A new preschool and day care founded by an Illinois Army National Guard veteran has opened in downtown Rockford, with a ribbon-cutting scheduled for Tuesday at 323 N. Second St. Rivers Christian Academy has quietly been enrolling children for about five weeks, and its founder says the goal is simple: affordable, high-quality care for infants through age 5.
Giovanny Zavala founded the academy, which sits adjacent to the Rockford Social Security Office and across from Haight Park, according to Rock River Current. Zavala served in the military, and he has said the academy aims to provide high-quality, affordable education for infants to 5-year-olds. The idea took root, he has said, after a conversation with one of his sergeants about the lack of affordable child care.
The academy bought the property, a former home of the Courier Meridian commercial printing business, in February 2025 and renovated it to create classrooms, a kitchen and play areas. Zavala has described the classrooms as larger than most, giving children space for exploration and learning. The building now includes separate classrooms for each age group, a dedicated nursery with cribs, a small indoor play area and an outdoor playground.
Who the Academy Serves
Rivers Christian Academy serves infants aged six weeks to 18 months, toddlers aged 18 months to 2 years, preschoolers aged 3 to 4, and 5-year-olds preparing for school. The school can currently accommodate 77 students, though it could eventually expand capacity to 120. Academy Director Jillian Reynolds holds a PhD from Liberty University in curriculum and instruction with an emphasis on special education, and her credentials align with what the academy's own site describes as a doctorate in special education focused on early childhood education, per riverschristianacademy.com.
The academy operates Monday through Friday from 6:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Weekly tuition is listed at $385 for infants, $320 for toddlers and $275 for children ages 3 to 5, according to the academy's website, though that pricing page is undated and uses slightly different age brackets than those described at the time of the October ribbon-cutting announcement. Families who qualify for financial assistance can use the YWCA Child Care Assistance program, the academy says.
A Full Kitchen Instead of Pre-Packaged Meals
Rather than relying on pre-packaged food, the academy built a full kitchen where a cook prepares daily meals from scratch, including protein sources such as salmon and chicken. Zavala has said the academy wants to appropriately feed children whole meals with fresh protein because malnutrition exists locally. The academy also lists a phone number, 815-222-1085, and an email address, [email protected], for families seeking more information.
On Monday, Zavala held Gabriel at the academy in Rockford, a moment tied to the school's opening week. The timing comes as local providers describe a child-care landscape under real strain: Winnebago and Boone counties have more than 24,000 children under age 6 but only about 10,000 childcare slots to serve them, according to birthtofiveil.com. Illinois has lost roughly one-third of its childcare providers over the past decade, the same report notes.
A Sector Squeezed From Multiple Directions
Rockford Day Nursery's executive director has said state reimbursement rates have not increased in years even as staffing and food costs have risen — a financial strain that preceded the nursery's abrupt closure within a month of serving about 75 children and planning to expand toward 150. Harlem Community Center CEO Shannon Scheffel has also pointed to a scheduling gap, saying evening care is especially hard to find since few providers in the county stay open past 5:45 p.m.
Other providers have pointed to regulatory friction as well. Local facility administrators say long wait times and outdated licensing procedures frequently delay care for families, according to mystateline.com. More than 5,600 students are currently enrolled across 13 public preschools in Winnebago County, per data cited from the National Institute for Early Education Research.
Rivers Christian Academy is not the only new entrant trying to close the gap. In southeast Rockford, Amanda and Bryan Amezquita are opening a daycare and early learning center focused on kindergarten readiness, charging $55 per day for children ages 2 to 5, mystateline.com has reported. Meanwhile, the Harlem Community Center opened a Machesney Park center with five classrooms expected to serve slightly more than 300 children, backed by a staff of about 45 with plans to hire 20 to 25 more.
