New Day Care, Preschool Set to Open in Lincoln Square

By Daniel I. Dorfman

There will soon be a new option for day care and preschool for Lincoln Square parents.

After some delays due to red tape and bureaucracy, Ladybug and Friends Day Care Center is hoping to open soon at the southeast corner of Lawrence and Oakley. The center faced a series of delays in terms of licensing but aims to be open by mid January.

Owner Calin Moigradan, 40, of West Rogers Park, is married and the father of a son. He is eager for the day the doors can finally open.

“I’m really excited because I want to see the smiles on kids’ faces. I’m a parent primarily and I want to make sure it has an impact on them,” he said. “Parents and kids have to be happy. A kid who can not wait to come here and does not want to leave, that is the kind of kid I am looking for.”

Moigradan arrived in the United States from Romania in 1994. He went to DeVry for an undergraduate degree and soon went on to receive his masters in finance from DePaul University. Along the way, he worked in management consulting and eventually found himself at the American Kidz Academy, which provides highly acclaimed day care centers. 

It was there Moigradan got the bug to run his own facility. Bug is the operative word as the school’s logo, named Mia, will be incorporated into a child’s learning experience providing interactive guidance and promising support, encouragement and recognition. The overall goal is for children to become friendly with Mia after getting the positive feedback as the bug hopefully becomes a trusted advisor.

“She will be part of the curriculum,” Moigradan said from behind his desk at the school, which is a converted bank. “Our mission is to create an environment where, with the help of the bug, kids develop good habits through healthy behavior and a pattern towards good early childhood developments.”

A new option for parents

Cuteness aside, Moigradan is marketing a new product that obviously is a very big decision for parents.

“We find locating the right child care to be one of the most difficult things for new parents,” said Melanie Schlachter, executive director of Neighborhood Parents Network, which is a not-for-profit organization that provides resources for Chicago parents. “Becoming a new parent is such a new milestone as it is, it is hard to imagine having someone else care for your child when they are so little.”

LadyBug and Friends will be enrolling children from 6 weeks to 6 years old. Capacity is slated to be 70. The doors will be open from 7 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. with full-time, half-time, and two or three day a week plans available.

The new option for local parents seeking day care thrills 47th Ward Ameya Pawar.

“Many of (the day care centers) have a long waiting list,” Pawar said. “It’s good to have another facility coming in and that building has been vacant a long time.”

Fostering a ‘healthy, relaxed child’

Moigradan says 12 to 15 teachers will be on hand, many of whom have masters degrees in early childhood education. He plans to have more teachers on hand than the state requires to prevent teachers from getting overwhelmed and providing more one-on-one attention. “If you have too many kids, then it becomes a cluster of noise and it becomes hard to structure that. It is important to have a balance.”

Along with cameras in every room, parents will have the option to log in and monitor the progress their student makes on a daily basis, according to Moigradan. 

“We will use a combination of a lot of factors,” he said. “It is the 21st century and we need to use technology.”

As the kids grow, the program will be more complex with an emphasis on math and literacy.

Overall, he believes in a philosophy where children have an appropriate diet, can sleep and have a respect for everyone around them.

“A healthy, relaxed child with good stimulation with quality toys and tools becomes a great first grader who can read or write,” Moigradan said. “That is the goal.”

Food from Whole Foods will also be provided.

Moigradan says tuition will be $350-$400 per week for infants with preschoolers going for $320 - $350. He says he is not yet accepting applications as he is awaiting some final licensing hurdles to be cleared from DCFS and the city. But he hopes to open the doors at the latest by January.

Schlachter said that the most important issue for parents is if they think a center is the right place for their child, not how long it’s been operating.

“As long as they have gone through the appropriate licensing requirements, families will get a feel from the director and the teachers as to whether it is a fit for their families,” she said. “It comes down to do you think it is a nurturing environment for your child?”

Delays may have had silver lining

Whenever the doors do open it will be a culmination of a long process in terms of meeting all the bureaucratic hurdles. Moigradan hoped to be open this past spring but he didn’t get the paperwork. He isn’t all that despondent about the delays given the ongoing construction on Lawrence Avenue which would have made it tricky for parents to pick up and drop off children.

Moreover the wait has allowed him some perspective to get the school off to a strong start.

“It gives you time to reflect on other things such as enhancing the curriculum and becoming more creative in how you can help the kids,” he said.

His dedication to enhance the prospects of young children has earned the admiration of Pawar.

“Any time you have someone willing to make an investment that is a good thing for the community,” he said.  “We have a lot of young families in the neighborhood. I think it is wonderful and we are really excited about it.”

Get more Lincoln Square news by signing up for our free morning newsletter, liking us on Facebook and following us on Twitter.