Our popular Circle of Friends preschool program is a tuition-based learning center that operates out of our Westbrook School for Young Learners building at 103 Busse Road in Mount Prospect. It features a blended preschool model where half of the students qualify for special education and half of the students are typically-developing. 

In Circle of Friends, we recognize children are active leaders and provide structured play activities to develop social and problem-solving skills, as well as cooperative learning. Our curriculum is structured using developmentally appropriate practices that emphasize cognitive, language, social, and emotional growth. 

Each classroom is taught by a certified early childhood teacher and certified assistants in collaboration with a speech-language therapist. Classroom sizes are typically about 16 students. Our Circle of Friends staff consider parent education an integral and on-going part of the program, and offer many opportunities to bridge the school/home divide.

Circle of Friends hosts a Garden Walk at the beginning of the school year. At the Garden Walk, families will be able to meet the teacher and tour the classroom. Families will receive information about orientation prior to the start of the school year.

• Late January/Early February  - Application Window for the Lottery
• March/April - Lottery drawing - All families notified of the Lottery results, with appropriate instructions for “next steps.”
• March/April - Preschool registration forms and first month’s tuition due for children selected for a tuition spot in the Circle of Friends program. Families who do not register by the deadline will lose their tuition preschool slot and move to the bottom of the waitlist.

• All students must live within the district boundaries to be in the lottery and register to attend Circle of Friends at Westbrook.
• Everyone who enters the lottery will be notified of the results by Westbrook's office staff.
• If a student is waitlisted, they will randomly be assigned a number. The program will take the first students listed in numerical order and fill the spots available for their program. If a spot in the program becomes available, the next student on the waitlist will be offered the slot.
• Once a child has been enrolled in the Circle of Friends tuition program, a spot will be held for that child for the following year if the child continues to be preschool-aged. You will not be required to enter the lottery again. Please note that this does not guarantee that a child in an AM spot will have an AM spot for the following year.
• Families with multiple preschool students will complete one application including the names of all prospective students. This application will create individual lottery entries for each child. Each child has an equal opportunity to be selected for preschool. Multiples will be chosen individually, not as a family. 
• Names in the lottery are randomly selected.  District 57 employees and families who have participated in Circle of Friends in the past will not be given preference over others.

• Speech is difficult to understand or does not talk like other children his/her age

• Have difficulty following directions or expressing themselves with words

• Have difficulty getting along with other children

• Are English language learners

• Have difficulty with coordination or motor skills

• Have difficulty problem solving or coping with ordinary routines expectations

• Experience family difficulties that may put them at risk for academic progress

The four-day preschool tuition for students who attend Circle of Friends is $1,930. This amount can be which can be paid in full by September 1st, or through a monthly payment plan where $214.44 is paid on the first of each month (September through May). Please note that a later fee of $5 will be charged for payments not received on the first day of the month.