Police are investigating after a teacher struck a child in the face at a private school in Kildeer, just a month after a separate allegation of child abuse at the same school.
The Kildeer Police Department said they received a report of an incident involving physical contact with a child on October 17.
The Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) had become aware the prior day of the incident, which occurred at Guidepost Montessori at Deer Park, 20786 North Quentin Road in Kildeer.
Kildeer Police Chief Steve Balinski said it involved a staff member and a child at the school.
“We are working with DCFS and the victim’s parents,” Balinski said.
A message sent to families of the school said one of the Children’s House Guides hit a child in the face.
Guidepost Montessori said they reported the incident to DCFS and terminated the worker immediately.
“I am deeply shocked by this behavior and am saddened to be writing this message and making such calls to the parents from the classroom,” the message said.
“I take this personally and do not want this to be representative of our school; this isn’t who we are nor who we will be,” the message added.
The police chief said the incident is separate from another child abuse report at Guidepost Montessori that the police department is investigating and occurred on September 17.
Balinski said the first report involved a young child who was enrolled at the school.
The child was examined at a nearby hospital on September 18 and DCFS was notified.
Balinski said his department is also working closely with DCFS on that investigation. There is no direct correlation between both reports, Balinski said.
“The Kildeer Police Department treats any report of child abuse very seriously and we will utilize every resource available to our Village in determining the factors related to this investigation,” the police chief said.
Prior to the two reports filed in the past month involving Guidepost Montessori, the police department had not received other child abuse reports involving the school since it opened in October 2022.
The victim’s mother in the first incident told NBC Chicago that her 3-year-old had bruising to his ear and arms after being at the school.
Staff at the hospital said they believed an adult had caused the injuries.
The parents of the child have since removed their child from the school and are seeking answers on what occurred, NBC reported.