For Bernadette Hicks, nurturing young children from infancy through preschool graduation and beyond is a privilege.
“To see how the children have blossomed … it makes what we do worthwhile,” said Hicks, executive director of ABC Toon Town child care center in Oak Park.
ABC Toon Town, which serves infants through children up to age 12 with its daycare, preschool, kindergarten and before- and after-school care, is marking 20 years, and it will host a community celebration next month.
Parents who’ve had multiple children go through ABC Toon Town praised the center not only for its focus on a research-based early childhood curriculum, but also for the love and care staff have provided their children over the years.
“We’ve served thousands of children over the past 20 years,” Hicks said. “I really didn’t even realize 20 years had gone by so quickly.”
A 20th anniversary celebration will be held from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. July 7 at the child care center, 411 South Blvd. Current and former families, and the community, are invited to come by for food, games and fun, Hicks said.
“It’s just going to be a day of celebration and reflection,” she said.
Prior to moving into a commercial space on Harrison Street in 1998, Hicks’ mother-in-law, Lilla Hicks, started the original daycare in her home. Upon moving to Harrison Street, the daycare employed nine people and served 50 families.
They later expanded by opening an additional location on Harrison Street to accommodate preschool and before- and after-school services, Bernadette Hicks said.
In 2016, ABC Toon Town relocated to a renovated space on South Boulevard, offering more space tailored to the daycare’s needs. Now, the child care center has more than 25 staff members and eight classrooms.
“We’ve gradually grown over 20 years,” she said.
“Ms. Bernie,” as parent John Anderson said families call Hicks, got involved full-time in 2005. Lilla Hicks died in 2010.
“I just have the honor of considering her legacy,” Bernadette Hicks said. “She always wanted the family atmosphere,” so they carried that from the home daycare to the center.
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“It’s definitely a passion because it’s not an easy job,” Hicks acknowledged. “I can personally say that my mother-in-law sparked the passion in me.”
Anderson’s two children — now 12 and 11 — were in preschool, after-school care or summer camps at ABC Toon Town for almost 10 years.
“They definitely grew up in the Toon Town family,” said Anderson, of Oak Park.
He praised the child care center’s individualized and detailed learning plans for each child, and the family atmosphere. Anderson said he and his family were sad when Lilla Hicks died, “but we didn’t feel like there was going to be any letdown in care or operations, and there wasn’t.”
Oak Parker Margaret Hoerster, whose three children all went through ABC Toon Town, said the family considered different childcare options, and ABC Toon Town proved to be the “best of all worlds.”
“Ms. Bernie cares so much for the kids and the environment she’s providing,” Hoerster said, recalling Hicks’ pride in showing off the new classrooms at the South Boulevard space a couple years ago.
As she reflected on the past two decades, Hicks said she’s noticed technology’s influence on children challenge their social and emotional development; that area has become an increased part of the child care center’s curriculum, she added.
“We know and understand the importance of reaching children before they turn 5,” Hicks said. “Our job is to prepare them for their future success.”
Hicks would love to see more ABC Toon Town sites in the future.
“Who knows what the future holds, but I’d definitely like to see us expand,” she said.