About Us | Windy City Academy

About Windy City Academy

Windy City Academy is a licensed daycare and early learning center at 831 E 162nd St in South Holland, Illinois. We care for children from 6 weeks through 12 years, from first bottles to homework help, and plenty of our families stay with us across that whole span.

Founded in 2025 under new ownership, Windy City Academy was built with a simple vision: to create a safe, nurturing, and inspiring environment for the children in our South Holland community. We believe families deserve more than childcare — they deserve a trusted partner dedicated to their child's growth, development, and success.

What we believe

We provide a safe, nurturing, and stimulating environment where children thrive from infancy through school age. That sentence is on our homepage, and it's also the actual test we hold every classroom to: is this room safe, is this child known and loved here, and is something worth learning happening today?

Mia Pierre

Director

Mia Pierre is an experienced early childhood education professional with over 20 years in the field and more than seven years in leadership. As Director of Windy City Academy, she is passionate about creating a safe, nurturing, and engaging environment where children can learn, grow, and thrive. Mia is also a published children's author and a proud mother who values strong partnerships with children, families, and educators. She is committed to providing quality care, supporting each child's individual development, and making Windy City Academy a place where every family feels welcomed, valued, and supported.

Cyrus McGinnis

Community Lead

Cyrus McGinnis has spent his career helping young people grow, on the court and off it. A Simeon High School and University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma alum, he coached at Whitney Young and Lincoln Park High Schools and served as Director of Basketball Operations at the University of Houston before becoming City Wide Sports Coordinator for Chicago Public Schools, where he built training for coaches, athletic directors, and principals serving more than 100,000 K-12 student athletes. That same belief guides his work at Windy City Academy: every child deserves a safe place to learn, adults who believe in them, and a strong start. He lives by Luke 1:37, "For with God nothing shall be impossible."

Our credentials

NAEYC Accredited

The National Association for the Education of Young Children accredits fewer than 10% of early childhood programs nationwide. Earning it means our curriculum, teaching, health, and safety practices were measured against national standards and held up.

ExceleRate Illinois Gold Circle of Quality

This is the highest quality rating the State of Illinois awards to early learning providers. Gold Circle programs are recognized for meeting the state's top benchmarks for learning environments and instruction.

Families we serve

Most of our families come from South Holland and the surrounding south suburbs, including Dolton, Harvey, Lansing, Calumet City, Thornton, Riverdale, Homewood, and Glenwood. We're on E 162nd St (Route 6), minutes from I-80 and I-294, which makes drop-off workable even with a downtown commute. We're also an approved CCAP provider, because a Gold Circle education shouldn't depend on a family's income.