Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect the correction of Darien Marion-Burton‘s name. In the previous version, Marion-Burton was misidentified as Darien Martin-Burton. We apologize for the mistake.
The Children’s School has officially moved into the First Baptist Church of Oak Park, celebrating the special moment with a ceremonial ribbon cutting Tuesday morning.
The ceremonial event was held on the steps of First Baptist with the school’s family and friends, along with members of the Oak Park Chamber of Commerce, all gathered to celebrate the move and the beginning of a new chapter for TCS, who had their first official day of classes at the new location on Monday.
Darien Marion-Burton, executive director of the Oak Park and River Forest Chamber of Commerce, said the village is excited to be able to retain the school.
“The Children School have been long term members and supporters in our community,” Marion-Burton said. “Anytime that we can retain a business, especially after COVID and where the whole country is in terms of economic growth, anytime we can see a business remain an Oak Park business I think the better it is for everybody. It allows for some continuity for families.”
It was only fitting that TCS shared the moment with the families who have continued to support and champion the school through the last few months, which have brought on significant changes, including a relocation and a complete revamping of the board of directors after an 11-member resignation in September.
Despite the changes, the TCS family remained supportive, which was evident during the past few days as many teachers, students, faculty, alumni, and community members chipped in to help move furniture, set up classrooms, and ensure the space was ready to go for the first day of school, said Christina Martin, director of curriculum and instruction for The Children’s School.
“I think The Children’s School has always inspired really committed people because the vision for progressive education and for what community can be is so strong and so compelling,” she said.
The new location has also brought peace of mind to faculty and families who in March found out the lease on the previous location, the old St. Edmund School on S. Oak Park Ave., where they had been for the past five years, would not be renewing the lease. In June, the school announced their new partnership with First Baptist, located on Ontario Street.
Rachel Stark, a parent of a second grader, said she was happy the school was able to secure a new location. While Stark originally planned to only enroll her son at the school for preschool, he continued to thrive in the environment, which she said was crucial as the pandemic had played a role in his development. The family, which has another child enrolled in District 97, decided to continue at TCS and any hesitation Stark had about the move was forgotten when she finally saw the new space last week.
“There is just a feeling to it,” Stark said, adding she was elated. “This is our new home. It is cozy, it is cool inside. I feel really good about it and as long as they will have us, we will be good neighbors.”
According to previous reports, Pamela Freese, director of administration at TCS, said the building would undergo a few renovations to adapt the space for their students.
David John Hailey, Jr., senior pastor at First Baptist Church of Oak Park, was in attendance to welcome TCS families.
Hailey said First Baptist has been happily waiting for the day TCS could officially be in the building and all the moving parts have come together, adding he believes they will thrive in their new space.
But renovations are not quite done yet as Hailey said there are a few more things to be crossed off the checklist.
“We have some temporary classrooms for about the next six months and then there are plans for us to do a little bit more work to get the space a little more prepared for more permanent space usage,” he said. “I think it is going to be a great partnership.”
However, that partnership caused a stir amongst parents of First Baptist Preschool and Kindergarten, who were nervous that the new school would displace the students who already called the church their home. According to Hailey, this was a hurdle the church, along with the schools, could get past.
“Whenever you have a move like this there are going to be some bumps in the road,” he said. “Ultimately, I think as time moves on it is going to be great and we are meeting on a weekly basis to make sure we iron out any bumps that need to be ironed out and things are going to go well.”
“We are sharing space with the church and with the preschool and we aim to be really good neighbors, I think we are really good neighbors,” Martin said. “But there is a certain amount of negotiating and figuring things out that you need to do when you come into a good space and I think we will be doing that for a while.”