Preschool




Looking for the perfect preschool?

Consider CHALK Preschool of Bloomington!
CHALK Preschool is located at 2432 Maloney Drive in Bloomington, Illinois. Our facility is a 10,000 square foot building containing seven classrooms, a large 2000 square foot indoor activity center with a custom soft sculpted play area, individual activity stations, and three outdoor play areas. The facility is designed and maintained to enhance the learning opportunities for students.

On visiting CHALK, one can observe the students involved in exploration as the teachers provide individual/group learning opportunities and a safe environment with loving support and guidance. The ever changing displays of artwork and projects are witness to the abundance of creative talent naturally inherent in children and encouraged by the teachers. The hands-on learning experiences provide the opportunity for children with different learning styles to succeed and thrive.

What we offer…

  • CHALK Preschool offers 2, 3 or 5 full day, year round programs for children ages 2-6. See Admissions & Enrollment
  • Child-centered enriching activities that fulfill the needs of the students.
  • Developmentally and age appropriate materials and equipment
  • Two teachers in each classroom holding degrees in Early Childhood or a related field. See CHALK Teachers
  • A committed and caring staff who serve as positive role models for CHALK students. See CHALK out the Staff
  • Teachers, directors and faculty that receive continuing education and training to promote on-going professional development.
  • Effective family/teacher communication. See Communication
  • First Aid and CPR certified staff.
  • Opportunities for parents to be involved in their student’s education.
    See Family Involvement
  • Open door policy for parents to contact all administrators. Secure entrances and exits.
  • Cold breakfast served daily.
    • Catered lunch served with milk to ensure fresh, well-balanced meals.
  • Nutritious morning and afternoon snack served with juice.

CHALK Teachers

CHALK teachers provide the vital inspiration to students as they discover the world around them. The teachers and staff focus all activities and experiences on the children. CHALK seeks to support the development of the whole child across emotional, social, physical, and cognitive domains.

The teachers develop their own creative lesson plans based on a combination of (1) early childhood learning standards and models and (2) arts integration. This, along with knowledge gained from observing the students’ play and behaviors, allows the teachers to facilitate educational experiences relevant for each child. CHALK teachers provide the students with individually developed and designed classroom environments. It is within these spaces that play becomes learning. Teachable moments happen all of the time. The skilled teachers at CHALK capture and take advantage of those moments everyday.

Communication

Family-teacher communication will be available at drop-off, pick-up, and during naptime for open questions. Families receive a monthly classroom newsletter accompanied by a classroom calendar detailing learning activities and lessons. Please see staff for online viewing.

In addition, families receive a bi-monthly school newsletter so as to keep them informed of school wide news, events, reminders, etc. CHALK of Bloomington Preschool provides annual (fall) student evaluations accompanied by parent teacher conferences.

Annual (spring) progress reports are used as a follow up tool for parents and teachers to track progress.

Family Involvement

CHALK believes that the family is a child’s first and most important educator. It is the preschool’s responsibility to support families in raising children by providing education and encouragement. Family involvement is an important part in the success of your child's preschool experience and we encourage visiting/volunteering in his/her child's classroom, sharing a skill, participating in Parent Discussions (coming soon), or coming to one of our many events that emphasize family time (Week of the Young Child, Spring Fling, Mother’s Day Tea…). Together, CHALK and families connect in order to shape children into strong, confident individuals.

Families can monitor their child's day-to-day activities by referring to the" Family Board" which will be posted in each of the classrooms. The "Family Board" is a resource center for information including lesson plans, food menu, monthly calendar, star of the week schedule, important dates, general reminders, and children's chart to record daily eating, napping and toilet habits (for our new trainees!).

Admissions & Enrollment

Feel free to stop by from 9:00-12:30 or 3:15-5:00 to tour the facility. For more information please call or email Kimberly Carthans, Director at (309)662-7300 or kcarthans@chalkpreschool.com.

Please click here for our enrollment form.

Children will experience moments of awe and wonder every day at CHALK Preschool!
Shouldn’t you consider CHALK today?

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Job Opportunities

All Teacher Positions:
Qualifications: A bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood or related field. Teachers shall understand child development and have the ability to foster physical, emotional, mental, and social growth in children. Lead teachers are full time salaried employees.

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Preschool Daily Class Schedule

Note: This is a tentative daily schedule. All of the classroom schedules will vary due to age of children and availability to outdoor space.

