Our Story
What Started With Two Classrooms Became a School Families Wanted to Share
L&L opened in Lincoln Park in 2010 with two classrooms and a simple idea: to create the kind of preschool we would want our own children to attend.
Families began sharing their experiences with other families. They connected with the philosophy, the relationships, and the teachers. Demand grew naturally, and L&L grew with it.
L&L did not begin with the goal of building a large childcare organization. We are proud of how many families have found their way to us. We are even more protective of the personal feeling and thoughtful care that caused them to trust us in the first place.
The original L&L Academy and Preschool—where our story began with two classrooms in 2010.
2010
Two Classrooms
L&L began in Lincoln Park with two classrooms and a school built from a parent's perspective.
Growth
Families Told Families
Parents shared their experiences. Demand grew and L&L began growing naturally alongside the families we served.
Foundation
Teachers Became Leaders
As L&L grew, so did our educators. Teachers took on new responsibilities, developed their skills, and became leaders within our schools.
Today
Our Tenth Location
We have grown considerably since those first two classrooms, but our schools are still built around relationships, trust, and knowing families personally.
We Still Look at Our Schools as Parents.
The Parent Lens
Would I feel comfortable leaving my child here?
Would I want this teacher caring for my child on a hard morning?
Would I feel like someone really knew my child—not just their schedule, but who they are?
Parenthood shapes the questions we ask. Many people in L&L's leadership are parents themselves, and they know how personal it feels to choose who will care for your child.
Early-childhood expertise guides how we answer those questions. A warm classroom matters, but so does understanding child development. An experienced teacher learns when to step in and when to give a child another minute to work something out.
Play may look simple from across the room. An educator may be watching language, problem-solving, relationships, independence, or confidence developing underneath it. Both lenses matter. Parenthood helps us ask what we would want for our own child; professional experience helps us know how to provide it.
Bigger Doesn't Have to Mean Less Personal.
Every L&L school has its own children, families, teachers, personality, and neighborhood community. We do not want growth to erase that. Directors know the children walking through their doors, the teachers on their teams, and the parents dropping off each morning.
For Children
Their school can respond to its own community while drawing on experience from across L&L.
For Teachers
Long-term teachers can grow into leaders instead of feeling they must leave to advance.
For Directors
Experienced leadership is there when something difficult happens, without taking away their school's character.
For Families
Good ideas can travel between schools, while decisions stay close to the families who know the community best.
The Team Behind Every School
Every School Has Its Own Community—But No School Stands Alone
Each director leads their individual school and knows its families. But behind every director is an executive team that has spent more than a decade building L&L alongside them.
Built Over Time
They have helped shape many of the values and practices that guide our schools today. They have opened classrooms, supported teachers as they grew into leaders, worked through hard days alongside directors, and helped us make decisions about what should change—and what should never change—as L&L has grown.
There are people at L&L who remember when we were just a few classrooms in Lincoln Park.
Our executive team brings more than a decade of L&L experience each, with some having been part of this organization for as long as 15 years. That kind of history matters.
Built Over Time
They have helped shape many of the values and practices that guide our schools today. They have opened classrooms, supported teachers as they grew into leaders, worked through hard days alongside directors, and helped us make decisions about what should change—and what should never change—as L&L has grown.
There When It Matters
Their work often happens quietly. When a teacher needs help, a director is navigating something difficult, or a school simply needs another set of experienced hands, this is the team that steps in. They know our schools because they have spent years inside them. They know our expectations because they helped develop them.
Most importantly, they care deeply about the people doing this work every day.
That continuity is one of the reasons each L&L school can remain personal while still having the knowledge and support of a larger organization behind it. A director never has to lead alone, and a teacher never has to figure everything out alone.
The L&L families see today was built over many years—and this team has been an essential part of building it.
We Are Here for the Whole Family
Leaving your child with someone else can be difficult. The first drop-off can be emotional, and transitions can take time.
Sometimes parents need guidance. Sometimes they need reassurance. Sometimes they simply need to know that another adult understands their child.
Our relationship with families does not stop at the classroom door. Teachers and directors communicate honestly, celebrate growth, listen when something feels wrong, and help families navigate early childhood together.
A Personal Note
A Note From Our Owner
When I opened our first two classrooms in Lincoln Park in 2010, I was a mother trying to create the kind of place I wanted for my own child.
I wanted to feel warmth the moment I walked in. I wanted teachers who truly knew my child—what made them laugh, when they needed comfort, and when they were ready to try something on their own. Above all, I wanted to trust the people caring for my child when I wasn't there.
Those standards became the foundation for L&L, and they still guide us today. Children should be known. Parents should feel comfortable walking through our doors. Families should be met with honesty and trust, and teachers should be supported as they learn and grow.
L&L has grown far beyond those first classrooms, and what exists today was not built by one person. An extraordinary team has strengthened our schools, developed new leaders, carried one another through difficult days, and brought their own care and ideas to this work.
I may have started L&L from what I wanted as a mother. What L&L has become was built by many hands.
After all these years, I still believe a great school comes down to people who care deeply, keep learning, and remember why this work matters. I feel incredibly lucky to have those people beside me.
— The Owner
Our Culture Lives in the Classroom
It is the teacher who notices that a child needs extra comfort that morning.
The director who makes time for a worried parent.
The experienced educator who knows when to step in and when to let two children work something out together.
The leader who helps a teacher grow rather than allowing them to feel stuck.
These everyday decisions are where culture becomes visible. L&L has grown, but caring for people will always be personal.
Where Would We Like to Go One Day?
We would love to be here long enough to welcome back the children who once attended L&L—this time, as parents bringing their own children through our doors.
That is the kind of future we hope to build. Not simply more schools, but lasting relationships with families and neighborhoods. We want to remain part of the communities that have welcomed us and continue earning their trust, one family and one generation at a time.
If years from now, a former L&L child walks into one of our schools holding the hand of their own child, we will know we built something that truly lasted.
Come See What L&L Feels Like
The best way to understand our schools is to experience one for yourself.