Ravinia Nursery School

Ravinia Nursery School is a daycare in Highland Park, IL, serving children ages two through five on Chicago's North Shore. Founded in 1926 by Peggy Riser, who welcomed a dozen students into her Ravinia home, RNS operates as a nonprofit developmental play-based preschool open to all families. Programs include Two Year Old, Preschool, Enrichment, Parent Participation, and a Summer Camp open to the public. Registration for Fall 2026 is underway.

RNS is among the oldest preschools in Illinois and is known locally as the "Little Blue School." Funds raised in 1958 under Director Rosalie Weinfeld and the Board of Directors built the school's Red Oak Lane home. The campus has been updated over the decades: an additional classroom was added in 1991, the playground was rebuilt and brought up to code in 1998, and an extensive interior renovation was completed in 2002. The school's mission is to provide a quality preschool education to children and families, with a view of children in the context of their family. RNS welcomes second and third-generation families. The staff includes Director Susan Lenzini, Operations Assistant Jordyn Beckwith Lipton, and roughly seventeen additional specialist, enrichment, and classroom teachers. Parent involvement runs through the Board, which oversees roles such as Fall Festival Chair and Spring Event Chair.

The school sits on Red Oak Lane, a short walk from Red Oak Elementary School and West Ridge Park, both about two-tenths of a mile away. West Ridge Center and Stratford School are within the same distance. Grove Park is roughly four-tenths of a mile from the school, and Skokie Highway is about half a mile south.

Ravinia Nursery School holds a 5.00 rating. After nearly a century on Chicago's North Shore, it remains a nonprofit developmental preschool serving Highland Park and surrounding families.