7:00-9:15 Free Play
9:30-9:45 Circle Time (Good morning song, Calendar, Literacy activity)
10:00-10:30 Healthy Snack
10:30-11:30 Outside Time
11:30-12:15 Center Time (Math/Science, Art, and Language Art Activities)
12:15-12:30 Music Time
12:30-1:00 Lunch provided by Pnut Catering
1:00-3:00 Nap Time
3:00-3:30 Healthy Snack
3:30-4:15 Outside Time or Activity Center Visit
4:15-5:00 Circle Time with Activity
5:00-5:30 Free Play

*The classrooms will utilize the Activity Center at least twice a week for indoor gross motor activities (more often during cold/rainy weather days). (back to top)

Holiday Schedule

2007 School Closings

November 22nd Thanksgiving
November 23rd Thanksgiving
December 24th Winter Break
December 25th Winter Break

2008 School Closings

January 1st New Year's Day
February 18th President's Day
March 26th Institute Day
May 26th Memorial Day
July 4th 4th of July
September 1st Labor Day
November 27th-28th Thanksgiving
December 24th-26th Winter Break (school will close at the end of the school day on Tuesday, December 23rd and reopen Monday, December 29th)

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Meet the CHALK Preschool Faculty



Welcome! My name is Kimberly Carthans and I am the Director of CHALK Preschool of Bloomington. I have a Bachelor of Science Degree in Elementary Education and a Master's Degree in Reading from Illinois State University. I began teaching in a 3-4 year old classroom in my hometown of Peoria, Illinois. Then, I moved to Bloomington, Illinois and taught second grade for one year and first grade for eleven years. One of my favorite hobbies is reading children's literature. In 2004, I created my own storytime reading business. I am a wife to Erik and mother of two young girls named Raven and Jade who attend CHALK Preschool. I am pleased and privileged to be a part of the CHALK family.

Joy Norder		 Greetings CHALK families, my name is Joy Norder. I graduated from Illinois State University with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education. I have been a part of the CHALK family as a pre-k teacher for two years. I am pleased to announce that I have now moved into the role of Assistant Director at CHALK of Bloomington. I have enjoyed my time in the classroom very much, and now look forward to the challenge of being a mentor to other teachers as well as the opportunity to get to know all of you even better!

Sarah Stoller

Hello, good morning, good afternoon, and have a great day! My name is Sarah Stoller and these are things that you will hear me saying at CHALK as one of the Assistant Directors. I have been teaching at CHALK since 2005 and I really enjoy it. I am excited to meet new faces as a new member of administration.

I graduated in 2003 from Eastern Illinois University with a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood education. I grew up around the area and I currently reside in rural Heyworth with my husband, Jaime and my Boston terrier, Tucker.


Hello CHALK families and friends!! My name is Angie Erickson, and I am a teacher in the Rainbow Room. I am so excited to be a part of this class. I graduated from ISU with a bachelor's degree in education in 2006. I have a lot of experience teaching students of all ages. I love children's books, and I am eager to use a variety of literature in activities in the Rainbow Room. I grew up in Sterling, IL which is about two hours north-west of the Bloomington area. I currently live in Bloomington with my wonderful husband, Ben, who is also a teacher! I feel so privileged to be a part of CHALK!

Hello! My name is Amanda Klassen and I am one of the lead teachers in the Pre-K room (the Rainbow Room.) I recently graduated from Illinois College with a degree in Early Childhood Education. I have a wide background of teaching with an emphasis in special education. My two favorite teaching experiences thus far have been teaching in a Year one classroom in Carmarthen, Wales, UK for a semester and completing my student teaching in an at-risk charter preschool in Southern Illinois. I am originally from the Chicago-land area, but I am very excited to be living in Bloomington now and very excited to get to know and work with all of the staff and families at CHALK!

Hello! My name is Amy Starr and I am one of the lead teachers in the Green Room. I am so excited to be working at CHALK with all of your children. I just wanted to share a little bit about myself. I graduated in December 2006 from Eureka College with a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education. I live in Bloomington with my husband, David and our two sons. Throughout my college career, I worked for a local daycare where I worked with all ages of children. I am very excited to be a part of the CHALK team! I look forward to meeting all of you and working with your children.

Hello! My name is Kim Smith and I am a lead teacher in the Green Room. I graduated from Illinois State University in 2002 with a degree in Secondary Social Science Education. Shortly after, I started working for the Nanny Agency in Normal and have enjoyed working with young children ever since. I worked as a nanny for two years and then taught 2 & 3 year olds at a local preschool. I started working on my Masters in Child Psychology in 2005. So far I’ve only managed two classes, but I will hopefully be able to continue soon! I am looking forward to working with you and sharing the experience of watching your children grow and learn!

