The Executive Director
The Director of Ravinia Nursery School, Kathy Olsen, grew up in Glenview and has spent the majority of her life, personally and professionally, in the suburbs of Chicago. She has been happily married for over thirty years and has two grown children who are also in the education field as teachers.

Kathy started her teaching career as a special education teacher at Cove School. For the last twenty-five years she has been involved in the early childhood field as both a teacher and a director. She has served as a director for the last thirteen years. Two of the schools, Tri-Con Child Care Center (Highland Park) and Wilmette Community Nursery School have been on the North Shore.

Kathy has also been an active member of the early childhood community, serving on various boards (Oakton Community Early Childhood Advisory Board and North Shore Early Childhood Council), presenting several workshops (to students, teachers, and staff members), and belonging to professional organizations (CAEYC and NAEYC).

Educationally, Kathy attended both Northeastern Illinois University for undergraduate work in Early Childhood and Special Education and National-Louis University where she earned her MA in Educational Therapy. She is certified in Early Childhood, Elementary Education and Special Education with an emphasis in Learning Disabilities.

The Director is responsible for supervising all phases of the program.

The Teaching Staff
The staff of Ravinia Nursery School is highly educated and professional. All are college graduates with educational degrees, some having advanced degrees. All staff members come with early childhood experience, many have been here for a number of years and all are responsible to the Director. Throughout the year the staff attends a variety of seminars and professional workshops in order to remain current with the activities and trends in the early childhood field. As part of the DCFS guidelines, all staff members are required to earn 15 in-service hours each year. The staff is also certified in CPR and First Aid training. All staff members are members of the National Association For the Education of Young Children, which is the professional organization for Early Childhood Educators. Staff members continue to attend workshops and college classes