Chicago · Licensed center
Bright Scholars Academy
At a glance
- Medium center, licensed for 51 children.
What to know
The license is the range the state allows. It does not say which ages have openings.
What the state has found
The state cited rules at all 4 of its licensing inspections since December 2022.
See each inspection
Licensing inspections
Aug 24, 20262 citations
Background Checks for Personnel
Background Checks for Personnel
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.110
Personnel Records
Personnel Records
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(c)
Aug 11, 20257 citations
Organization and Administration
Organization and Administration
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.70(e)
General Requirements for Personnel
General Requirements for Personnel
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(5)
Personnel Records
Personnel Records
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(6)
Physical Plant/Indoor Space
Physical Plant/Indoor Space
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.370(e)
Physical Plant/Indoor Space
Physical Plant/Indoor Space
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.370(e)(2)
Physical Plant/Indoor Space
Physical Plant/Indoor Space
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.370(e)(3)
Physical Plant/Indoor Space
Physical Plant/Indoor Space
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.370(e)(6)
Jun 9, 20253 citations
Daily Arrival and Departure of Children
Daily Arrival and Departure of Children
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.260(d)
Daily Arrival and Departure of Children
Daily Arrival and Departure of Children
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.260(e)(3)
Qualifications for Child Care Director
Qualifications for Child Care Director
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.130(i)(2)
Dec 13, 20223 citations
Personnel Records
Personnel Records
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(2)
General Requirements for Personnel
General Requirements for Personnel
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(5)
Background Checks for Personnel
Background Checks for Personnel
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.110
The state cited rules at all 4 of this center's inspections. Most Chicago-area centers inspected 4 times had the same: 59% of 117.
How all 117 Chicago-area centers inspected 4 times compare
Of the 117 Chicago-area centers the state inspected 4 times, how many of those inspections cited a rule:
- None2%
- 1 of 44%
- 2 of 413%
- 3 of 422%
- All 459%This center
Read every record and the state’s reports
State record — Illinois DCFS
- Last visit
- August 24, 2026
- On file
- 4 visits since December 2022 — all of them cited findings
- Fixed?
- The latest correction deadline was September 23, 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.
Aug 2026 Monitoring visit 2 findings
Monitoring visit · August 24, 2026
Background Checks for Personnel
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.110 · Violation substantiated
Personnel Records
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(c) · Violation substantiated
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 569637 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
Aug 2025 Monitoring visit 7 findings
Monitoring visit · August 11, 2025
Physical Plant/Indoor Space
4 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.370(e) through (6) · Violation substantiated
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.370(e) · 407.370(e)(2) · 407.370(e)(3) · 407.370(e)(6)
Organization and Administration
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.70(e) · Violation substantiated
General Requirements for Personnel
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(5) · Violation substantiated
Personnel Records
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(6) · Violation substantiated
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 569637 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
Jun 2025 Monitoring visit 3 findings
Monitoring visit · June 9, 2025
Daily Arrival and Departure of Children
2 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.260(d) through (e)(3) · Violation substantiated
89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.260(d) · 407.260(e)(3)
Qualifications for Child Care Director
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.130(i)(2) · Violation corrected
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 569637 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
Dec 2022 Monitoring visit 3 findings
Monitoring visit · December 13, 2022
General Requirements for Personnel
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(5) · Violation corrected
Background Checks for Personnel
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.110 · Violation corrected on site
Personnel Records
1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(2) · Violation corrected
DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 569637 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.
Details
- Phone
- (773) 629-8687
- Address
- 8501 S Ashland Ave, Chicago, 60620
We couldn’t find some information that may matter to your decision: openings, child care subsidies, cost, hours and late pickup, teaching approach, ratios and staff, a typical day, sick and biting policies, and who owns it. We can ask the program for you and copy you in.
Sources 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.
State record
From Illinois DCFS’s published reports, last checked November 8, 2026.
Details
- Phone, Address — Checked July 2026 sunshine.dcfs.illinois.gov/…/ProviderLookup.aspx. To check it, open sunshine.dcfs.illinois.gov's Licensed Provider Lookup, enter "BRIGHT SCHOLARS ACADEMY" under Provider Name and 60620 under Zip, and press Search (DCFS provider 569637).
- License — Checked October 2026 sunshine.dcfs.illinois.gov/…/ProviderLookup.aspx. To check it, open sunshine.dcfs.illinois.gov's Licensed Provider Lookup, enter "BRIGHT SCHOLARS ACADEMY" under Provider Name and 60620 under Zip, and press Search (DCFS provider 569637).
- Ages on the license — Checked November 2026 sunshine.dcfs.illinois.gov/…/ProviderLookup.aspx. To check it, open sunshine.dcfs.illinois.gov's Licensed Provider Lookup, enter "BRIGHT SCHOLARS ACADEMY" under Provider Name and 60620 under Zip, and press Search (DCFS provider 569637).
Medium means the middle half of Chicago-area’s 1,948 licensed centers by state-licensed capacity: 49 to 118 children. Small is 8 to 48; large is 119 to 487.
The ages on the license are what the state licenses it to care for, which can be wider than the ages it takes.