Hello! My name is Emily Zeitler. I am currently teaching in the Orange Room at CHALK Preschool. I graduated from Illinois State University in December of 2006 with a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Early Childhood Education. I plan to continue my education at ISU and will soon be endorsed in Special Ed.
To let you know a little more about myself, I was born and raised in Bloomington, IL. For the past five years, I taught three and four year olds in a combined classroom at a small preschool located in Bloomington as well. I truly enjoy working with children of all ages and backgrounds and I am very excited about being a part of the CHALK team. I look forward to meeting and getting to know each of the children and their families here at CHALK!

Hello to all my new friends at CHALK! My name is Sarah Duvendack and I am one of the co-teachers in the Blue Room. I am from Jacksonville, Illinois but graduated from ISU in 2004 and have decided to stick around! I have had many different jobs, but have always been involved in some way with children. I have a part time job working in the nursery at a local church and am excited to experience everything at CHALK! I plan on doing lots of interesting and creative activities so please stop by the Blue Room to take a look and say hey!

Hi everyone! I’m Alisha Landry, one of the lead teachers in the Blue Room. I recently moved to Illinois from Louisiana with my husband, Jude, who teaches Graphic Design at ISU. I graduated from Louisiana Tech University in 2006 with a Bachelors Degree in Family and Child Studies. I taught 3 year olds in Sunday School this past year, and I’m so excited about teaching your beautiful children daily. I’m definitely looking forward to working with you and your children!

Danielle Miller		 Hi! My name is Lisa Hooker and I am a teacher in the 2’s room (Purple Room). I have lived in Bloomington/Normal my entire life. I graduated from Illinois State University in 2003 with a Bachelors of Science Degree in Early Childhood Education. For three years, I worked at a local daycare center where I taught children ages six weeks to five years. My husband Tim and I have three children. Our daughter, Lily, is seven and our son, Logan, is four. In June 2007, we were excited to introduce our daughter, Lindsay, into the world. If I am able to find spare time, I enjoy scrap booking, reading, and watching movies. I joined CHALK Preschool in January 2007 and am very excited to be a part of the team and to meet all of the parents and children!!


Hello CHALK Families! My name is Elizabeth (or Eliz) De Lille and I will be co-teaching in the purple room (2's room). I grew up in the the Quad Cities and moved down to Bloomington/Normal in '96 to attend ISU. In the summer of '97 I had the chance to study abroad in England for 3 weeks. While I was over there, I got to spend a short weekend in Dublin, Ireland. I am looking forward to going back some day! I have a Bachelor's of Science Degree in Family Consumer Science, and have been in the child care field for over 15 years. I love watching children grow and reach their milestones along the way. I love to collect children's books and bring them in to read to the children. I have also learned some basic sign language and look forward to teaching it to your child. In my spare time I love to collect old cookbooks, find unique frogs to add to my frog collection, spend time with my family and friends, and travel. I am also learning how to make a scrap quilt. I look forward to teaching your child and getting to know your families.

Julia McKnight 		Hi, my name is Julia McKnight; I am one of the lead teachers in the 2’s room (Yellow Room). I would like to tell you a little bit about my educational background and how I became interested in working with children. I graduated from Illinois State University with a Bachelors of Science Degree in Human Development in 1998. I knew that I wanted to work with kids when I was thirteen years old when working with my mom in a Children’s Sunday School Class. I am originally from Lincoln, Illinois but after graduating from Illinois State University I decided to call Bloomington, Illinois my home. The things I love to do outside of teaching are crafts, country line dancing, walking, shopping, singing and reading. I am so looking forward to having your child in my classroom.

Julia McKnight 		Hello everyone! My name is Mandi Yountz and I love being a two year old teacher in the Yellow Room. I am pleased to share that I was born and raised in Bloomington, IL. I attended Central Catholic High School and graduated in May of 1999 from MacMurray College in Jacksonville, IL with a Bachelors Degree in Special Education. My favorite hobbies are reading books and going out to the movies. My all time favorite movies are The Wizard of Oz, Annie, and Gone with the Wind. I look forward to getting to know you and all the families at CHALK Preschool!

Hello! My name is Maddie Rariden. I was raised in Bloomington/Normal, but moved to Charleston, Illinois to attend Eastern Illinois University. I graduated with a major in Elementary Education and I have always enjoyed working with children of all ages from infants to school age. I am pleased to be CHALK's Jr. Kindergarten classroom teacher. With student teaching experience in a Kindergarten classroom, I am so excited to support the learning of each child as they transition from CHALK Preschool into elementary school.

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