Open Sesame perseveres, celebrates 50 years of providing child care in Dixon

Just one year after being on the brink of closure, Open Sesame Child Care Center in Dixon has reached its 50-year milestone of providing care.

“The power of collaboration is the reason Open Sesame is open today and the care that the administrators and the teachers have for these children has just been incredible to watch,” Board President Amanda Wike said. “We’ve had so many teachers come through this program who have made such a great impact on kids.”

In September 2024, the center was having some serious financial struggles, and it was brought to the board’s attention that it was at risk of closing. A new executive director, Cassie Halvorson, was hired in October and a task force came together to brainstorm ways to keep the center open, Wike said.

Halvorson has been in the field for 16 years working as a teacher with children ranging from infants to teens, Halvorson said.

“She has been amazing. She cares so much about the kids,” Wike said.

Coming into the role “hasn’t been simple,” but “I just have a passion to be around children,” Halvorson said. The teachers are “dedicated. They try to do their best every single day, and that’s what we’re striving for.”

While the center is still open, “we’re not out of the woods. We need the buy-in from the community to keep it going,” Wike said. “It’s taking so many people getting involved in it.”

The center is sending out letters to local employers, holding fundraisers and is planning a large fundraiser for the end of 2025 or early 2026. Community partners like Sauk Valley Community College, Regional Office of Education 47 and Sauk Valley Bank have all been a huge help, she said.

Open Sesame is “important for the community for all reasons, especially for the parents. The parents have to have a place where they bring their child and know that they’re cared for and they’re learning new things ... while they go to work and earn a living to support their family,” Halvorson said.

“Child care is economic development. If we don’t have child care, we don’t have employees for our businesses, and our businesses aren’t able to make the economic impact that they have in our community,” Wike said.

Wike said 107 employers have workers receiving child care from Open Sesame in 2025.

Open Sesame offers child care for all ages with preschool classrooms for early education, along with before and after school care, “which is a really great model for working parents,” Wike said.

At its main site, 1101 Middle Road in Dixon, there are classrooms for children up to age 5 as well as two classrooms for its Preschool for All program in partnership with ROE 47 that opened April 1.

At Dixon’s former Lincoln Elementary School, 501 S. Lincoln Ave., Open Sesame runs one half-day preschool, offers summer programming and before and after school care for school-aged children.