In the mid-1960s, when a pastor at Pilgrim Congregational Church wanted his 3-year-old to attend a nursery school, Nan Slygh went knocking on doors around the neighborhood.
Slygh, who became Pilgrim Community Nursery School’s first director, asked parents who lived near the church if they would be interested in sending their children to a nearby nursery school, said Anna Sadowski, who taught at the school for 34 years.
“That’s how she started it. She started with neighborhood people,” Sadowski said.
At the time, many mothers stayed home and kept their children at home, and some women worked, Sadowski said.
“They wanted this idea of their children having a social experience,” she said.
What once was a novel idea is common practice today for many young children. When it opened in September 1966 in the basement of the Lake Street church, Pilgrim Community Nursery School started with 30 students.
Today, more than 100 children attend the school. A gala in celebration of the school’s 50th anniversary will be held April 30 at the Garfield Park Conservatory in Chicago.
Teacher Mary Puccio Cullen began working at the school in 1985, and will retire from this year. At the time, Pilgrim was unique, Cullen said, in that it’s a secular school within a church; all are welcome regardless of faith.
The school used to have a hand-written newsletter each month; now, a blog is updated weekly. Cullen also recalled there was no running water in classrooms when she began teaching, and a cat who roamed the school handled pest control.
“Of course, now we have other ways of doing pest management,” she said with a laugh. “But some things have completely remained the same. The children are the same. We still spend a lot of time outdoors.”
The school’s co-directors, Donna Landa and Maryanne Peterson, said staff are proud of the school’s accreditations and believe its philosophy keeps Pilgrim popular within the community.
“We have an interest in the growth of the whole child,” Landa said. “I like to say that the preschool program sets the base for all future learning.”
Sadowski noted that continuing education was and still is a priority among the school’s teachers over the years, and most teachers took classes in early childhood education.
“We believe in keeping current and knowing what’s out there, but we’re very true to our philosophy and we’re a play-based school,” Peterson said. “Play is their work.”
Early on, the school began holding conferences with parents and encouraged them to visit the school to share their areas of expertise with students, Sadowski said.
“There was a lot of parent involvement, and parents like that,” she said.
Cullen pointed out that the school also has made changes when the community has sought them. Pilgrim will start a lunch program next year as families have requested it, and a 2-year-old program was implemented after parents voiced interest in it.
“We have changed with the needs of families,” she said.
Landa and Peterson said more than half of the current staff has been teaching at Pilgrim for more than 15 years, and the Pilgrim community is something that’s attractive to both teachers and parents.
Peterson has two children herself, and when her younger child moved on from Pilgrim, “oh, it was heartbreaking, because my community was here. That’s why people stay. It just becomes part of who you are,” she said.
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Sarah Konsky, marketing chairwoman for the school’s board, has one child currently at Pilgrim and another who went through the program. She said Pilgrim’s accreditations and teacher longevity have led to its popularity.
“It’s a nice community, people who are laid-back and nice parents to hang out with. We like that aspect and other people do, too,” Konsky said.
Having worked at the school for more than three decades, Sadowski often is approached by those who remember her for her longtime teaching role. Cullen and Peterson said the same.
“I still see kids on the street that I had 30 years ago,” Cullen said. Former students might not remember her, but their parents do, she added.
“A mother will say, ‘You had my child at Pilgrim,’ ” Sadowski said. “They won’t say their name, but I’ll recognize the voice.”
For more information on the Pilgrim Community Nursery School gala, visit www.pilgrimschool.net.
Caitlin Mullen is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.