“Over 60 years in education,
our success is a lot more than just kid’s stuff”
The Jolly
Fun House Playschool was founded in 1942 by Ms. Mabel Schubert. With a
degree from Northwestern University and many years teaching experience in
the Chicago Public School system, Ms. Schubert was a pioneer of preschool
education in Chicago. In 1951, Georjean and Robert Schueler, the second
generation owners, opened their own branch of Jolly Fun House Playschool
(JFH) at Winnemac and Paulina in Chicago, later moving west to the present
Addison Street location. In 1968, they expanded by adding the Norridge
facility on Irving Park Road. After 38 years in the childcare business,
Georjean and Bob Schueler retired and, in keeping with the family
tradition, sold the schools to their daughter, Georgia (Gigi), and her
husband Robert (Bob) Bowie. In 1991, the third school, located in Prospect
Heights, was added. Along with the schools, came the commitment to
continue to provide the same high standard of excellence in education that
has been the JFH hallmark since 1942.
Today, JFH has continued the dedication to excellence with nationally accredited schools in Chicago, Prospect Heights, and Norridge, with a complete summer day camp program.
“In most schools, there is a lack of continuity in schooling from infant care, preschool and primary grade education. We’ve continued to develop an educational, curriculum-based environment where children from infant age through 6th grade can grow and develop in a stable, encouraging and nurturing environment,” says Gigi. “All of our programs are designed to promote the child’s individual development level. We offer Standard Achievement Testing at all grade levels and our students consistently score in the top percentile nationally. This way, if a child is exceptional in one area, we can challenge him to go as far as he or she can and positively learn at his or her own pace,” she continues.
Gigi and Bob also firmly believe that programs and services must be flexible enough for parents. “We listen to parents and develop customized programs to address both parents’ and children’s needs. For instance, parents can sign up children 6 -12 years old for our 12-week summer day camp. The program has a two-week minimum, and parents can select any two weeks during the program, pay only for the weeks they choose, and reschedule on a week’s notice. This accommodates parents who need to make last minute schedule decisions. We also offer full-day, part-day and half-day programming and extended hours from 6:15 a.m. at Prospect Heights (6:30 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. at Chicago/Norridge). And, because we know that security is vital to parents’ peace of mind, all our schools have a full ID pass system and no one is admitted without approval.
All three
schools offer gifted programming with multi-reading and math levels. Each 
school has a
music teacher at all age levels. Art teachers present programs in art
appreciation and foreign language instructors teach Spanish to
kindergarten levels and above. Because physical education is vital to the
total childhood experience, children take part in physical education every
day as part of their curriculum. They also train and test for the
President’s Physical Fitness Award at the grade levels. Also, regular
feedback is an ongoing process at JFH with four report card periods and
two formal parent teacher conferences each year at all levels.
Daily lesson plans are created for all levels including pre-school, educational field trips and individualized instruction. Every staff member is required to have First Aid and CPR training. “We are much more than a nursery school,” says Bob. “we are smaller than the public school system, we are able to constantly introduce new and innovative programs into our curriculum, even in mid-semester if warranted.”
“Although certain other schools are neither accredited nor licensed, we are constantly updating our accreditation with several educational associations”, says Bob. “These include the National Childcare Association (NCCA), the National Early Childhood Program Accreditation, Commission (NECPA), the National Association Education of Young Children (NAEYC), the PSO-Illinois Child Care Association, the Chicago Metropolitan Association for the Education of Young Children (AEYC) and the State of Illinois Board of Education. We conduct ongoing in-service training. We are very interested in having children learn through play so much of what we introduce is through play. Hands on activities are more fun, and our dedicated staff makes implementation of all our programs possible.”
At JFH, our past, present and future commitment is to provide the highest standard of care and education that has been the hallmark of this family-owned and operated business since 1942.
JFH Educational Academy West
1001 Oak Avenue, Prospect Heights, Illinois– (847) 541-5577,
Fax
– (847) 541-3834
JFH Educational Academy
7642 West Irving Park Road, Norridge, Illinois– (708) 456-5512
Jolly Fun House Playschool
7559 West Addison Street, Chicago, Illinois - (773) 637-6115