Chicago · Licensed center

Dreamers Academy

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.

How they teach

Play-based

“For parents seeking a childcare program with a play-based curriculum led by experienced teachers”In their words, August 2026.dreamersacademyhome.com

One of 70 Chicago-area providers that describe a play-based approach, out of 129 that describe any approach at all.

Who cares for your child

Ratio not published

One staff is named on their site, with no start year given.

Shortlist doesn’t have these yet: cost, sick and biting policies.

What the state has found

Routine visits: 6 of 6 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 10, 2025
On file
6 visits since September 2020 — all of them cited findings
Fixed?
The latest correction deadline was July 10, 2025. 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 2025 Monitoring visit 2 findings

Monitoring visit · June 10, 2025

General Requirements for Personnel

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(f) · Violation substantiated

Personnel Records

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(4) · Violation substantiated

DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 576962 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.

Jun 2022 Monitoring visit 8 findings

Monitoring visit · June 28, 2022

General Requirements for Personnel

3 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(5) through (f) · Violation corrected

89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.100(c)(5) · 407.100(c)(7) · 407.100(f)

Personnel Records

2 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(3) through (e)(1) · Violation corrected

89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(3) · 407.120(e)(1)

Background Checks for Personnel

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.110 · Violation corrected

Special Requirements for Infants and Toddlers

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.210(b) · Violation corrected

Physical Plant/Indoor Space

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.370(f)(3) · Violation corrected

DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 576962 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.

Jan 2022 Monitoring visit 4 findings

Monitoring visit · January 4, 2022

Personnel Records

3 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(2) through (4) · Rule cited again · Violation corrected

89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(2) · 407.120(a)(3) · 407.120(a)(4)

Background Checks for Personnel

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.110 · Violation corrected

DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 576962 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.

Jun 2021 Monitoring visit 4 findings

Monitoring visit · June 8, 2021

Personnel Records

2 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(2) through (3) · Violation corrected

89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(2) · 407.120(a)(3)

Cited: CCASEC4

0 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code · Violation corrected

Cited: FHSEC305

0 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code · Violation corrected

DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 576962 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.

Oct 2020 Monitoring visit 2 findings

Monitoring visit · October 6, 2020

Hand Washing

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.320(c) · Violation corrected on site

Nutrition and Meal Service

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.330(l)(1) · Violation corrected

DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 576962 in the Provider box and choose Search; the compliance report downloads from the button on the result row.

Sep 2020 Monitoring visit 7 findings

Monitoring visit · September 3, 2020

Organization and Administration

3 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.70(e)(1) through (3) · Violation corrected

89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.70(e)(1) · 407.70(e)(2) · 407.70(e)(3)

Enrollment and Discharge Procedures

2 citations · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.250(i)(3) through (4)(a) · Violation corrected

89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.250(i)(3) · 407.250(i)(4)(a)

Personnel Records

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.120(a)(2) · Violation corrected

Special Requirements for Infants and Toddlers

1 citation · 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407.210(b) · Violation corrected

DCFS compliance lookup On that page, enter provider number 576962 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).

A day here

Meals
Provides breakfast, snack, lunch and snack via a food service; menus built with parents weekly
Outdoors
Outside play daily at a nearby fenced-in park, weather permitting
Updates for parents
Day-to-day progress updates plus in-depth teacher conferences
Schedule
full-time and part-time, three to five days a week

Details

7733540742

Website
dreamersacademyhome.com
Address
1824 W Grand Ave Ste 100
License
pending renewal application (rn)
Ages they serve
6 weeks to 5 years

Do you run Dreamers Academy? Shortlist has no tuition, ratios or policies for it, because the state does not publish that. Adding it is free and takes about ten minutes.

Add what is missing
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.

How they teach

Who cares for your child

State record

Every state visit and complaint on file, shown in full and never edited. Open a date to read what the state wrote.

A day here

Details

  • Phone, Address, License — Checked July 2026 sunshine.dcfs.illinois.gov. To check it, open sunshine.dcfs.illinois.gov's Licensed Provider Lookup, enter "DREAMERS ACADEMY" under Provider Name and 60622 under Zip, and press Search (DCFS provider 576962).
  • Website — Checked August 2026 dreamersacademyhome.com
  • Ages they serve — Checked August 2026 dreamersacademyhome.com