top of page
Mrs. Frances - Owner, Director, and Lead Educator
Mrs. Frances is the founder and lead educator of Little Makers STEAM Early Learning Center, driven by a mission she has lived both as a professional educator and as a mother of three: that young children deserve a learning environment that is warm, nurturing, and genuinely stimulating — not one that asks them to sit still and wait.
As a mother, she experienced firsthand how difficult it is to find a daycare that offers both loving, attentive care and a real educational curriculum. That gap became the foundation for Little Makers.
Mrs. Frances is a certified Illinois educator licensed through the Illinois State Board of Education for Pre-K through 9th grade, with an endorsement in Math Education. She holds a Bachelor of Elementary Education from Loyola University of Chicago and has completed her Master of Early Childhood Education in STEM from the Erikson Institute in Chicago. Her academic training is matched by more than fifteen years in Chicago Public Schools classrooms, where she taught Math, Reading, and Science from Preschool through Sixth Grade.
For five years, Mrs. Frances served as a dedicated Science specialist, teaching NGSS-aligned science classes to students in Kindergarten through Third Grade. Working within the framework of the Next Generation Science Standards deepened her understanding of how children build scientific thinking — not through memorization, but through questioning, experimenting, and discovering. That insight is at the heart of everything Little Makers does.
She has also served as a 1-on-1 tutor in reading, math, and STEM subjects, giving her a close understanding of how individualized attention can change the trajectory of a child's learning. After witnessing so many students arrive underprepared for STEM in the upper grades, Mrs. Frances made a decision: the earlier the foundation, the stronger the future. During the COVID-19 era, she stepped back from large-classroom teaching to focus entirely on early learners and small class sizes — and opened Little Makers.
At Little Makers, her goal is simple and ambitious at once: to give every child in the community the family-friendly attention, warmth, and innovative learning environment they need to grow, ask big questions, and fall in love with discovering the world around them.
Maeve Newton - Assistant Teacher
Maeve holds a Bachelor of Arts in Cultural and Historic Preservation from Salve Regina University, with minors in Environmental Studies, Global Studies, and Film Studies. Her path to Little Makers reflects a lifelong commitment to learning through exploration: she worked as an ecology field research assistant studying birds and coastal ecosystems, served as a campus writing tutor, managed the Women's Basketball Team, and completed an AmeriCorps term with the Wisconsin Conservation Corps building trails and park infrastructure across Wisconsin. She later interned for Go Green Wilmette, where she created educational materials on bird migration and light pollution distributed to Wilmette's public elementary schools. She now assistant coaches tennis and basketball at Regina Dominican High School and serves as a head counselor at the summer science camp at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum of the Chicago Academy of Sciences. Maeve's wide-ranging experiences — in the field, in the classroom, and in the community — made her a passionate advocate for experiential STEAM education. She joined Little Makers because its mission to spark wonder, encourage inquiry, and give curious young minds a head start is exactly the kind of work she wants to be part of every day.
Ms. Alission - Assistant Teacher
Ms. Alisson is working toward her associate's degree in Early Childhood Education and has been working with children since 2022. Her background in restaurant management gave her a grounding in leadership and teamwork, but it was her time with children that showed her how deeply creativity and problem-solving shape the way young people grow. She was drawn to STEAM because of its power to make learning interactive, joyful, and real. Ms. Alisson came to Little Makers because she believes what Little Makers believes — that when children are given the space to tinker, invent, and ask big questions, they become confident, capable learners ready for a future full of possibility.
Kenia Flores - Assistant Teacher
Kenia is currently pursuing her degree in Early Childhood Education and has already earned her basic ECE certificate, with plans to continue toward her associate's degree. Her background in the restaurant industry built strong skills in communication, teamwork, and staying calm in fast-paced environments — qualities she brings directly to the Little Makers classroom. At Little Makers, she is committed to the belief that children learn best when they are free to ask questions, explore hands-on, and discover answers on their own. Kenia joined Little Makers because she shares its mission: that STEAM learning, rooted in a child's natural curiosity, gives young minds the strongest possible foundation for a lifetime of creative thinking and problem solving.
Little Makers STEAM Early Learning Center
bottom of page