Where to begin! Both of my children attend this school (4 y.o pre-school & 6 y.o kindergarten) & have since their 3rd birthday. They offer rolling enrollment, so kids can attend as soon as they turn 3! They have the most engaging, caring & thoughtful group of teachers, administrators & board members you could possibly dream of. My children skip into school where they spend their days singing Italian songs, creating projects with natural materials, spending as much time as possible exploring outside & learning in both Italian & English. The influence this school has had on both of my children is invaluable. SIEF has instilled a deep love for learning, inspiring their naturally curious minds daily. Their teachers have endless wells of energy- constantly singing, dancing & preforming. At any given time their teachers are preforming puppet shows, literary performances enacting their favorite books characters, set construction to explore the materials used to construct the 3 little pigs homes, every opportunity is seized to learn & explore deeper into the kids natural curiosity. The Reggio method understands that there are so many ways in which a child learns & the importance of providing children with 100 languages to express their understanding of the world around them. Enrico Fermi has ateliers that offer dance, music, visual art, yoga, and science that is incorporated into their daily academic instruction. Everything is project based, where the children learn to work together at such a young age, sharing & collaborating has become second nature to my kids. My kids would prefer to be creating something with their hands to an iPad every single time. We do not speak any Italian at home, so their near fluency in understanding the language is entirely accredited to SIEF. The genuine compassion & love they have for all the students is undeniable. Healthy snacks (fruits, vegetables) are offered throughout the day & lunch is enjoyed family style, together. This has created wonderful eating habits for my kids at a very young age. Tables are set by the children with real plates & silverware, they serve one another, clean up after themselves & take great pride in their daily jobs. All this being said, 2020 was the greatest of all their accomplishments. They managed to safely keep the school open for the entire year. Children remained free to move about their classrooms instead of being restricted to a desk, or having to learn remotely from home. Other than wearing a mask, my kids hardly noticed a change in their daily lives. I am eternally grateful for all the hard work they did in keeping the kids safe, while maintaining a sense of normalcy when nothing else was normal in the world. The friendships I have made with fellow parents have become some of my most treasured. There is such a genuine community at this school, I wish my kids could stay until college! If youre lucky enough to secure a spot in any of their 3 classes, take it!

We moved to Chicago from Italy 2 months ago and in these months of changes and new challenges Sief has been our happy island. Our two kids are very happy to go to school and every morning they cant wait to see their friends and teachers. Teachers and the other families welcomed us warmly and really helped us settling in: its a great community.In Italy I taught in a bilingual school, so I can say as a mom and as a teacher that I couldnt be more satisfied.

This little school is filled with so much love and care from the teachers and administration. The focus on social skills through the lens of collaboration and building community is amazing. With a husband born and raised in Italy, whos mother is a pre-school teacher in Italy, he took one step inside La Scuola Italiana and felt at home. Our sons Italian language skills have grown tremendously in just a few months, but more importantly, we can already see a shift in his ability to process emotions and interact with others in positive ways. I love that lunch is an event every day like it is in Italy, and not just a fuel stop like it so often is in the US. While the pandemic has certainly changed things, I feel part of a very special community and cant wait til we can be even more of a community when the world rights itself!

My son is in his second year at SIEF. I’m constantly amazed at the level of love, care and attention this school gives to all of its children and families. The kids learn about self care, care for others and the world they live in. Lessons aren’t taught in a traditional manner but are taught in a fun and engaging way. There’s a strong focus on social and emotional growth which helps in all aspects of learning.Kids learn how to respect themselves, others and the world around them early. The teachers caters to the children natural curiosity. If the kids show interest in a subject that is how math, science and language will be taught, it doesn’t appear as a lesson but as natural exploration. I’m always amazed at the amount of knowledge my child develops around these topics and how he’s able to apply the knowledge in other areas. It doesn’t hurt that the food is catered by Eataly (pre pandemic). The kids are taught Italian the way language is naturally learned. Italian language and culture is integrated into their daily lives. I can’t say enough about this school, it’s truly a gem.

My daughter is thriving and happy at SIEF. Lovely, caring teachers and a kind, thoughtful community. Couldn’t ask for a better school experience!

SIEF has been a godsend for our family. I’m an American History professor and my husband’s family are mostly educators, so we did plenty of research and wanted to find a dual-language program for our daughter from a young age, when children are most adept at assimilating multiple languages. You have to pay for preschool in CPS anyway, on a sliding scale, and we quickly discovered that there is NO guarantee of gaining entry to your first or even second choice preschool program with CPS. SIEF, on the other hand, was a program that gave us much more advanced notice of our daughter’s acceptance for the coming school year, and they have the MOST committed, wonderful, nurturing teachers anyone could ever hope for. In addition to the simply fantastic Maestras, Chiara and Roberta, they have music sessions with Maestro Tommasso and creative movement sessions with Maestra Natalia, all of which helps them flex their muscles and expand their imaginations. They do Cosmic Kids yoga, which my daughter often talks about and really seems to like.You don’t have to worry about it if you don’t speak Italian at home: they get plenty of practice at school and bring home Italian language songs and coloring worksheets, etc. The other parents even taught me how to switch Maya’s Netflix account to Italian! And it was great motivation to listen to opera and practice other forms of Italian at home. The families have all formed a wonderful, nurturing, and supportive community and its really something special to be involved with.Maya’s midyear parent-teacher conference yielded 6-8 pages of detailed progress reports on her development, after just 4-5 months. She developed some serious separation anxiety and would often cry when I had to drop her off, but the teachers never gave up on her and she made best friends who have remained so through this next (pre-K4) year of her schooling. When the pandemic hit, the teachers and the wonderful Director, Ms. Amy, scrambled to make an online curriculum workable for everyone, and they really listen to all the families--which must be a juggle, with our diverse needs. They have been a safe haven for our daughter since September, with very smart and responsible precautions for safety, and a stable, familiar place where our daughter is now happy to go every morning to be with her friends. How many families can ask for more than that in the year 2020!?!?