EPIC Schools

In the late nineteenth century, Frederick Douglass stated, “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.” Over one hundred years later, an early childhood consortium of service providers, including the Superintendent of Waukegan Public Schools, met to discuss the future of Waukegan’s children. According to the 2000 census, there were 8457 children under the age of five living in Waukegan - ten percent of Waukegan’s total population. As a result of this discussion, EPIC was created.

EPIC (Early Childhood Education Partners In Collaboration) is a community-based collaborative program that is committed to offering an easily accessible, well-coordinated, high quality system of services for children from birth to the kindergarten. Waukegan Public School District 60 sponsors the educational component of this mission and an Illinois State Board of Early Childhood Education Block Grant provides the funding. There are over 20 community partners, including the American Association of University Women (AAUW), Head Start’s Lake County Community Partners, North Shore Church of Christ, Shiloh Baptist Church, United Way of Lake County, Temple Jeremiah, and the Young Men Christian Association (YMCA.)

There are five Epic preschools within the Waukegan Public School District with an enrollment capacity of 880. The five schools operate as a unified program and implement the same Illinois Early Learning Standards activity-based curriculum. In addition to these five schools, the EPIC program serves 80 students within the Glen Flora Head Start Program. There is an emphasis on experiential “hands-on” instruction, social and emotional development, and emergent literacy. Parents play a crucial role in the EPIC program. EPIC’s parent contract encourages parents to participate in workshops, discussion groups and parent-child activities such as “Rock-n-Readers,” “Make and Take,” and “Mom, Math and Me.” Each school session is two-and-one half hours, with morning and afternoon sessions available. There are 20 children, one K–4 certified teacher, and one paraprofessional in every class. Classes are blended three, four and five year-olds and inclusion of special needs children is standard practice if it is in the best interest of the child. All schools offer bilingual classes and support the student’s native language.

A community-wide developmental screening is available for all three, four or five year-olds living within the Waukegan School District and is required prior to enrollment in the EPIC program.