Mary Jo Small Child Care Center At Brookland Woods

We are licensed for ages 2-6. Our center is a supportive environment where children spend their days in open-ended child-centered activities and genuine, self initiated play. Our outdoor space is very large, well equipped and shaded with tall ravine trees and commercial shades. All aged children are staffed at a 6:1 ratio of children to staff and the staff are young, energetic students from the UI. Many of them work here for their entire college career. The two directors, Sharon McDonald and Jill Strunk, have run the program since 1989.

Playing with children of different ages, temperaments, personalities, cultural heritages, countries and languages of origin allows kids to see and experience a bit of the larger world outside our beautiful state. Our children have very well developed social skills and self confidence, which facilitates relatively easy transitions into elementary school.