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At St. Francis Children’s Center, our mission is to serve and educate children with and without special needs, enabling them to reach their greatest potential.
Our History
Leadership
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Our History

In 1968, St. Francis Children’s Center started with one belief…the earlier children with special needs received assistance, the more opportunities there would be for them to achieve success.

Today, St. Francis Children’s Center is a nonprofit organization that serves over 1,200 children — from birth through high school — and their families throughout the Milwaukee area.

We are a team of educators, social workers, therapists and administrators devoted to working with children of all abilities to ensure that all children have the tools they need to succeed.

2023

  • In February of 2023, to support our incredible teachers, social workers, therapists and staff, we create a new staff lounge and relaxation hub in the lower level of our building. With multiple seating areas, a kitchenette, a resource library, and charging stations, it’s a place where our hardworking team can get away for lunch, meet with a book group, or focus on quiet work and planning.

2022

  • St. Francis Children’s Center opens our newly renovated Outdoor Playground which features universally-accessible walkways and play equipment, garden beds, and sensory equipment, ensuring that all children are able to learn and play together in the beautiful outdoors.
  • At the end of 2022, St. Francis Children’s Center creates a new therapy department to support our Birth to Three Program, with highly-credentialed and highly-regarded Occupational, Physical and Speech Therapists.
  • Our Family Activity Center takes its programming on the road with a new Dine & Learn series. Partnering with community and faith-based organizations in the City of Milwaukee, we help families who have children with special needs learn about resources and programs that are available.

2020

  • In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, SFCC ensures our classrooms are open, children in our Birth to Three and CLTS programs continue to receive services, and children and adults who participate in our Family Activity Center continue to find friendship and support. Our courageous and dedicated staff served during a period of uncertainty and even in the most difficult circumstances, brought stability and compassion to our families.

2019

  • For the fifth time, St. Francis Children’s Center was selected as one of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Top Workplaces, which recognizes the best places to work in southeastern Wisconsin.

2018

  • St. Francis Children’s Center celebrates our 50th Anniversary! With a new logo, new website, and a new vision for the future, we join together with families, alumni, volunteers and staff to reflect on our history and look towards the next 50 years.

2016

  • Our newest program, the Family Activity Center, opens to serve families of children with special needs throughout the Greater Milwaukee Area. Programming is free and designed to reduce isolation while helping families connect with one another.

2014

  • Our Early Childhood Education Program receives accreditation by the National Accreditation Commission for Early Care and Education Programs (NAC).

2012

  • The Exceptional Learning Initiative for Special Education (ELISE Initiative) was dedicated to provide support for special education services for children with special needs younger than three.

2011

  • We redesigned and built a brand new outdoor play/therapy area designed specifically for our 1-3 year olds. Not only is the new space bigger, but it is now fully accessible to all children.

2010

  • St. Francis Children’s Center goes green! With the addition of solar panels on our roof, we are able to generate more than 10% of the electricity we use.

2009

  • We added bilingual service coordinators to our Children’s Long-Term Support (CLTS) program to better serve our growing number of Spanish-speaking families.

2008

  • To accommodate the rapid growth in our CLTS program, we remodeled an underused storage area in our building to create more space for staff.

2007

  • We remodeled all of our Early Childhood Education classrooms and opened a second Kindergarten classroom to accommodate more families on the waiting list.

2006

  • We expanded our CLTS Program in Milwaukee County to include children with other severe disabilities including developmental, physical, emotional or sensory impairments.

2004

  • Our CLTS Program began providing case coordination and support to children with autism over the age of three who are receiving intensive or ongoing in-home therapy services in Milwaukee, Ozaukee and Washington counties.

2003

  • St. Francis Children’s Center expanded our Early Intervention/Birth to Three services into Ozaukee County to serve an additional 55 children with special needs and their families.

2002

  • We opened First Friends, a new infant and toddler classroom with part-time schedule options for children with and without special needs.

2001

  • We started a Center for Autism Resources and Education (CARE) school program to serve children with severe challenges of autism, ages three years through third grade.

1999

  • Early Intervention/Birth to Three services moved more toward the natural environment for each child and family. We visited children in childcare centers, in their homes, or wherever their normal routines took place.

1998

  • We added a five full-day Kindergarten class to our Early Childhood Education program.

1996

  • We changed our name from the Wisconsin Society for Brain-Injured Children to St. Francis Children’s Center, Inc.

1995

  • State legislation changed…allowing non-city agencies, such as St. Francis Children’s Center, to serve children from Milwaukee Public Schools.

1994

  • We started an infant childcare program for children with and without special needs.
  • St. Francis Children’s Center hosts our first ever Wine, Beer & Chocolate Tasting Event.

1989

  • Our classrooms became integrated to include children with and without special needs.

1988

  • The south addition to building was completed, almost doubling classroom space.

1974

  • The new (current) building was dedicated at 6700 North Port Washington Road. Eighty-five children with special needs up to age twelve started receiving services.

1972

  • We moved to a space at Bayside Middle School to accommodate increased enrollment.

1970

  • Our first infant class began.

1969

  • Our first class was held in donated space at Congregation Sinai for seven children ages 2-6.

1968

  • Parents met at Nicolet High School to discuss the educational options for their children with disabilities. St. Francis Children’s Center founders, Eli Tash and Sister Joanne Marie Kliebhan were present at that now historic meeting.

Established

  • St. Francis Children’s Center was founded in 1968 by Sister Joanne Marie Kliebhan, then head of the Special Education Department at Cardinal Stritch University and Eli Tash, a Jewish businessman and the father of a son with special needs. In those days, the general feeling was that children with special needs should wait until they were “ready” to go to school. However, Sister Joanne Marie and Mr. Tash strongly believed that the earlier these children received services, the more opportunities there would be for them to achieve success. Their shared vision was to someday create a unique learning center that would stimulate the early development of children with special needs…a place where the philosophy and programs would reflect their belief that, “all children can learn if we can learn how to teach them.”

Leadership

Laura Felix

Laura Felix

Executive Director

Cornelius Holt

Cornelius Holt

Director of Marketing & Development

Jill Voras

Jill Voras

Director of Early Childhood Education

Amanda Matthews

Amanda Matthews

Children’s Long-Term Support Manger

Stephanie Millard

Stephanie Millard

Birth to Three Program Manager

Marilyn Green

Marilyn Green

Operations Manager

Angelica Lazarus

Angelica Lazarus

Family Activity Center (FAC) Manager

Shawn Storey

Shawn Storey

Marketing Communications Manager

Mariamgelly Guadalupe

Mariamgelly Guadalupe

Early Childhood Education Manager

Board of Directors

  • President
    Patty Roberts
    Rockwell Automation – Retired
  • Vice President
    John Halpin
    Laffey, Leitner & Goode LLC
  • Treasurer
    Kelly Krieg
    Direct Supply
  • Secretary
    Jennifer Mims-Howell
    Milwaukee Public Schools

Board Members

  • Mike Brauer
    Children’s Wisconsin Foundation
  • Matt DeChamps
    Delloite & Touche LLP
  • Amy Hanneman
    Northwestern Mutual
  • Melissa Kadlec
    Rockwell Automation
  • Michael Kinney
    Johnson Controls
  • Kelly Miller
    Scribner, Cohen & Co. S.C.
  • Matthew J. Price
    Foley & Lardner LLP
  • Sidney Sollazo
    Rockwell Automation
  • Sonja Williams
    Wellpoint Care Network
  • Matt Wuest
    Godfrey & Kahn S.C.
  • Zheng Zhou
    Northwestern Mutual

Government Resources

Programs & Activities

Advocacy

Services

Spanish-Speaking

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