Urban Child Academy

Happy Valentine’s Day!! Our UCA families enjoyed a fun-filled Valentine’s Day party last Friday! From card making, to heart toss, and a photo shoot our kiddos and families had a blast! Thank you all for coming out!

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We had a blast last week during our spirit week! We brought our best fancy outfits, wild side, caps, PJ sets, and school spirits!! We enjoyed reading some of our favorite children books to go along to each theme. Thank you to all our families for participating in our yearly spirit festivities!

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Happy 10th anniversary Ms. Melissa and Ms. Roberta!

Your devotion, leadership and love through out the years has made UCA what it is today! You have influenced so many little hearts and minds that have walked through our doors. Thank you for your decade of dedication, growth and accomplishments! We love you!

To our UCA community, we invite you to share your favorite memories with Ms. Melissa and Ms. Roberta in our comments below!!!!



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Dia De Los Mu***os at UCA!

A beautiful tradition where we honor the memories of our most beloved. It is not a time of sadness but a time of joy. The altar is built incorporating many elements representing their life and death.

•Papel Picado (Tissue Paper): the union of life and death using intricate designs and colors.
•Candles: to light the path of the souls and is a symbol of faith. The fire is said to also be a symbol of our love for our deceased.
•Water: to quench the thirst of the deceased and strengthen them for their journey back.
•Pan de Mu**to: a traditional Mexican bread that represents life and death.
•Calaveras (sugar skulls): usually made out of sugar or chocolate.
•Flowers: yellow flowers, Cempasúchil, are a guide for the spirits into the mortal world.

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We had a spook-tacular time at our yearly halloween parade seeing all our friends and families in their best costumes! We also had a special treat with two UCA sibling alumni visiting and joining along in our festivities!!

Witch-ing you a very happy and safe Halloween!!

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The Engineer’s welcomed our first guest reader of the school year!!

In the first book, “Dandelion Magic” the Engineers went on an amazing adventure, blowing on their “dandelions” to active it’s magic and grant their wishes!

With Spooky season around the corner, the Engineers finished with “Room on the Broom” to get them in the mood for Halloween!!

We cannot wait to see who our next guest reader will be!!

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What’s the best way to end our summer? With a trip to the Zoo! 🦁

It’s time for another UCA Teacher Feature! This time, we are thrilled to feature the one and only Miss Iris, our Lion Lead teacher!

Iris Gasca, B.A Elementary Education., is a graduate of Furman University of Greenville, South Carolina. At Furman, Iris graduated with an Elementary Education degree and a focus in both Special Education and Spanish. Following in her mother’s footsteps and motivated by her younger sister, Iris pursued a teaching career. Iris student taught in a 2nd grade, public school classroom in Greenville, South Carolina. Before entering her last year of college, Iris interned at UCA in the summer of 2018. She also taught at the Gold Coast campus at the start of 2020 and cannot wait to be back! In her free time Iris loves to read, watch movies, and go out in the city with her friends and family.

What is your favorite children’s book?
The Circles Around Us by Brad Montague
I love reading this story with my friends because it highlights friendship, kindness, and communities. It's a perfect book to start off the school year. If a friend is feeling shy, they can relate to the main character how he is feeling alone in his circle but soon realizes that he is a part of more circles like his family. He can also create new circles by meeting new friends and growing them by doing acts of kindness. This book can also be used for social sciences, how we all are a part of a community and ways we can take care of our community.

What is your favorite activity to do with your kids?
I love doing number talks with my friends. It is fun to watch them make relationships with numbers and put meaning behind that number instead of just memorizing the numerals. I like to incorporate number talks at all times of the day, not just during meeting times. 

What is your favorite thing about teaching at UCA?
I love teaching at UCA because of the children. They always find ways to brighten up your day whether it be with silly stories or showing you what they have learned through pictures they've drawn. 
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The More We Know 💡 The More We Grow 💪 Another September, another fun filled investigation to kick off a great school year of learning at Urban Child Academy! This month, we are learning all about ourselves and the world around us; from postal workers to doctor dramatic play, to stretching our growing muscles with at the park, process based art self portraits, even bringing some of the outside world into our classroom and studying a katydid we found outside 🦗 Never a dull moment in our classrooms!!!
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UCA Takes a Walk on the Wild Side! Our monthly investigation for August has us wrapping up summer term with a deep dive into all things animals: our friends have loved a plethora of process based art projects, jungle themed sensory bins, taking our learning to go as we explore our big backyard of Chicago, and more. As summer draws to a close, we can’t wait to begin our school year and all the adventures that await our friends!🦁🐵🐯

Urban Child Academy is currently enrolling for our 2, 3, and 5 day per week programs. Our mission is to provide exceptional education that is based on research in contemporary early childhood development theory and inspire Chicago’s youngest residents to develop a love of learning that lasts a lifetime. Visit our website at https://urbanchild.org for more information!
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It’s time for another teacher feature — it’s time for Miss Alex, who just celebrated THREE terrific years at Urban Child Academy!

Alexandra Duryea, B.A. ECE, is a 2012 Indiana University graduate from Indianapolis, Indiana. Alexandra started her child development career at The WonderLab Museum of Science, Health, and Technology as a gallery assistant, where she implemented educational programs for young children and teens. These programs involved the elements of science, nature, and art, which are her true passions in life. From there, Alexandra pursued a year in AmeriCorps, working at the Women, Infant, and Children’s (WIC) office. Here she read and tutored children in various waiting rooms of the health clinics the WIC office was held in. She believes that a good education and fluency in reading at a young age can build the strongest foundation for a child’s schooling career. She joined the Urban Child Academy team in June 2019 and is excited to contribute her education, passion, and enthusiasm to helping children grow. In her free time, Alexandra enjoys riding her bike, going to musicals, and doing photography.

What is your favorite children’s book?
"Where the Wild Things Are" because... LET THE WILD RUMPUS BEGIN!”

What is your favorite activity to do with your kids?
“I love having them help me set up monthly dramatic centers because it gets the conversation rolling on that particular investigation and starts generating thoughts and ideas! Also, give me a beach day any day of the week :)”

What is your favorite thing about teaching at UCA?
“I love teaching at UCA because of the creative freedom, the thoughtful families, and my classroom loft is really, really awesome! There's no place like home aka UCA. ”
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We are having a wonderful time this July, with our monthly investigation “UCA Makes a Splash”! Our classrooms are loving getting to dive deep into the big blue sea while learning about the ocean and all of its inhabitants through water sensory play, creating their own sea shell process based art projects, and of course beach days at our favorite Oak Street Beach! 🌊 🐠 🏖
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