Posts by MaryCraneCenter

A Year of Transitions and Celebrations! For more than 115 years Mary Crane has been at the forefront of Early Childhood Education. We could not do any of this work without the support of the community and the families we serve. We thank you! Mary Crane Center 2024 Graduations Preschool graduations are significant as they…

Mary Crane had a very special visitor today—Mayor-Elect Brandon Johnson visited our West Lakeview site. Thank you Mr. Mayor, we look forward to your leadership and the opportunity to collaborate on early childhood initiatives soon! Childcare providers love, nurture, and educate our kids each and every day. Today, we honor and celebrate these unsung heroes…

Mary Crane Center Appoints Kristina Phillips as CEO Kristina Phillips was appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Mary Crane Center in Chicago, Illinois on April 10, 2023. She holds a BA, MPA, and is currently completing a PhD in business organization and management. Her professional experience spans public policy, education, workforce training and development, program…

Mary Crane Home-based Program Celebrates Moms & Dads-to-be! At Mary Crane Center, our Home-based Program is hard at work supporting families of young children, birth to 3, through weekly home visits and twice monthly socializations. Our program also serves expectant parents – moms and dads “-to-be”, in neighborhoods all across Chicago, to help them prepare…

Partnering For Success From its inception, Mary Crane Center has existed to serve communities in need, and that continues to be true today. In addition to providing high-quality care and education to young children, MCC prides itself on supporting and empowering parents and families through services offered on-site as well as partnerships that expand our…

Reimagining Our Play Spaces One of the major accomplishments at Mary Crane this year was the addition of new and improved outdoor play spaces for children six weeks and up. Two of our centers (Molade/Austin and Lake & Pulaski) welcomed infants (6 weeks+) for the first time in 2021 which inspired this reimagination of our…

In Bloom At Molade In a year of change, Mary Crane embraced new opportunities, including an exciting partnership with Bethel New Life (the organizations campus where Molade Center is located) and a project Bethel initiated with the Chicago Botanic Gardens. Mary Barron, Director of Molade Center (Austin) was instrumental in establishing this relationship. Along with…

A Year of Change In March of 2020, along with all Illinois schools and early childhood programs, Mary Crane made the difficult decision to shift away from in-person services and temporarily focus on providing care remotely. This allowed us to take a step back and evaluate the most important needs of families and staff during…

Mary Crane Center’s Home Base Program Mary Crane Home Visitors serve clients in the entire city of Chicago. Some neighborhoods where we have a higher volume of clients are Belmont Cragin, Avondale, Englewood, West Englewood, Auburn Gresham, East Garfield Park, North Lawndale, Austin, and Chicago Lawn. Our Visitors recruit daily to expand Mary Crane’s reach…