Original Research by School Decision on Green Bay Early Childhood Center
Green Bay Early Childhood Center is a public preschool serving only prekindergarten students in North Chicago. The school enrolls a small population of children, with a student body that is predominantly Hispanic and Black, reflecting the city's demographics. White and Asian students make up much smaller shares of enrollment.
North Chicago is a compact industrial suburb anchored by Naval Station Great Lakes, the Navy's only boot camp, along with the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center, AbbVie's headquarters, and Rosalind Franklin University. The city has a young, renter-heavy population shaped by military families and institutional employment. The housing market in the broader Lake County area shows moderate activity, with home values in the mid-range relative to state and national benchmarks. The city's population has been essentially flat, though AbbVie announced a major manufacturing expansion beginning in 2026, and the city and county are developing a long-vacant site into a mixed-use downtown district.
Because Green Bay serves only prekindergarten, state academic testing data do not apply to this school, and there is no graduation rate or high school pathway information available. Similarly, data on free-or-reduced-price lunch eligibility, special education enrollment, and English learner status were not reported. These gaps reflect the nature of the school rather than performance concerns; early childhood programs sit outside the state accountability and reporting systems that apply to K-12 schools.
The district itself, North Chicago SD 187, recently underwent significant transition. After more than a decade under state control, it returned to an elected school board structure, with elections beginning in 2025 and full board elections by 2027. This restores local governance and parent voice. The district has also adopted a new high-quality kindergarten through fifth-grade English language arts curriculum with tiered support for students below grade level, and has implemented the Marzano High Reliability Schools framework across buildings to ensure consistent, structured instruction and safe school culture. In May 2026, the district opened a new purpose-built Forrestal Elementary School at Naval Station Great Lakes, a state-of-the-art facility for military-connected families.
For families considering Green Bay, the school's role is to provide early childhood education in a diverse, working-class community with a military presence. A parent may want to ask the school directly about its approach to language development, social-emotional learning, curriculum alignment with the district's K-5 initiatives, and transition planning to kindergarten, since public preschool programs vary widely in pedagogical approach and scope.
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