawn and Hometown communities.
“A special thank you to Christine Fuller and Superintendent Paul Enderle for your dedication to expanding early childhood education in this district, to the school board who have prioritized this, and to the people who know this is hugely important to the future of the community,” Gov. Pritzker said. “This is a great facility, it looks terrific, and the vital activity going on in the classrooms is what makes it even more special. District 123 has consistently demonstrated that preschool is a priority for the families that you serve.”
To make the Early Learning Center possible, Oak Lawn-Hometown School District 123 received a $5 million Early Childhood Construction Grant (ECCG) from the Illinois Capital Development Board. These funds went toward the construction and renovation of this new preschool hub in the south suburbs Additionally, School District 123 received a $360,000 Preschool for All (PFA) Early Childhood Block Grant to support additional staffing and program needs. In addition to local funds, these funds from the State will help District 123 continue to offer top-notch preschool education to our community’s youngest learners, ensuring each student is ready for kindergarten.
“Thank you to the Governor’s Office for helping to fund our incredible center,” Early Learning Center Director Christine Fuller said during her opening remarks at the press conference. “We want the Oak Lawn and Hometown communities to know everyone is welcome here at the Early Learning Center. Our goal is to foster a nurturing culture for all who enter our doors.”
In addition to Governor Pritzker and Lt. Governor Stratton’s positive remarks on the Early Learning Center, State Superintendent of Education Dr. Tony Sanders, State Senator Bill Cunningham, and State Representative Rick Ryan also shared their connection to early childhood education.
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Mary Schleyer, parent of two students at the Early Learning Center and a first grader at Hometown Elementary, also shared why the Preschool program is important to her family and others in the community. It gives them access to top-tier early childhood educational programming and individualized intervention in one welcoming location.
“Having a child with special needs, I am aware that development looks different for all of our children, but one thing has been super important to my husband and I, and that’s that all of their opportunities are the same, and that’s exactly what this preschool program offers,” Schleyer said. “I’ve been lucky enough to be in the classroom for different events here and seeing all of the support our kids have, the environment that they are learning in gives me so much confidence in who they are growing up to be.”
