Chicago · Licensed center
Academy Of Creative Thinking Inc
- Medium center, licensed for 55 children.
- Shortlist has found no website for it yet.
What these mean, and where they come from
Medium means the middle half of Chicago-area’s 1,949 licensed centers by state-licensed capacity: 49 to 118 children. Small is 8 to 48; large is 119 to 487.
Shortlist doesn’t have these yet: cost, hours and late pickup, teaching approach, ratios and staff, a typical day, sick and biting policies.
What the state has found
Routine visits: 9 of 9 cited something
Chicago-area centers: the state cites something at about 5 in 6 routine visits.
From Illinois DCFS’s published reports, last checked September 25, 2026.
Read every record and the state’s reports
State record — Illinois DCFS
- Last visit
- June 8, 2026
- On file
- 9 visits since June 2015 — all of them cited findings
- Fixed?
- The latest correction deadline was July 8, 2026. Illinois DCFS does not publish whether it was made.
- Most serious
- Illinois DCFS does not publish a severity level for a citation, so there is no most-serious to name.
Illinois DCFS cites each subsection of a rule separately, so one audit of a filing cabinet can produce ten citations. It publishes the rule’s title and a correction deadline, but no description of what was observed.
Jun 2026 Monitoring visit 10 findings
Monitoring visit · June 8, 2026
Personnel Records
2 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(4) through (b) · Violation corrected
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(4) · 407.120(b)
Grouping and Staffing
2 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.190(a) through (1) · Violation corrected · Violation substantiated
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.190(a) · 407.190(a)(1)
Provisions Pertaining to the License
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.60(g) · Violation corrected
Staffing Structure
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.90(d)(1) · Violation corrected
General Requirements for Personnel
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(f) · Violation corrected
Qualifications for Child Care Director
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.130(l)(2) · Violation corrected
Health Requirements for Children
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.310(d) · Violation corrected
Napping and Sleeping
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.350(b) · Violation corrected
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 540027 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
May 2025 Monitoring visit 13 findings
Monitoring visit · May 14, 2025
General Requirements for Personnel
3 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(5) through (8) · Violation corrected
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(5) · 407.100(c)(7) · 407.100(c)(8)
Special Requirements for Infants and Toddlers
3 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.210(f)(8) through (24) · Violation corrected · Violation corrected on site
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.210(f)(8) · 407.210(f)(9) · 407.210(f)(24)
Napping and Sleeping
3 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.350(f) through (j) · Violation corrected on site · Violation corrected
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.350(f) · 407.350(i)(4) · 407.350(j)
Personnel Records
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a) · Violation corrected
Enrollment and Discharge Procedures
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.250(i) · Violation corrected
Diapering and Toileting Procedures
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.340(a)(4) · Violation corrected
Physical Plant/Indoor Space
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.370(d)(3) · Violation corrected on site
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 540027 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
Jan 2024 Monitoring visit 2 findings
Monitoring visit · January 11, 2024
Provisions Pertaining to the License
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.60(g) · Violation corrected
Guidance and Discipline
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.270(b)(3) · Violation corrected
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 540027 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
Mar 2023 Monitoring visit 1 finding
Monitoring visit · March 21, 2023
Physical Plant/Indoor Space
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.370(e) · Violation substantiated
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 540027 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
Apr 2022 Monitoring visit 13 findings
Monitoring visit · April 12, 2022
Special Requirements for Infants and Toddlers
5 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.210(c) through (f)(8) · Violation corrected
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.210(c) · 407.210(c)(3) · 407.210(c)(5) · 407.210(c)(7) · 407.210(f)(8)
Physical Plant/Indoor Space
3 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.370(e)(3) through (11) · Violation corrected
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.370(e)(3) · 407.370(e)(6) · 407.370(e)(11)
Personnel Records
2 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(2) through (e)(4) · Violation corrected
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(2) · 407.120(e)(4)
Health Requirements for Children
2 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.310(a)(5) through (q) · Violation corrected
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.310(a)(5) · 407.310(q)
Enrollment and Discharge Procedures
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.250(i)(4)(a) · Violation corrected
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 540027 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
Feb 2020 Monitoring visit 3 findings
Monitoring visit · February 25, 2020
Personnel Records
2 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(4) through (e)(1) · Violation substantiated
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(4) · 407.120(e)(1)
Students and Youth Aides
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.160(b) · Violation substantiated
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 540027 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
Apr 2019 Monitoring visit 2 findings
Monitoring visit · April 2, 2019
Special Requirements for Infants and Toddlers
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.210(b) · Violation corrected
Health Requirements for Children
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.310(a)(5) · Violation corrected
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 540027 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
Apr 2017 Monitoring visit 1 finding
Monitoring visit · April 11, 2017
Cited: CCASEC4
0 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code · Violation corrected
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 540027 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
Jun 2015 Monitoring visit 1 finding
Monitoring visit · June 30, 2015
Enrollment and Discharge Procedures
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.250(i)(4)(a) · Violation corrected
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 540027 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
How the comparison is built
Routine visits: across Chicago-area centers, the state cites something at about 5 in 6 routine visits (19,088 visits).
Details
- Address
- 4200 N Central Ave Ste B
- License
- license issued (il)
Do you run Academy Of Creative Thinking Inc? Shortlist has no tuition, hours or ratios for it, because the state does not publish that. Adding it is free and takes about ten minutes.
Add what is missingSources and dates
Where every fact on this page came from, and when Shortlist last checked it against that source. Anything Shortlist could not source is named here rather than left blank.
All checked July 2026.
State record
Every state visit and complaint on file, shown in full and never edited. Open a date to read what the state wrote.
Details
- Phone, Address, License sunshine.dcfs.illinois.gov. To check it, open sunshine.dcfs.illinois.gov's Licensed Provider Lookup, enter "ACADEMY OF CREATIVE THINKING INC" under Provider Name and 60634 under Zip, and press Search (DCFS provider 540027).