$24,000 for kindergarten: Welcome to the new West Loop!
New in Chicago is just that: a listing of businesses getting off the ground in and around Chicago. Please send us your startup announcements. Email is best: newchicagobusiness@gmail.com.Crain's contributor Robert Loerzel brings you news of fresh local startups every Tuesday.
Bennett Day School:Construction is nearly complete on this megawatt private academy at 657 W. Fulton St., one of several buzzy new schools opening in or near the increasingly kid-filled West Loop. The school, which will welcome its first classes on Aug. 25, attracted attention last fall because of the list of names attached to it, including serial tech entrepreneur Howard Tullman, Obama tech adviser Harper Reed and co-founder/principal Kate Cicchelli, who is formerly of Francis W. Parker School. Other co-founders are Cameron Smith, a former executive at private-equity firm CHS Capital LLC in Chicago, and Shuchi Sharma, who helped start ADI Pediatric, a child-centered behavioral health and wellness practice in Arlington Heights. Bennett Day School will follow the Reggio Emilia approach, which creates a collaborative environment with self-directed learning; administrators expect to have 45 students for the first sessions this fall. The first round of classes will include pre-kindergarten for 3-year-olds, junior kindergarten for 4-year-olds and senior kindergarten for 5-year-olds, with plans to add higher grade levels in later years. Tuition ranges from $17,500 to $24,500
