Business Profile: Rogy's Learning Place

A fine addition to the Montgomery childcare scene is Rogy’s Learning Place at 2031 Mayfield Drive.

Rogy's serves three school districts: Oswego, Yorkville and Kaneland. The atmosphere at Rogy’s is dynamic and life-enriching. Every corner is filled with color and exciting learning possibilities.

Director Beth Petri was on board when the center opened in August, 2009. Beth holds a degree in elementary education from Abilene Texas Christian University. She and her husband relocated to this area and she taught kindergarten in Naperville prior to taking this position.

Beth and her husband Randy, a commercial real estate broker, have six children.

Beth told me that Rae Jeanne and Richard L. Rogy founded Rogy’s Learning Place in 1972 in Peoria. Their first center had 25 children and the average cost for care was $25 a week. Today, the weekly cost is $285 for infants and $220 for older children. There is a 15% discount for three or more children enrolled.

The Rogys' daughters, Wendy Rogy Pettett and Dawn Rogy Meyer, became involved in the center as child care teachers and later became Center Directors. Today, they are owners and directors of operations for the 20 centers with nearly 2,900 children enrolled in five cities including Montgomery, Algonquin, Burr Ridge, North Aurora and Romeoville, plus two Ohio locations.

Beth told me that staff members are a key component in their commitment to consistency.

“Teachers at all facilities are encouraged to respect the children as individuals, while promoting independence and self-control. We have such a high-quality staff,” she said. “Almost all our teachers have a college degree. Three teachers have their master’s degree and another two teachers are studying for their master’s.

"Our DCFS license allows us to have 180 children enrolled. Last year we had a short waiting list and I expect this fall that we will also have a waiting list," she said. "The need is great in this area of Montgomery. Young families want quality care while they work or look for work. A Kendall County health nurse comes in to do assessments on infants and to access the child’s readiness for school. Also, the Kendall County Health Department comes four times a year to check things out.” 

While walking around the center, it was evident that Rogy’s learning environment offers a healthy balance between well-planned programs with free choice times that promote each child’s individual growth. The physical environment has been acknowledged for good health habits and cleanliness. There were appropriate age-level materials that ensure the children have access to a large variety of materials and equipment.

Parents play an important role in the early childhood education of their children and are given regular progress reports regarding all appropriate age-level developments of their child.

All programs and services have been designed to correspond with Rogy’s primary goal to encourage each child’s whole growth. Frontline Phonics, a premiere reading education program for children ages 3-8, has been included in the curriculum, Beth said. To further enhance the child’s learning, she said that Rogy’s offers mathematics, science and writing activities as well as music, art and dramatic activities. 

Some locations incorporate Spanish and sign language into the day’s schedule. There are infant-toddler programs as well as a preschool and before and after school programs. There is a summer school age program for children 6-12 which includes field trips, picnics, educational exhibits, summer sports, computer projects and a library reading program.     

The center’s specialist, Kelly Killion, assists parents as they fill out the state forms for a childcare subsidy.

“This is particularly important for our families because they cannot afford the costs sometimes without the state subsidy," Beth said. "It can take 8-12 weeks to process the applications so we make arrangements to allow the children to begin while they wait to hear from the state. Kelly handles this with our parents and is a tremendous help to them as they struggle to work and pay for their children’s childcare.

"It is a tough economic time and anything Rogy’s can do to help the parents, we are certainly going to do it. We will do whatever we can to strength area family life.”