A new music school for babies and toddlers is setting up inside one of downtown Glencoe's most recognizable buildings.

Roots Music Academy, founded by sisters Sara Mungovan and Melissa Vincent, will open this fall in the Writers Theatre building at 325 Tudor Court, offering 40-minute weekly classes for children ages 0 to 4 and their caregivers. The eight-week sessions start at $295 per child.

The sisters are both certified children's music teachers. They left public school jobs, citing the administrative burden and rigid hours, to launch the venture. Vincent, a Winnetka resident, previously taught music at Highcrest Middle School, Wilmette Junior High School, Marie Murphy School and Carlton Washburne School.

"We've always talked about this," Mungovan told The Record North Shore. "What if we just do it?"

The academy is renting the 823-square-foot Stephanie & Bill Sick Patron Lounge on the building's second floor. The space, which includes access to a rooftop terrace overlooking Tudor Court, is not affiliated with Writers Theatre's programming. The Jeanne Gang-designed building opened in 2016 after a $34 million capital campaign and anchors the Tudor Court and Park Avenue corridor in downtown Glencoe.

Vincent said the professional theater setting itself drew them in, calling it an incredible place to come to work.

Classes will open with a welcome song, then introduce shakers, rhythm sticks and other instruments to teach rhythm and tonality. Voice is the primary instrument. Vincent described teaching music to young children as similar to teaching a new language, saying early exposure makes it easier for toddlers to adapt to formal lessons later.

The inaugural season launches with two mixed-age classes. The founders plan to expand into infant lullaby sessions, individual music lessons and summer camps.

Mungovan said the school is also about building community among young parents. She still travels with mothers she met 18 years ago in a music class when she had her first baby.

The name "Roots" was chosen partly because a toddler could say it, and partly for its musical meaning: root notes, root chords and the roots music genre.

An exact start date has not been announced. Families can visit rootsmusicacademy.com or email [email protected] for enrollment details.