History and Future

Welcome to AHNS! We are an organization with strong ties to our community that is dedicated to providing the highest quality early childhood programs to children. The United Methodist Church in Arlington Heights founded our school in 1965, although it has always been a non-sectarian school. In 1996, the church merged with Calvary Methodist Church in East Arlington and the building was sold. The school then became a separate, non-profit organization governed by a board of directors. From 1965 to 2007, we stayed in the former church building. In June 2007, after a year of renovation, we moved to our beautiful and much larger building at 10 Acton St.

Margaret Potter, Director, has worked at AHNS since 2000, first as school coordinator, then assistant director, and, beginning in August 2005, as Director. Margaret has been an AHNS board member since 1996. She is an alumna of the school and her four children have attended AHNS, which means she was an AHNS parent for ten years! Margaret’s mother, Jean Potter retired in June 2005 after thirty-nine years of service to the school. She started out as a teacher and became the director shortly thereafter.

Over the years, our educators and leadership team members have advised other programs, been active in the community, and provided leadership in the field of early childhood education. Jean Potter was a founding member, in the early 1970’s, of the Arlington Early Childhood Association (AECA), a professional organization where early childhood programs in Arlington come together to offer support, workshops and trainings, as well as a sense of camaraderie with each other. Margaret has been a member of AECA for many years and now serves as President of the organization.

AHNS has a long history of being responsive to the needs of young children and their families in Arlington and surrounding communities. We have worked for many years in partnership with the Arlington Public Schools in providing services to preschoolers with special needs, and were one of the first preschools to be truly integrated with children with special needs.

AHNS helps children and families with many different issues, in addition to providing high quality early education programs. The staff works with families on general parenting concerns and strategies, adjusting to new babies, moving, divorce, work/family issues, and challenging behavior in children. We have also worked with families in crisis, such as with death, child abuse and neglect, substance abuse, and serious illness. We provide referrals and assist families in helping their children cope with these issues in a way that supports and nurtures them.

We invite you to become part of our rich school history and hope you will join our dynamic school community in the future!